Rumor: Will Smith to Return as The Genie in ‘Aladdin 2’ in His First Role Since The Oscars Slap

Will Smith has been out of the limelight since the now infamous slap he gave to Chris Rock at last years Oscar’s ceremony. Well, according to The Sun, Smith is making his return in Disney’s Aladdin sequel.

Before you continue reading on, it should be noted The Sun is a British tabloid and most tabloids are known for news stories that are over-exaggerated, sensationalized, or falsified for the sake of grabbing readers’ attention and generating higher profit. We have seen on numerous occasions rumors like this happening, most recently their report that Harry Styles has signed a multi-picture deal with Marvel Studios to return as the eternal, Eros aka Starfox, that would have him returning for up to five movies.

Back to Aladdin 2, per the tabloid, Will Smith is back as the Genie. An insider shared what they have heard on the situation. “He [Smith] has done a lot of work on himself and the consensus is that it will all be very much in the past by the time the movie is released. So Disney is keen to stand by him and bring him back into the fold.”

At this time, Disney has yet to confirm or greenlight an Aladdin sequel, so take this news with a grain of salt. That said, I would expect Disney to get this done thanks to the financial and critical success of the first film, which grossed over $1 billion at the global box office in 2019.

A script for an Aladdin sequel was written by John Gatins (2017’s Power Rangers) and Straight Outta Compton scribe Andrea Berloff after winning over the studio with their pitch. Dan Lin and Jonathan Erich who produced the original film, and are producing the live-action Lilo & Stitch and Inspector Gadget remakes are set to return with their Rideback production banner. It is unknown but from what I hear is unlikely that director Guy Ritchie would return.

Aladdin stars Mena Massoud (Jack Ryan) as Aladdin, Naomi Scott (Power Rangers) as Jasmine, Will Smith (Bad Boys) as the iconic Genie, Marwan Kenzari (The Mummy 2017) as the villainous Jafar, Numan Acar (Prison Break) as Head of the guards Akim, Navid Negahban (Homeland) as The Sultan, Nasim Pedrad (SNL) as Dalia, Billy Magnussen (Into The Woods) as Prince Anders, and Alan Tudyk (Ralph Breaks The Internet) as the voice of Iago.

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