A trailer for Disney’s live-action Aladdin features Egyptian-Canadian actor Mena Massoud as the legendary adventurer Aladdin of the tale from the One Thousand and One Nights. The film is scheduled for screening next May.
Massoud this became the third Egyptian-born actor to carve a niche for himself in Hollywood. The first was Rami Malek who won the Golden Globe for best actor for his role as Queen band main vocalist the legendary Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody, which achieved USD800 million after it was screened last January 2019.
Malek is himself the second Egyptian to win a Golden Globe after Omar Sharif who had won it for his role as Dr Zhivago in the 1995 film Doctor Zhivago.
Massoud was born on 17 September 1991 to Egyptian parents in Ontario, Canada. In July 2017, he was cast to play Aladdin in Disney’s live-action remake of Aladdin. On TV, his roles include Jared Malik in the 2015 series Open Heart, and Tarek Kassar in the Amazon series Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan; as well as a voice performance in the “Watch Dogs 2” Game.
Produced in 1992, Aladdin is one of the American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The film was the 31st Disney animated feature film, and the fourth produced during the Disney film era known as the Disney Renaissance. It was produced and directed by Ron Clements and John Musker, and is based on the Arabic folktale with the same name from One Thousand and One Nights and the French interpretation by Antoine Galland.
Directed by British filmmaker Guy Ritchie, the new Aladdin stars Egyptian-Canadian actor Mena Massoud as the street urchin Aladdin who falls for the princess Jasmine, played by Naomi Scott. Will Smith plays the genie.
Watani International
16 April 2019
