Disney Defends Will Smith’s Genie in Live-Action Aladdin

As previously reported, Disney released a new trailer for the upcoming live-action remake of Aladdin, which featured the first look at Will Smith as the Genie of the Lamp. The footage of Will Smith’s Genie received a great deal of criticism and derision after it was released online. Walt Disney Studios later spoke to USA Today and responded to the criticism with a statement.

The statement from Disney reads, “We have one of the most anticipated films of the year and are confident that audiences will fall in love with the Genie and all of the characters when it hits the big screen this May.”

Also, director Raja Gosnell commented on how Twitter can hurt films, noting the response to the reveal for his 2011 live-action adaptation of The Smurfs, relating it to what happened now with Disney’s Aladdin. He stated, “We didn’t have the Twitter world back then that we have now, thank God. But that unveiling was met with levels of horror and gnashing of teeth by the online community. There is always going to be some sort of outcry by the keyboard warriors. It was going to be the same thing with the blue Genie from ‘Aladdin.'”

The 2011 Smurfs movie made $142 million domestically and $563 million worldwide. However, the 2013 sequel did about half the business in the US, making only $71 million and about $347 million worldwide. Both films received mostly negative critical reviews.

Aladdin is due out on May 24 from Disney.