Will Smith Returning To Role For Beloved Movie Sequel?
2019 brought together one of the biggest names in acting, one of the biggest names in directing, and one of the biggest production companies in the world. While Disney has been revisiting all of its classic animated films, one of its most successful was the live-action remake of the Guy Ritchie/Will Smith vehicle, Aladdin. Recently, in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the legendary director confessed that he wouldn’t hesitate to cast the actor in Aladdin 2, as he stated, “I wouldn’t have any issue casting Will Smith in anything, because, as I say, he was just the f****** perfect gentleman.”
During day two of the Red Sea International Film Festival in Saudi Arabia, Ritchie discussed that while his trip to the festival was the director’s first trip to Saudi Arabia, he revealed that he had been to the Middle East before, primarily to film a large portion of Aladdin. The revelation and a statement he made about a part of his future lying there brought up the conversation of the live-action sequel and the possibility of the actor returning to the franchise. Ritchie told THR that he had a great experience with Will Smith and he would cast him in Aladdin 2.
There may be a bit of a wait for fans to see Smith put on the genie costume again as Guy Ritchie is already working with a full schedule as he has three projects on the way before Will Smith could return in 2025’s Aladdin 2. First up, Ritchie is reteaming with his Man from U.N.C.L.E. star Henry Cavill and Eiza Gonzalez for The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare and The Interpreter starring Emily Beecham and Jake Gyllenhaal. He spoke about one of his more anticipated projects in his interview with The Hollywood Reporter, a small-screen spin-off of his Matthew McConaughey starring marijuana film, The Gentleman.
The TV spin-off will follow Eddie Halstead, who inherited his father’s estate only to find out it’s sitting on top of the legendary Mickey Pearson’s weed empire. The series cast features Theo James (Divergent and Underworld: Blood Wars), Kaya Scodelario (The Maze Runner and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales), Joely Richardson (The Sandman and Nip/Tuck), Vinnie Jones (Gone in 60 Seconds and Snatch), and Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad and The Mandalorian). After addressing the possibility of Will Smith returning for Aladdin 2, the director said filming The Gentleman was more fun than he thought it would be.
Will Smith has been dealing with his own rocky road the last year as he has been attempting to rescue his career from the fallout of his infamous Oscars slap. The transgression didn’t seem to slow him down too much, however, as he is seeing the release of his film, Emancipation, release on Apple TV. He also has three more starring roles on the horizon, including Bad Boys 4. But Will Smith has a lot of room in his schedule to appear as the genie in Aladdin 2.
Whether you are a fan of Disney, Guy Ritchie, or Will Smith, there is a lot to look forward to, and the director isn’t hesitant at all to bring the latter back for round two in Agrabah. Considering Aladdin made a staggering $1 billion at the box office, we would imagine that Disney would not mind if a sequel was put together either.
