Aladdin remake: FIRST LOOK at Genie – Will Smith on CHALLENGE of following Robin Williams

The 50-year-old star plays the magical Genie in Guy Richie’s live-action remake of Aladdin. And his first look has been revealed in this week’s Entertainment Weekly, which is released on Friday. Wearing a similar blue and golden garb to that of the stage musical version of his character, Smith’s Genie also sports a long goatee and impressive top knot. While Smith is a huge star, he has some huge shoes to fill in following up Robin Williams’ iconic take in the animated version – and that’s something the star is far from unaware of. 

Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Smith said: “Whenever you’re doing things that are iconic, it’s always terrifying.

“The question is always: ‘Where was there meat left on the bone?’ Robin didn’t leave a lot of meat on the bone with the character.

“[He] infused the character with a timeless version of himself.

“I started to feel confident that I could deliver something that was a homage to Robin Williams but was musically different.”

Smith continued: “Just the flavour of the character would be different enough and unique enough that it would be in a different lane, versus trying to compete.”

The actor said he’s based his Genie on an amalgamation of his characters from his 1990s catalogue ala Independence Day, Bad Boys and, of course, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

He added: “I think it’ll stand out as unique even in the Disney world.

“There hasn’t been a lot of that hip-hop flavour in Disney history.”