Aladdin – Dan Cohen
“Riffraff. Street rat.” Yadda, yadda, yadda, you know the rest. When I thought of which Disney movie I’d like to see get the live action treatment, Aladdin was instantly the first one to come to mind, and for one simple reason – it’s the most cinematic. You got lavish palaces, sword fights, CG animals galore, Indiana Jones-style action, and elaborate flying scenes. I personally would love to see Daniel Day-Lewis voice Abu the monkey. As good as this adaptation would look on film though, the real problem would be casting the Genie.
Obviously, the Genie would have to be CG in a live action world, but I’m thinking whoever does the voice would also be doing motion capture. The late Robin Williams gave one of the all time iconic performances as this character, so good luck to whoever gets saddled with that burden. Jim Carrey would be an ideal choice as he definitely has the stature of Williams, and can match his intensity. The problem there is you’d be getting a very similar performance, although I’m sure he’d do a great job. I could also see Jack Black knocking this out of the park. Bottom-line: this would be your most critical decision in making the movie. If this film ever happened, they’d probably call up Josh Gad.
Iago the parrot would also be a tough call, as that role was made for Gilbert Gottfried, aside from the Principal in Problem Child of course. If we’re doing fantasy casting, might as well throw Christoph Waltz in the mix for Jafar.
If you got the right pieces in place, this could make for one hell of a movie, although you’d need an absurd budget. I’ve got to think Aladdin still has some juice though, and would bring a lot of business in with the nostalgia crowd. I’ll always contend that Aladdin has the best library of Disney songs, which are ripe for the picking in a live action format.
Make it happen.
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