Once upon a time, not too long ago, Will Smith was in talks for a role in one of Disney’s live-action remakes of their animated classics, the new take on Dumbo being directed by Tim Burton.

That ultimately didn’t work out. But now comes word that he’s up for another Disney role, and it’s a much more well-known character than who he was going to play in Dumbo. It’s being reported that Smith has entered into early talks to take on the role of Genie in Disney’s live-action remake of Aladdin.

One of the reasons Smith was unable to do Dumbo was because it looked like Bad Boys 3, or Bad Boys for Life, was set to finally happen with director Joe Carnahan. But Hollywood, she can be a bit unpredictable. And after announcing that he would now be remaking The Raid with Frank Grillo, Carnahan departed the next Bad Boys project. Until a new director is found for that project (perhaps an old friend?), Smith’s schedule has opened up a bit.

Aladdin is set to be directed by Snatch, Sherlock Holmes, and King Arthur: Legend of the Sword director Guy Ritchie. Smith is the first actor whose name has been mentioned for a role, and a worldwide search is currently underway to cast the two leads.

Disney describes this new vision as an “ambitious and nontraditional take.” A second Aladdin project, a prequel titled Genies, is also being developed by Disney, though it’s not clear if Smith would also be taking part in that movie or not.

Robin Williams of course played Genie in the 1992 animated movie of the same name, a performance that will be incredibly difficult for anyone to match. I have no doubt that, if he were still with us, Disney would have first tried to bring Williams back for the role as they’re doing with James Earl Jones in their live-action Lion King remake. Some voices are simply too iconic to even try to replace.

Find more on Aladdin right here.

[Source: Heat Vision]

Follow me on Twitter.