Kazaam (/kəˈzæm/) is a 1996 American musical fantasy comedy film directed by Paul Michael Glaser, written by Christian Ford and Roger Soffer based on a story by Glaser, and starring Shaquille O'Neal as the title character, a 5,000-year-old genie who appears from a magic boombox to grant a 14-year-old boy three wishes.

In the story, a wrecking ball demolishes an abandoned building, causing a magic lamp inside to fall onto a boombox.

Max notices his father during his journey home and discovers that his mother plans to marry a fireman named Travis O'Neil.

Max resents Travis and confronts his mother about hiding the truth about his real father's whereabouts.

Although Max initially does not care about his father's profession, he is happy to see him and is introduced to the employees of Nick's agency.

Kazaam persuades Max to make his first wish, causing junk food to rain from the sky.

[3] After saying yes, the acquaintance asked, in passing, if he knew of any film roles for Shaquille to which Glaser replied, 'He should play a genie.'

[3] Glaser had to have a screenplay and a green light in ten and a half weeks, or he wouldn't be able to make the movie as Shaquille had to go back to basketball camp.

[3] The script was written in six and a half weeks with production commencing after ten before going into Turnaround where it was acquired by Disney.

The site's critical consensus reads, "Crafted from a mix of genre clichés, Kazaam doesn't know what kind of film it wants to be, and Shaq's larger-than-life charisma is stifled by rote filmmaking and an unimaginative story.

[...] the filmmakers didn't care to extend themselves beyond the obvious commercial possibilities of their first dim idea.

[citation needed] In a 2012 interview with GQ magazine, O'Neal said: "I was a medium-level juvenile delinquent from Newark who always dreamed about doing a movie.

After endlessly scouring the internet, you'd come up with nothing, despite your own distinct memories of a bunch of ants going on wild hijinks through the undergrowth.

Many people falsely remember a similar 1990s film titled Shazaam, starring comedian and actor Sinbad as a genie.

Fury of the Gods (2023), director David F. Sandberg planned to give Sinbad a cameo role as a nod to the alleged 1990s film.