Kazaam

Max Conner is a twelve-year-old city kid whose parents have separated and whose mother has a new partner he does not get along with. After running into a gang of neighborhood bullies, Max takes shelter in an abandoned building, tumbles into a crate and accidentally frees Kazaam, a genie who has been trapped for three thousand years. Kazaam is not thrilled about being summoned, but the arrangement calls for him to grant Max three wishes. The two spend time together while Max searches for his father. The genie's magic initially fails to work as expected, and once his powers return, a series of elaborate spectacles follows.

Paul Michael Glaser directed the film, his fourth feature after The Running Man, The Cutting Edge and The Air Up There. Shaquille O'Neal plays Kazaam and Francis Capra plays Max, with Ally Walker, Marshall Manesh, James Acheson and Fawn Reed in supporting roles. The screenplay is by Christian Ford and Roger Soffer. The film was released in July 1996 and runs 94 minutes.

Made for around 20 million dollars, Kazaam took in roughly 19 million worldwide, finishing below its production cost. On IMDb it holds a critics' rating of 3.2 out of 10 from 37 reviews, while on TMDB audience voters give it 4.2 out of 10 from 321 votes, so both critics and audiences rate it poorly, with audiences only slightly more positive.