Actor Marwan Kenzari is in negotiations to play Jafar in Disneys live-action Aladdin reboot from director Guy Ritchie.

Nasim Pedrad has also joined the cast as a handmaiden and friend to Jasmine, played by Naomi Scott.

Other confirmed members of the cast include Mena Massoud, who will portray the title character, and Will Smith, who will voice Genie (a role made famous by late Robin Williams in the animated classic).

John August, whose credits include Big Fish, wrote the new Aladdin script. The original animated movie was a comic take on the folk tale about a young man granted three wishes by a genie trapped in a lamp.

Aladdin was the highest-grossing Hollywood film of the year in 1992, and won Oscars for Best Score and Best Song for A Whole New World.

Kenzari will soon be seen in Murder on the Orient Express, where he plays the conductor. He also appeared in The Mummy opposite Tom Cruise, Ben-Hur and The Promise.

source: GULF NEWS