DUBAI: Will Smith is reportedly in talks to play the role of Genie in Guy Ritchie’s live-action version of Aladdin.
Deadline reported that Smith is in the early stages of talks to star in the Disney film.
The report follows casting calls for Middle Eastern-looking auditionees in what seems to be an attempt to avoid whitewashing by the filmmakers.
The casting call asks for actors between the ages of 18-25 to apply for the coveted lead roles of Aladdin and Princess Jasmine and states that singing and dance skills are “a plus.”
Disney’s original animated version of Aladdin featuring the voice of the late Robin Williams hit cinema screens in 1992, and became the highest-grossing film of the year. A pair of straight-to-video sequels followed, but Williams reportedly stated in his will that his out-takes from the original film could never be used to make another sequel.
The new Aladdin movie is to be the latest in Disney’s successful series of live-action remakes based on its classic animated films.
“Beauty And The Beast,” starring Emma Watson as Belle, was one of the most anticipated movies of 2017 and has so far grossed over $1 billion worldwide.
Will Smith ‘in talks’ to play Genie in Disney’s Aladdin
Will Smith ‘in talks’ to play Genie in Disney’s Aladdin
Vietnam police find frozen tiger bodies, arrest two men
Vietnamese police have found two dead tigers inside freezers in a man’s basement, arresting him and another for illicit trade in the endangered animal, the force said Saturday.
The Southeast Asian country is a consumption hub and popular trading route for illegal animal products, including tiger bones which are used in traditional medicine.
Police in Thanh Hoa province, south of the capital Hanoi, said they had found the frozen bodies ot two adult tigers, weighing about 400 kilograms (882 pounds) in total, in the basement of 52-year-old man Hoang Dinh Dat.
In a statement posted online, police said the man told officers he had bought the animals for two billion dong ($77,000), identifying the seller as 31-year-old Nguyen Doan Son.
Both had been arrested earlier this week, police said.
According to the statement, the buyer had equipment to produce so-called tiger bone glue, a sticky substance believed to heal skeletal ailments.
Tigers used to roam Vietnam’s forests, but have now disappeared almost entirely.
