Disney is serving up three live-action remakes this year, with Dumbo arriving next month and The Lion King completing the circle of life in July. Arguably the one that’s the most talked about, though, is the new Aladdin. And not necessarily for the right reasons. The second trailer for the movie became a laughing stock due to the unexpectedly terrible realization of Will Smith’s Genie. The Mouse House will be hoping to put things back on track with this new promo, then, and if you ask us, it’s certainly a promising look at what lies ahead.
Directed by Guy Ritchie, 2019’s Aladdin appears to be largely faithful to the 1992 original, with many of the scenes we’ve glimpsed so far being live-action or CGI recreations of iconic moments from the much-loved animated flick. Mena Massoud plays the street rat turned prince while Naomi Scott (Power Rangers) is Princess Jasmine. Elsewhere, Marwan Kenzari portrays the villainous grand vizier Jafar with Legion‘s Navid Negahban as the Sultan of Agrabah. Voice artist Frank Welker, meanwhile, is the only cast member from the first film to return, as he’s once again playing Aladdin’s pet monkey Abu.
Though the film will stay pretty faithful to the original, there will be some big changes. In particular, the supporting cast will be freshened up. In order to increase the number of women in the story by 50%, a best friend for Jasmine’s been created in the form of feisty handmaiden Dalia (Nasid Pedrad). Jafar will also have a human stooge instead of the mischievous parrot Iago. And, last but not least, Billy Magnussen stars as Prince Anders, an arrogant suitor for Jasmine.
As for the songs, many of the original tracks will remain in tact, with La La Land‘s Pasek and Paul providing two new numbers which will be a solo for Jasmine and a new duet between her and Al. Though presumably, it won’t be replacing “A Whole New World,” one of the most famous songs in the Disney canon.
Be sure to catch Aladdin when it flies into theaters on a magic carpet on May 24th.