Yahoo Movies Director Guy Ritchie 'wouldn't have any issue' bringing Will Smith back for Aladdin 2
Aladdin director Guy Ritchie has never had a Hollywood friend like Will Smith.
The filmmaker, who in 2019 reimagined Disney's animated classic as a live-action comedy with the King Richard Oscar winner starring as Genie, has revealed that he'd gladly have Smith back to reprise the role in the studio's planned sequel.
"I've never met a more lovely man, and working with him was one of the most wonderful, great experiences I've ever had," Ritchie, who's also adapting Disney's Hercules, told The Hollywood Reporter at the Red Sea International Film Festival in Saudi Arabia. "I never saw anything other than the consummate, generous gentleman. I wouldn't have any issue casting Will Smith in anything, because, as I say, he was just the f---ing perfect gentleman."
Everett Collection Will Smith with director Guy Ritchie on the set of 'Aladdin' in 2019
Many in the industry speculated that Smith would have a tough time recovering from March's heavily publicized incident in which the 53-year-old actor slapped comedian Chris Rock on stage during the live Oscars telecast after the ceremony's presenter made a joke about Smith's wife Jada Pinkett Smith's shaved head. (She has alopecia.)
However, Smith is again in the awards conversation for his lead performance in Apple's Antoine Fuqua–directed drama Emancipation after apologizing for his behavior on multiple occasions, and being banned from attending all Academy-sanctioned events for the next 10 years.
"That was a horrific night, as you can imagine," Smith told Trevor Noah on Monday night's episode of The Daily Show. "There are many nuances and complexities to it. But, at the end of the day, I lost it, and I guess what I would say: You just never know what somebody's going through, you know?"
He continued, "I was going through something that night. Not that that justifies my behavior at all. You're asking, what did I learn? It's that we've just gotta be nice to each other, man. It's hard. I guess the thing that was most painful for me is, I took my hard and made it hard for other people. I understood the idea of when they say hurt people hurt people."
Ritchie will release his latest movie, Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre, in January, while Smith's Emancipation is now playing in select theaters before its Dec. 9 streaming premiere on Apple TV+.
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