FRESH PIRINCE
“STARK TERROR!” THIS is not an emotion you expect Will Smith, a man who has survived aliens, perps, robots and the word ‘Willennium’, to ever experience. But the thing that gave one of the biggest stars on the planet the heebie-jeebies, he divulges to Empire, was the prospect of taking on the Genie, previously played by Robin Williams, in a live-action do-over of Aladdin.
“As a general rule as an actor, you stay a long way away from reimaginings of roles when actors have not left a lot of room to improve it,” Smith continues. “‘Hey, Will! We’re remaking The Godfather. We want you for the Marlon Brando role.’ There has to be meat on the bone…”
Smith’s nerves were entirely understandable. 1992’s is one of the most beloved blockbusters of Disney’s renaissance era, a freewheeling tale featuring a Tom Cruise-a-like street rat, a sparky pole-vaulting princess, a motormouth genie, Spielbergian action and show-stopping songs (‘Friend Like Me’, ‘A Whole New World’), all wrapped up in a message about finding worth within yourself. Back then, following and , the movie solidified the studio’s golden streak. And almost three decades on, it was inevitable that would join the ranks of the studio’s live-action remakes. What is perhaps more surprising is that the new version is
