Kazaam

Kazaam is a 1996 American fantasy family musical comedy film directed by Paul M. Glaser and stars Shaquille O'Neal as the title character Kazaam, a 5,000-year-old genie who appears from a magic boombox to grant a boy three wishes. The film was released on July 17, 1996 and was both a critical disaster and a box office bomb, barely grossing $19 million on its $20 million budget.

Plot

The film begins with a very big wrecking ball destroying an abandoned building. The impact knocks over a magic lamp inside of the building, causing it to land on a boombox. The genie inside decides to make residence inside the boombox from there on in.

Meanwhile, a schoolboy named Max (Francis Capra) goes to school. He greets his friend, Jake (portrayed by Jake Glaser, director Paul Michael Glaser's son), with a goofy face and is chastised by his teacher. Max is confronted by a gang of bullies, who hold him on the bathroom floor and spray paint his outline. The bullies chase Max through Brooklyn. Max is chased into the abandoned building, where he discovers the boombox and accidentally unleashes the genie inside. The genie, who introduces himself as Kazaam (Shaquille O'Neal), tells Max that he is now Max's genie and proves it to him by demonstrating his powers, which results in Kazaam disappearing off the face of the earth.

Kazaam (soundtrack)

Kazaam is the soundtrack to the Shaquille O'Neal movie of the same name. The soundtrack was released on June 19, 1996 for Perspective/A&M Records. It featured two hit singles, Nathan Morris (of Boyz II Men), "Wishes" which made it to number 86 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 56 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop singles & tracks and Subway's "I'll Make Your Dreams Come True", which made it to number 64 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop singles and tracks. Other artists who appeared on the soundtrack include, Usher, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes (of TLC), Immature, DJ Spinderella, Jason Weaver and Backstreet Boys, as well as three tracks by Shaquille O'Neal, including a duet with co-star Wade J. Robson, who played "Elito" in the film, entitled, "We Genie". It also featured two music videos from the soundtrack which featured clips from the film: "I'll Make Your Dreams Come True" by Subway, and "Wishes" by Nathan Morris (of Boyz II Men).

Track listing

References