Entertainment Weekly Images & Cover Reveal First Look at Will Smith’s Genie, Naomi Scott’s Jasmine & More

By Jake Berlin on December 19, 2018 • ( 1 Comment )

Disney is taking over the world. 2019 is going to be the biggest year the company has ever had. Not only are they releasing big tent pole properties like Avengers: End Game and Star Wars: Episode IX, but a number of live-action remakes of their classic animated features are hitting theaters. One of those is Aladdin, which will be brought to life from director Guy Ritchie, who has recently done films like King Arthur: Legend of the Sword and The Man from U.N.C.L.E.. A short time ago we received a first teaser for the film, which you can see our reaction to it below, but now, thanks to Entertainment Weekly, we have a really good look at Ritchie’s sand-filled adventure in new images and a cover.

EW surprised everyone early this morning with the release of their upcoming issue, which features a spread of Disney’s upcoming and highly-anticipated remake. Not only does the spread feature a snazzy cover that fully reveals Will Smith’s Genie and Naomi Scott’s Jasmine, but the set of first images give us our first look at Jafar, played by Marwan Kenzari, Jasmine’s best friend Dalia, played by Nasmin Pedrad, and of course Abu, Aladdin’s popular sidekick. It’s also worth mentioning that the images give us fans as audience members a great indication to what the film will look like. It looks beautiful. I really like the set design, it looks exactly how a live-action Aladdin movie should when being brought to life.

Now, of course, look can only go so far, especially when it comes to something as sensitive as a remake of a beloved animated film. While trailers have the chance of blowing people away and completely surprising them, there will no doubt be haters leading up to the film. I’ve read many people online who don’t like the idea of this movie being made or this movie being made by a director like Ritchie. While it was an interesting choice, I personally enjoy Ritchie as a director. His movies are very different, but I do believe he knows what he’s working with. While only a teaser, the first trailer didn’t give me any sense of doubt or frustration that he will use his creative style on this project. With how Disney has been developing their live-action remakes as of late, I don’t see why they would veer from the path now. Hopefully it comes out as good as we possibly hope it can be.

Anyway, now that you’ve heard my thoughts, what do you think? First off, how did you like the initial teaser? Did you get you excited? How about these images? Are you excited from what you are seeing or still waiting to be sold? How about Smith’s Genie and Scott’s Jasmine? Are they great castings? Do you like their looks? Sound off in everything Aladdin in the comments below! Also starring Mena Massound as Aladdin, Navid Negahban, Billy Magnussen and Numan Acar, Ritchie’s Aladdin arrives in theaters on May 24th, 2019.