“Be careful what you wish for, lest it come true.”

“Aesop’s Fables”

(Circa 260 BC)

“3,000 Years Of Longing,” which is about a djinn (pronounced “gin”), or genie, in a bottle, rubbed me the wrong way.

Michael “Movie Maven” Gontkosky of Whitehall said it best, “After seeing this film, I need a djinn and tonic.”

Call it “The Djinn Game” or “The Djinn Mill,” there have been numerous movies about the genie in a bottle.

Genie in a bottle-themed movies are often based on “One Thousand and One Nights,” a collection of Middle Eastern folks tales.

In the Islam faith, a genie, or djinn, is a spirit, angel or devil. Some believe that a djinn can take the form of a human. Some say a djinn has the power to produce hallucinations in humans.

That is the direction that director George Miller took with “3,000 Years of Longing.” You don’t know whether seeing is believing.

Miller co-wrote the screenplay with Augusta Gore, (feature film screenplay debut), based on a short story, “The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye” (1994), by A. S. Byatt.

Genies have popped out of bottles for a century in cinema, at least 60 movies by my count, including:

“The 7th Voyage of Sinbad” (1958), a Technicolor feature film; “Ali Baba Bunny” (1957), a “Merry Melodies” Bugs Bunny cartoon short directed by Chuck Jones; “Bowery to Bagdad” (1955), starring the Bowery Boys; “The Thief of Bagdad” (1940) and “The Brass Bottle” (1964, 1923), based on a 1900 novel.

Many genie in a bottle movies devolve into horror films when a dream wish turns into a nightmare. Yes, be careful what you wish for.

Most famously is the Walt Disney Motion Pictures’ animation feature film, “Aladdin” (1992) with Robin Williams voicing the Genie, and a live-action remake, “Aladdin” (2019), starring Will Smith as the Genie. Smith’s wish might be to make his 2022 Academy Awards’ host Chris Rock smack-down disappear from the viewing public’s collective consciousness.

And, of course, there’s TV’s “I Dream of Jeannie” (1965-1970), starring Barbara Eden as “a 2,000-year-old sultry genie.” I’d like to meet her plastic surgeon.

“3,000 Years of Longing” has a lot to live up to, not the least of which is “Kazaam” (1996), starring Shaquille O’Neal, and “Duck Tales: Treasure of the Lost Lamp “ (1990).

In “3,000 Years of Longing,” The Dijinn (Idris Elba) is released from an ornamental bottle purchased by Alithea (Tilda Swinton), a British scholar of story and mythology, during a trip to Istanbul, Turkey, to deliver a lecture, “Adventures in Narratology.” The Djinn grants her three wishes.

The movie-goer has some wishes, too. Read on.

The movie djinns it up with computer generated imagery. The special effects are impressive. The film is interesting to a point.

Elba (“The Beast” 2022; “Avengers: Infinity War,” 2018) and Swinton (Oscar, supporting actress “Michael Clayton,“ 2007) are fine in their roles.

The film is mostly a two-hander, with Elba and Swinton yakking away in her hotel room. They wear five-star hotel standard-issue white terry-cloth bathrobes. At times, it’s more like 3,000 years of lounging.

The hotel Istanbul scenes are very chaste, although Swinton does shoo away room service. Apparently, Eggs Benedict was not on her wish list.

The film consists mostly of flashbacks whereby The Djinn recalls centuries of his lost loves: the Queen of Sheba, the harem of Suleiman the Magnificent and a nervous loner in the Ottoman Empire.

The backstory is tilted in Elba’s favor. My first wish was to know more about the character played by Swinton.

Sure, she heads to “Istanbul (Not Constantinople)” as The Four Lads or They Might Be Giants sing. The film is slight on the whys and wherefores of the underwritten character.

My second wish was for something more from director George Miller (Oscar, animated feature film “Happy Feet,” 2006).

Missing is the intensity of “Mad Max: Fury Road, 2015; “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome,” 1985; “The Road Warrior,” 1981, and “Mad Max,” 1979”; the whimsy of “Babe: Pig in the City,” 1998; the scholarly inquiry of “Lorenzo’s Oil,” 1992, and the intrigue of “The Witches of Eastwick” (1987).

My third wish was for symbolism, significance and metaphor, more along the lines of “One Hundred Years of Solitude” (1967), the novel by Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez.

Perhaps there’s a shelf life involved. “3,000 Years of Longing” is a long time.

“Ay, there‘s the rub,” Hamlet bemoans in his soliloquy, “To be or not to be” (William Shakespeare play, “Hamlet,” Act 3, Scene 1).

Yes, that’s the problem: One can run out of wishes.

“3,000 Years of Longing,”

MPAA rated R (Restricted Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian. Contains some adult material. Parents are urged to learn more about the film before taking their young children with them.) for some sexual content, graphic nudity and brief violence; Genre: Fantasy, Drama, Romance; Run time: 1 hour, 48 minutes; Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Credit Readers Anonymous:

“3,000 Years of Longing” was filmed in Australia and Istanbul, Turkey.

At the Movies:

“3,000 Years of Longing” was seen in the standard format at AMC Center Valley 16. I was surprised that the film wasn’t screened in the Dolby format.

Theatrical Movie Domestic Box Office,

Sept. 2 - 4: It was a weekend of oldies but goodies. Re-releases dominated new releases on a very slow Labor Day weekend at the movie theater box office. It was the fifth worst weekend of the year despite the $3 all-inclusive Saturday ticket deal for “National Cinema Day.”

“Top Gun: Maverick” zoomed up three places to regain No. 1, with $6 million, in 3,113 theaters, $699.3 million, 15 weeks.

“Bullet Train” stayed at No. 2, with $5.7 million, in 3,117 theaters, $86.3 million, five weeks.

“Spider-Man: No Way Home,” in re-release with 11 minutes of footage added, $5.4 million, in 3,935 theaters. The movie is the third-biggest domestic grossing movie ever with $812 million.

4. “DC League of Super-Pets” moved up two places, $5 million, in 3,115 theaters, $80.3 million, six weeks. 5. “The Invitation” dropped four places from its one-week run at No. 1, with $4.8 million, in 3,114 theaters, $13.9 million, two weeks. 6. ”Beast” dropped three places, $4 million, in 3,217 theaters, $25.8 million, three weeks. 7. “Minions: The Rise of Gru” moved up one place, $3.5 million, in 2,457 theaters, $359.2 million, 10 weeks. 8. “Thor: Love and Thunder” moved up one place, $2.6 million, in 2,090 theaters, $340.1 million, nine weeks. 9. “Jaws,” in 3D and IMAX re-release, $2.6 million, in 1,246 theaters. 10. ”Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero,” $2.4 million, in 2,500 theaters, $34.5 million, three weeks. 13. “Three Thousand Years of Longing” dropped six places, $1.6 million, in 2,436 theaters, $5.8 million, two weeks.

Movie box office information from Box Office Mojo as of Sept. 4 is subject to change.

Unreel,

Sept. 9:

“Medieval,”

R: Petr Jákl directs Michael Caine, Ben Foster, Sophie Lowe and Matthew Goode in the History Action Drama. It’s based on the story of 15th century Czech icon and warlord Jan Zizka, who defeated armies of the Teutonic Order and the Holy Roman Empire.

“True Things,”

No MPAA rating: Harry Wootliff directs Ruth Wilson, Tom Burke, Hayley Squires and Tom Weston-Jones in the drama. A young woman falls in love with a stranger.

“Lifemark,” PG-13: Kevin Peeples directs Isabelle Almoyan, Lowrey Brown and Kirk Cameron in the drama. A teen’s life is turned upside down when his birth mother shows up.

Unreel,

Sept. 13:

“Clerks III,”

R: Kevin Smith writes, directs and stars (as Silent Bob) in the sequel. Also starring in the comedy: Ben Affleck, Rosario Dawson, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Justin Long, Fred Amisen, Brian O’Halloran (Dante), Trevor Fehrman (Elias), Jason Mewes (Jay) and Jeff Anderson (Randal). Dante, Elias, Jay and Silent Bob are asked by Randal to make a movie about the convenience store where it all began.

Movie opening dates form Internet Movie Database as of Sept. 1 are subject to change.