London: Director Guy Ritchie says his live-action remake of Disney's 1992 animated classic, 'Aladdin', is about representing a "multicultural Middle Eastern part of the world."
Speaking at a press conference for the film on May 10, alongside stars Will Smith, Mena Massoud and Naomi Scott, Ritchie said his vision was "in part fantasy," but with "an organic tone that just seemed natural."
The casting of the movie, he added, reflected that.
"That's really what we were after... a multicultural representation of what we thought this part of the world should have been. So hence we have the cast that we have."
Smith stars as the Genie - stepping into the shoes of the late Robin Williams whose performance in the Disney animation became instantly iconic.
Massoud plays the eponymous kind-hearted street urchin, with Scott as Princess Jasmine and Marwan Kenzari as nefarious sorcerer Jafar.
"I think sometimes that great films, they represent something greater than themselves," said the Egyptian-born Massoud. "I'm not labeling our film in any which way, but I think we represent this movement that's beginning to happen in Hollywood that ethnic diverse groups can lead Hollywood films to the finish line and hopefully we can do that, so then we can keep making films like this. We can keep giving people opportunities and we can keep aiming towards equality and inclusiveness."
'Aladdin' also stars Navid Negahban as The Sultan and Frank Welker as the voice of Aladdin's pet monkey Abu.
The film hits big screens on May 24.
With inputs from APTN
