Aladdin: Disney's live-action adaptation casts its Jafar

Marwan Kenzari and Nasim Pedrad will join the already announced Mena Massoud, Naomi Scott, and Will Smith

One of the final pieces to Disney's live-action remake of Aladdin has fallen into place.

The Hollywood Reporter states the studio has found its Jafar in Marwan Kenzari, who's already set to have a major breakout role in Kenneth Branagh's star-studded Murder on the Orient Express.

There are still a few roles left to fill - who's going to play that smart-mouthed parrot Iago, for example? - but Disney is getting very close to this project being production ready, with Kenzari joining the already announced Mena Massoud (as Aladdin), Naomi Scott (as Jasmine), and Will Smith (as the Genie).

Saturday Night Live's Nasim Pedrad is also joining the cast in the newly created role of Mara, a handmaiden and friend to Jasmine.

Considering Jasmine's only friend in the original 1992 animation is a tiger, adding a human companion into the mix might ease the burden on the special effects department slightly, with the role being described as comic relief.

Guy Ritchie is set to direct, working off a script by John August (Corpse Bridge, Big Fish), re-mixing a live-action take on Disney's version of the classic folktale of One Thousand and One Nights fame, in which street orphan Aladdin pretends to be a prince in order to win the hand of Princess Jasmine.