Aladdin live-action remake: Mena Massoud and Naomi Scott cast in lead roles for Guy Ritchie's film

Guy Ritchie’s highly anticipated Aladdin film has finally found its cast. Firstpost had earlier reported that the director had been finding it difficult to zero-in on the cast of his live-action remake. However, the members of the film were announced at the D23 Expo 2017 in California.

The team’s prolonged search for Aladdin has ended with Mena Massoud, an Egyptian-Canadian actor. Naomi Scott will play Jasmine, Aladdin’s love interest. Powerhouse performer Will Smith has been finalised as the Genie, as per Variety.com.

Ritchie had been having a hard time finding a relatively fresh face for Aladdin, who also looked Middle-Eastern. Scott and Smith were, however, being considered from the very start. By getting his hands on an actor of Egyptian descent, Ritchie seems to have finally gotten it right with the casting.

There were reports of the director reaching out to Tess Jospeh, Mumbai based casting director to help him cast Indian faces for the leading roles. Bollywood actor Siddharth Gupta was also, apparently, being considered to play the urchin. However, all the rumours have now been put to rest with the announcement of the actual cast.

The film is based on a story from Arabian Nights, a collection of Middle-Eastern folktales. The story is about Aladdin, an urchin who stumbles upon a lamp one day and is granted three wishes by the Genie inhabiting the lamp, turning his life upside down.