LOS ANGELES:- ‘Homeland’ actor Numan Acar has been cast to play Jafar’s right hand man in Disney’s live-action remake of ‘Aladdin’. Numan Acar has been cast in the Disney live-action remake of ‘Aladdin’. The ‘Homeland’ actor is reportedly set to play Hakim - who is head of the guards and right hand man to the feature’s villain Jafar - in the upcoming Guy Ritchie directed movie, according to Deadline. Acar joins Will Smith as The Genie, Naomi Scott as Princess Jasmine and Mena Massoud as the titular street urchin and Marwan Kenzari as Jafar.

Former ‘Saturday Night Live’ star Nasim Pedrad has been chosen to play new character Mara, a handmaiden and friend to Jasmine. Smith, Scott and Massoud were all announced for ‘Aladdin’ at Disney’s D23 Expo in California last month. ‘Charlie and The Chocolate Factory’ writer John August has penned the script for the musical movie, which is believed to be non-linear in its structure, something that is a hallmark of Ritchie’s early work on movies like cult British crime romps ‘Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels’ and ‘Snatch’. The story is based on the Middle Eastern folk tale of Aladdin who is granted three wishes by a genie who is captive inside a magic lamp. The 1992 original animated feature - which saw the late great Robin Williams voice The Genie - won two Oscars, Best Music and Original Song for ‘A Whole New World’. ‘Aladdin’ has also been turned into a hit stage show playing at theatres all over the world. The movie is just one of the many films that Disney are rebooting, as new versions of ‘Dumbo’, ‘Mulan’, ‘Peter Pan’, ‘The Lion King’, ‘Pocahontas’ and ‘The Little Mermaid’ are also in the works. Meanwhile, the recent live-action remake of 1991’s ‘Beauty and the Beast’ - starring Emma Watson as Belle and Dan Stevens as The Beast - has been a huge hit, banking more than $1 billion at the box office worldwide, currently making it the 21st highest-grossing film of all-time. Angelina Jolie starred as the titular villain in the ‘Sleeping Beauty’ inspired ‘Maleficent’, Johnny Depp played The Mad Hatter in ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and Lily James took the title role in ‘Cinderella’.