Aladdin: Will Smith says Genie in upcoming live-action remake will pay homage to Robin Williams

Will Smith, who is taking on the role of Genie in Disney’s live-action feature Aladdin , says his version of the beloved character will be a “homage” to Robin Williams. [caption id=“attachment_5347251” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Will Smith. Image from Twitter[/caption] Williams, who died in 2014, had voiced the character in Disney’s animated musical in 1992. Smith, 50, said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that he was initially “terrified” to accept the part. “Whenever you’re doing things that are iconic, it’s always terrifying. The question is always: where was there meat left on the bone? Robin didn’t leave a lot of meat on the bone with the character,” the actor said. Smith said he later developed confidence to “deliver something that was a homage to Robin Williams but was musically different”. “Just the flavour of the character would be different enough and unique enough that it would be in a different lane, versus trying to compete,” he added. The Guy Ritchie-directed film, also stars Naomi Scott, who played the Pink Ranger in the 2017 Power Rangers movie as Princess Jasmine and Mena Massoud as the title character. The main star cast will be accompanied by Marwan Kenzari, who will be playing the role of Jafar, Billy Magnussen will be seen as Prince Anders and Navid Negahban portraying the Sultan. Although Nasim Pedrad’s character as Dalia did not appear in the animated original, she is said to serve as Jasmine’s confidante in the 2019 version. The 2019 fantasy film will not only have the original classic tunes of its 1992 predecessor, but also new music from composer Alan Menken, states  The Hollywood Reporter. Aladdin will hit the theaters on 24 May, 2019. (With inputs from Press Trust of India)