Mena Massoud, Naomi Scott, and Will Smith to Lead Live-Action ALADDIN

Disney has found its live-action ALADDIN cast! The starring role goes to Mena Massoud. He will be joined by Naomi Scott as Princess Jasmine and Will Smith as Genie. The cast was officially announced at the D23 Expo.

Guy Ritchie will helm the live-action re-imagining of Disney's Aladdin. The project marks the latest in a string of upcoming live-action reboots of Disney classics, including BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, in theaters March 17th, MARY POPPINS RETURNS, out Christmas Day, 2018, MULAN and THE LION KING. In recent years, the studio has produced live-action incarnations of MALEFICENT, CINDERELLA and THE JUNGLE BOOK. The latter delivered over $900 million at the worldwide box office.

The 1992 animated musical fantasy film Aladdin was the 31st Disney animated feature film, and was part of the Disney film era known as the Disney Renaissance. The film was directed by John Musker and Ron Clements, and is based on the Arab-style folktale Aladdin and the Magic Lamp from One Thousand and One Nights. THE VOICE cast featurEd Scott Weinger, Robin Williams, Linda Larkin,Jonathan Freeman, Frank Welker, Gilbert Gottfried, and Douglas Seale.

The musical score was written by Alan Menken and features six songs with lyrics written by both Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, who took over after Ashman's death. Aladdin was released on November 25, 1992 and was the most successful film of 1992, earning over $217 million in revenue in the United States, and over $504 million worldwide. The film also won many awards, most of them for its soundtrack. The film is considered by many as the best film that came out during the Disney Renaissance. Aladdin's success led to other material inspired by the film, including two direct-to-video sequels, The Return of Jafar and Aladdin and the King of Thieves, an animated television series of the same name.