Yahoo Movies Guy Ritchie CONFIRMED to direct Aladdin, according to casting call
It was a bit of a surprise when Disney announced there was to be an ‘Aladdin’ live-action remake, but even more shocking was that Guy Ritchie was attached.
However, with his name linked to direct only having been speculative, it’s now been confirmed (but not officially by Disney, it must be said) that he’s helming the project.
According to the site Movie Casting Call, the listing that was uploaded by Alan Baltes, a member of the Screen Actors Guild and part of the Disney Channel national talent search, has advertised roles in Disney’s ‘Aladdin’.
Posted on Friday, the ad asks for newcomers to assume the roles of Aladdin and Yasmin. The wording is as follows;
‘The Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures live-action adventure musical feature film “Aladdin” will be casting two unknown newcomers to play the lead roles of Aladdin and Jasmine. BAFTA Award winner Dan Lin is producing the film, and he has stated that the director will be looking to cast newcomers in the major roles of Aladdin and Jasmine, and that they will be discovering new people that must have acting and singing abilities. Filming will take place in London and all talent must have legal eligibility requirements to work in the United Kingdom in the entertainment industry.’
However, at the end of the casting director’s post, there is a blurb about the production which states that Ritchie is directing the film.
‘MTV Movie Awards winner Guy Ritchie will be directing “Aladdin” from an adapted screenplay written by Grammy Award nominee John August based on the animated classic, about a street urchin who vies for the love of a beautiful princess, and uses a genie’s magic power to make himself off as a prince in order to marry her. Max Keene will co-produce with Dan Lin. Lin Pictures president Jonathan Eirich will serve as executive producer.’
Sure, it might simply be a case that this is the current name linked to the film, but to post an official casting call through these channels you’d think they’d have the actual, accurate information to hand.
Interestingly, it sells Ritchie as being an ‘MTV Movie Awards winner’, rather than citing any of his big, defining movies, such as ‘Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels’, ‘Snatch’, and ‘The Man From U.N.C.L.E.’. But the likelihood is the ad’s appeal is more catered towards the MTV crowd than those into cockney gangster films from the ’90s.
A live-action ‘Aladdin’ is, in actuality, something that was inevitable from Disney – considering the successes of live-action adaptation like ‘Maleficent’, ‘Cinderella’, and last year’s ‘The Jungle Book’. However, it’s still interesting when these things are actually announced because long term fans may find it hard to imagine their beloved characters going from hand drawn cartoons to real-life (and CGI) people.
‘Aladdin’ currently has no cinema release date yet.
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