Bernard and the Genie is a 1991 British fantasy comedy-drama television film directed by Paul Weiland and written by Richard Curtis.

[2] A comic fantasy that takes its inspiration from The Book of One Thousand and One Nights, it follows Alan Cumming as an art dealer who is not having a good day.

Two thousand years later, Bernard Bottle, an art dealer for a prestigious firm in London, scores a huge sale and earns his company fifty million pounds.

Bernard learns that the man, named Josephus, is a genie who had been trapped inside the lamp for two thousand years, and that he can grant almost any wish.

The two forge a friendship in which Bernard introduces Josephus to modern food, music and entertainment, as well as using wishes to furnish his flat with expensive furniture and even the authentic Mona Lisa, which is subsequently reported missing from the Louvre.

Writer Richard Curtis was inspired to write Bernard and the Genie out of a desire for something cheerful following a viewing of an Agatha Christie adaptation which left him and his family feeling miserable.

However some reviewers criticised the quality of the release, with one complaining that the RBB logo was still visible in the corner of the picture, indicating that it was ripped from a TV broadcast.

In December 2022, it was reported that Melissa McCarthy signed on to star in a remake produced by Universal Pictures and Working Title for Peacock, and written by Curtis.