Aladdin is a 2019 American musical fantasy film directed by Guy Ritchie from a screenplay he co-wrote with John August. Co-produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Rideback, it is a live-action adaptation of Disney's 1992 animated film Aladdin, itself based on "Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp", a French addition to the Middle Eastern folktale collection One Thousand and One Nights.^[1][a] The film stars Will Smith, Mena Massoud and Naomi Scott with Marwan Kenzari, Navid Negahban, Nasim Pedrad, and Billy Magnussen in supporting roles. The plot follows Aladdin, a street urchin, as he falls in love with Princess Jasmine, befriends a wish-granting genie, and battles the wicked sorcerer Jafar.

In October 2016, Disney announced Ritchie would direct a live-action remake of Aladdin. Smith was the first member of the cast to join, signing on to portray Genie in July 2017, and Massoud and Scott were confirmed for the two lead roles later that month. Principal photography began that September at Longcross Studios in Surrey, England, also filming in the Wadi Rum Desert in Jordan, and lasted until January 2018. Additional filming and pick-ups took place in August 2018.

Aladdin premiered at the Grand Rex in Paris on May 8, 2019, and was theatrically released in the United States on May 24. It grossed over $1 billion worldwide, making it the ninth highest-grossing film of 2019. Amongst Disney's live-action remakes, the film is the sixth-most-expensive and third-highest-grossing readaptation to date. The film received mixed reviews from critics, with praise for its music, costume design, and the performances of Smith, Massoud, and Scott but criticism for Ritchie's direction, the CGI, and Kenzari's characterization of Jafar.

Plot[edit]

In the fictional city of Agrabah (based on Baghdad), an orphaned street urchin named Aladdin and his monkey, Abu, meet Princess Jasmine, who has snuck away from her sheltered life in the palace. She wishes to succeed her father as Sultan but is instead expected to marry one of her royal suitors, including the handsome yet dimwitted Prince Anders. Jafar, the royal vizier, schemes to overthrow the Sultan and seeks a magic lamp that only "the diamond in the rough" can retrieve.

While sneaking into the royal palace to visit Jasmine, Aladdin and Abu are captured by Jafar. He offers to make Aladdin rich enough to impress Jasmine in exchange for retrieving the lamp from the Cave of Wonders. Once there, Aladdin frees a magic carpet and finds the lamp. Aladdin gives the lamp to Jafar, who double-crosses him and kicks him and Abu into the cave, but Abu steals the lamp back.

Trapped in the cave, Aladdin rubs the lamp, unwittingly summoning the omnipotent Genie inside, who has the power to grant three wishes to anyone who has the lamp. Aladdin gets them out of the cave without using a wish, on a technicality. Determined to woo Jasmine, he uses his official first wish to become a prince and promises to use his third wish to free the Genie from servitude and turn him human.

Aladdin makes an extravagant arrival at Agrabah as "Prince Ali of Ababwa", but he struggles to impress Jasmine. Posing as Aladdin's human attendant, the Genie is mutually smitten with Dalia, Jasmine's handmaiden. Aladdin and Jasmine bond when he takes her on a ride on the magic carpet. Tricked into revealing his true identity, he lies to her, saying that he actually is a prince and dressed like a peasant to explore Agrabah.

When Jafar discovers Aladdin's identity, he kidnaps Aladdin and throws him into the palace moat and into the sea, knowing that if he survives, it will prove that he has the lamp. The Genie rescues Aladdin, costing him his second wish. Once rescued, Aladdin returns to the palace and destroys Jafar's magic cobra staff, ending his spell over the Sultan and revealing his plot. Jafar is then arrested and imprisoned in the dungeons. The Sultan allows Aladdin to marry Jasmine. Aladdin goes back on his promise to free the Genie, feeling uncertain of being able to keep up his charade without him. Dismayed that Aladdin will continue living a lie, the Genie retreats to his lamp.

Freed by his parrot sidekick Iago, Jafar steals the lamp and becomes the Genie's new master. He uses his first wish to become sultan and his second one to become the world's most powerful sorcerer. Jafar then exposes Aladdin, exiles him and Abu to a frozen wasteland, and tortures the Sultan and Dalia until Jasmine agrees to marry him. The Genie secretly teleports the magic carpet to rescue Aladdin and Abu behind Jafar's back. At the wedding, as Aladdin returns to Agrabah, Jasmine steals the lamp from Jafar and jumps onto the magic carpet. Jafar then uses a sand twister to recapture Aladdin and Jasmine and destroy the magic carpet.

As Jafar holds Jasmine, Dalia, and the Sultan under his magic, Aladdin taunts Jafar for being second in power to the Genie, goading him into using his last wish to become "the most powerful being in the universe". Jafar turns into a genie and becomes trapped inside his own lamp, dragging Iago with him, and the Genie banishes them to the Cave of Wonders. Abu rescues the magic carpet and Genie fixes it up. Jasmine, Dalia, and the Sultan are freed from Jafar's magic. The Genie encourages Aladdin to use his third wish to regain his royal title and legally marry Jasmine. Aladdin instead keeps his promise and frees the Genie by using his last wish, allowing him to live as a human. Dalia, the Genie, and the Sultan know that Jasmine loves Aladdin. The Sultan crowns Jasmine the new sultana-regnant, no longer bound to marry a prince, and she and Aladdin marry. The Genie marries Dalia, and they start a family and explore the parallel world together, with the Genie becoming the mariner who is telling his children the story about Aladdin in the beginning of the film.

Cast[edit]

• Will Smith as Genie / Mariner:
  A comical and kindly jinni who has the power to grant three wishes to whoever possesses his magic lamp. Smith said that he was "terrified" while playing the character, but that "[he] found a lane that pays homage" to Robin Williams' performance in the original animated film, while still making the role "[his] own thing."^[7] Smith described the character as "both a trickster and a mentor," who tries "to guide Aladdin to the truth of the greatness that's already within him."^[1] Smith physically portrays the character when he is in the guise of a human, while his giant blue genie form is CGI, portrayed through motion-capture performance.^[8][9]
• Mena Massoud as Aladdin:
  An impoverished but kind-hearted Agrabah thief and street urchin who is in love with Princess Jasmine. Massoud said that Aladdin "sees a future for himself that's greater than what's been set out for him at the present moment. He doesn't know exactly what it is or how he's going to get there, but he knows it is out there," and felt the character is very selfless and usually does things for other people, but as he falls in love he loses himself a little bit and starts to become someone that he's not. But he's a good person with good intentions and has good people surrounding him who lead him back to where he's supposed to be."^[1]
• Naomi Scott as Jasmine:
  The Sultan's daughter and the feisty princess of Agrabah who wants to have a say in how she lives her life and falls in love with Aladdin. Scott said that the character "will be strong and have fun, but also get it wrong and be emotional. She's a multidimensional woman, and she does not have to just be one thing. So in this movie, you see her go on such a roller coaster, as opposed to her one goal being to escape the loneliness of royalty and find a companion." She further stated that Jasmine will try to find "the courage to speak out for her people,"^[10] and said that "Jasmine wants to know what goes on in her kingdom and reconcile the distance that has been created, and Aladdin gives her the courage to do just that."^[1]
• Marwan Kenzari as Jafar:
  A nefarious, deceptive, power-hungry sorcerer and the Grand vizier of Agrabah who, frustrated with the Sultan's ways of ruling, devises a plot to overthrow him as the ruler of Agrabah by acquiring the Genie's lamp. Jafar's backstory is explored in the film, which producer Jonathan Eirich felt would make the audience "understand why he's so bad," as "that's what makes him such a good villain."^[1]
• Navid Negahban as The Sultan:
• 
  The wise and noble ruler of Agrabah who is eager to find a capable husband for his daughter Jasmine. On playing the character, Negahban said that it was "very scary because [the Sultan] has so many followers. Lots of people grew up with that character, so they have certain expectations. It's not just an animated character. This has become a real personality, a real persona."^[11] He further stated that "after I read the script, I felt that re-watching the original will pollute my vision of the live-action character. In the new Aladdin, the Sultan has more depth and is not a caricature of a father. But I will let you judge it for yourself."^[12]
• Nasim Pedrad as Dalia:
• 
  Jasmine's loyal handmaiden and confidante. Pedrad said that Dalia has "been by Jasmine's side for years and really looks out for her". Dalia is the only new character from the main cast.
• Billy Magnussen as Prince Anders:
  A suitor and potential husband for Jasmine from the kingdom of Skånland.^[9][13]

Numan Acar portrays Hakim, the head of the palace guards who is loyal to the Sultan of Agrabah. Alan Tudyk provides the voice of Iago, Jafar's sardonic and intelligent scarlet macaw companion.^[14] This is the first instance where the character is not voiced by Gilbert Gottfried. In this film, Iago is portrayed as a more realistic parrot.

Frank Welker reprises his three roles as the vocal effects for Abu, Aladdin's kleptomaniac but loyal pet Tufted capuchin,^[15][16][17] the vocal effects for Jasmine’s pet Bengal tiger, Rajah, and the voice of the Cave of Wonders, a sand guardian who guards the magic lamp from intruders and only gives it to someone who's worthy, "a diamond in the rough". Out of the three roles the latter is the only one for which he receives credit.

Additionally, Tayliah Blair and Jordan A. Nash respectively play Genie and Dalia's daughter and son, Lian and Omar. Also, Robby Haynes portrays Razoul, a palace guard. Nina Wadia plays Zulla, a market trader who dislikes Aladdin. Wadia describes her appearance as "more of a cameo" as extra footage was needed after filming had wrapped.^[18]

Production[edit]

Development[edit]

On October 10, 2016, it was announced that Guy Ritchie would direct a live-action Aladdin film for Walt Disney Pictures, with John August writing the script and Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich attached as producers. The studio said that the film would be "an ambitious and nontraditional" take on the tale of Aladdin that would keep the musical elements of the original film. On the nontraditional aspect, the studio had originally planned for the film to be told in a nonlinear format.^[19][20]

On July 17, 2017, it was announced that Disney had hired Vanessa Taylor to polish the original screenplay by August, specifically some "character work" and what is called "script doctoring".^[21] Meanwhile, Richie and the studio focused on casting the other main roles with filming slated to start in August in London.^[22]

When asked about Ritchie's take on the film, Pasek & Paul described it as "very muscular and action-packed."^[23][24][25]

Casting[edit]

In February 2017, Lin said that they were looking for a diverse cast and that they would not try "to make Prince of Persia."^[26] A worldwide casting call for the lead roles of Aladdin and Princess Jasmine commenced in March 2017, with principal production set to take place in the UK from July 2017 until January 2018.^[27] The call for the titular role included both South Asian and Southwest Asian (Arab) actors, which some critics suggested was "a simplistic conflation" that signaled "an ignorance offensive to both cultures".^[28] On April 19, 2017, it was reported that either Gabriel Iglesias^[29] or Will Smith were in talks to play Genie, for which the latter was confirmed in July.^[30][31][32] In August, Dutch actor Marwan Kenzari joined the cast as Jafar, with Nasim Pedrad cast in a newly created role as Mara, "a hand maid and friend of Jasmine" who serves as a "comic relief." Numan Acar was set to play Hakim.^[33][34] The following month, Billy Magnussen joined the cast in a newly created role as Prince Anders, alongside Navid Negahban as the Sultan.^[35][36]

In May 2017, Little Mix member Jade Thirlwall was in talks for the part of Princess Jasmine.^[37] On July 11, 2017, it was announced that principal production on Aladdin had been pushed back by a month, to August 2017, due to struggles in finding the right actor to portray the titular role. Over 2,000 actors and actresses had auditioned for the roles of Aladdin and Jasmine, but finding a male lead of Middle Eastern or Indian descent in his 20s who could act and sing was seemingly difficult for the producers.^[28] Naomi Scott and Tara Sutaria were the final two actresses in the running for the role of Jasmine, but neither could be cast until a chemistry test was done with whoever would be cast as Aladdin. The studio was initially interested in Dev Patel or Riz Ahmed for Aladdin, but later decided to cast a relative newcomer.^[31] Achraf Koutet, Mena Massoud and George Kosturos were among the actors being tested for the role.^[31] Two musical film veterans, Marc Platt (who would serve as executive producer) and Chris Montan, were consulted before a final decision was made.^[31]

At the 2017 D23 Expo, on July 15, it was announced that Massoud would star as Aladdin and Scott as Jasmine, ending the four-month long open casting call.^[32][38] Julie Ann Crommett, Disney's Vice President of Multicultural Engagement, said the decision to cast Scott—the daughter of an English father and a Gujarati Ugandan-Indian mother—as Jasmine, reflected the mixing or association of different cultures in the broad region that consists of the Middle East, South Asia, and China, all of which make up the Silk Road.^[39]

On December 20, 2018, Gilbert Gottfried said that he was not asked to reprise his role as Iago, Jafar's pet parrot.^[40] In March 2019, it was announced that Alan Tudyk would voice the character instead.^[14] In May 2019, Welker was announced as reprising his role as Rajah, Jasmine's pet tiger,^[41] and the trailer had confirmed that Welker would reprise his role as the Cave of Wonders as well.

Filming[edit]

Principal photography began on September 6, 2017, at Longcross Studios in Surrey, England, and wrapped on January 24, 2018.^{[42][43][44][45]} Part of the film was shot in Wadi Rum Desert, Jordan.^[46][47] The Royal Film Commission provided support to the production during filming and assisted in facilitating logistics. Reshoots took place during August 2018.^[48] The film's production sets were designed by Game of Thrones production designer Gemma Jackson.^[49] The "Prince Ali" musical sequence features 1,000 dancers and extras.^[50] Smith frequently improvises throughout the film. Massoud also revealed that there was a whole scene, where Prince Ali and Genie meet the royal family for the first time, that was improvised by the cast.^[51]

Visual effects[edit]

The visual effects were provided by Industrial Light & Magic and supervised by Michael Mullholland, Daniele Bigi, and David Seager, with the help of Hybride Technologies, DNEG, Nzviage and Proof.^[52]

Controversies[edit]

In January 2018, it was reported that brown makeup was being applied to white extras during filming in order to "blend in", which caused an outcry and condemnation among fans and critics, branding the practice as "an insult to the whole industry" while accusing the producers of not recruiting people with Middle Eastern or North African heritage. Disney responded to the controversy saying, "Diversity of our cast and background performers was a requirement and only in a handful of instances when it was a matter of specialty skills, safety and control (special effects rigs, stunt performers and handling of animals) were crew made up to blend in."^[53][54]\

The decision to cast Billy Magnussen as an entirely new character not seen in the original film also drew criticism from fans. Some viewed the creation of his character as unnecessary, while others even accused the film of whitewashing, since Magnussen is white.^[55][56] But The Washington Post pointed out that Nasim Pedrad, an actress of Iranian-American descent, also was cast as a brand new character when she was awarded the role of Jasmine's friend Mara (later renamed Dalia).^[55]

Music and soundtrack[edit]

Alan Menken was brought in to compose the score for the film, reprising his duties from the original animated film. Pasek & Paul wrote a new song with Menken, and several songs from the original film by Menken, Howard Ashman, and Tim Rice were featured in the remake.

Release[edit]

Aladdin held its world premiere at the Grand Rex in Paris, France, on May 8, 2019.^[57][58] It was released by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures on May 24, 2019, replacing the original release date set for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. The film was originally going to be released on December 20, 2019. But on September 12, 2017, the film was moved to May 24, 2019.^[59][60]

Aladdin's first regional premiere was in Jordan on May 13, 2019,^[61] in the presence of Prince Ali bin Hussein and Princess Rym Ali.

Marketing[edit]

Will Smith debuted the first official poster on October 10, 2018.^[62] The teaser trailer was released the following day.^[63] In December 2018, Entertainment Weekly offered a first official look at the cast in costume on the cover of their issue for the most anticipated films of 2019.^[64] On February 10, 2019, Disney debuted a special sneak peek of the film during the 61st Annual Grammy Awards, which was met with largely negative feedback from audiences, primarily due to the quality of the CGI Genie in his blue design, created via motion capture effects.^[65][66][67] The negative reception sparked a large amount of memes and Photoshop edits mocking Will Smith's appearance in the sneak peek, several of which compared it with Tobias Fünke (from Arrested Development) painted in blue in an attempt to join the Blue Man Group.^[68][69] On March 12, 2019, Disney debuted a second trailer on Good Morning America. The trailer had a much more positive reception than the previous one, as it featured several songs from the original film and more of Smith not entirely in motion-capture. His CGI scenes received better notices, as well, although it was still mostly criticized by some critics when the film was released.^[70][71]

Novelization [edit]

A tie-in novelization of the film was published by Disney Publishing Worldwide on April 9, 2019.^[72]

Home media[edit]

Aladdin was released in Digital HD for download and streaming on August 27, 2019, and was released on Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD on September 10.^[73]

Aladdin made its streaming debut on Disney+ on January 8, 2020. With the launch of Disney+ Hotstar on April 3, 2020;^[74] it was released in India in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu as well as the original English.^[75]

As of 22 April 2020, the film had earned $345 million from worldwide home entertainment and television net revenues, bringing total box office and home entertainment revenue to $1.396 billion.