Return to Agrabah
‘Aladdin’ teaser offers a glimpse of the titular hero, played by Mena Massoud
Aladdin touches nothing but the lamp in the first teaser trailer for Disney’s new eponymous live-action film. The Aladdin teaser, released Friday, does quite a bit of scene-setting in Agrabah to the tune of the 1992 animated film’s Arabian Nights and Friend Like Me before offering a glimpse of Aladdin, who is played by Mena Massoud of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan.
Alas, there’s nary a whiff of Will Smith’s blue Genie or any of the other beloved characters despite Smith’s tease earlier this week. Instead, the trailer flies on the wings of the parrot Iago — or what appears to be him — through the arid desert before landing in front of the mysterious Cave of Wonders, filled with mountains of treasure and the sought-after magic lamp. “Only one may enter here,” warns the tiger-mouthed cave, “one whose worth lies far within: The diamond in the rough.”
Spoiler alert: It’s Aladdin.
The film, reviving the Oscar-winning box office smash and the successful Broadway adaptation, will too tell the tale of the charming street rat, the courageous and self-determined Princess Jasmine (Naomi Scott) and the Genie (Smith) who may be the key to their future, according to Disney. Director Guy Ritchie (Sherlock Holmes, Snatch) also co-wrote the film with John August and was tapped by the House of Mouse to bring his “flair for fast-paced, visceral action to the fictitious port city of Agrabah,” the studio said.