14 Castings For New Movies That Prove Hollywood Has Gone Insane

7. Will Smith - The Genie (Aladdin)

Despite Disney's assurances that they were casting an all Arabic cast for the live action Aladdin remake, the studio broke their rule by hiring Will Smith to play the genie. He follows in the impossible to fill shoes of Robin Williams, who should have been cast again had tragedy not intervened (after all James Earl Jones is playing Mufasa again).

Simply put, Smith isn't the same type of actor as he was when he was playing more cartoonish roles who might suit the idea of the genie. He's now an awards darling and largely works in dramas, and the idea of him being encouraged to be annoying without the same sort of performative range as Williams is a little worrying.

Will It Work?

The one real benefit here is that it could have been far, far worse.