‘Aladdin’

MARWAN KANZARI, the actor who is poised to break through as part of the all-star cast of the upcoming “Murder on the Orient Express,” is in negotiations to star as the villain in Disney’s live-action remake of Aladdin.

At the same time, former “Saturday Night Live” comedienne Nasim Pedrad has landed a role created specifically for the new movie.

Will Smith is toplining as the wish-granting genie while Mena Massoud will play the title character, a street rat who ends up over his head when he pretends to be a prince in order to win the hand of Princess Jasmine, played by Naomi Scott.

‘Ibiza’

“GAME of Thrones” and “Cinderella” star Richard Madden is heading to “Ibiza.” The actor joins Gillian Jacobs, Phoebe Robinson and Vanessa Bayer in the feature comedy, which is set up at Netflix.

With a script by Lauren Kahn, the story follows a woman (Jacobs) who goes on a business trip to Spain to close a big deal but instead finds herself on a wild ride of partying and clubbing, where she falls in love with a world-famous DJ and realizes there is more to life than showing up to a job she hates.

‘Pulse’

NEW Line Cinema has picked up “Pulse,” a unique superhero-crime project that sees producers Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen of 21 Laps reteaming with their “Stranger Things” writer Jessie Nickson-Lopez.

Nickson-Lopez developed a pitch that adapts “Pulse,” an upcoming novel by Michael Harvey. She will write the script. The story follows a teenager investigating the murder of his older brother alongside the police. During this period, and with the help of a mysterious mentor, the young man begins developing a unique ability that helps him uncover the truth and protect himself along the way.

‘Annihilation’

PARAMOUNT has set a Feb. 23, 2018 release date for “Annihilation,” the adaptation of the acclaimed sci-fi novel from Jeff VanderMeer.

The film, directed by Alex Garland, stars Natalie Portman as the lead character, an unnamed biologist sent on a special mission.

In the novel, the government sends expeditions to Area X, an uninhabited land in which unexplainable things happen. Those who enter Area X either don’t live long or return not quite as themselves. The novel “Annihilation” is the first book in VanderMeer’s “Southern Reach” trilogy, which debuted in 2014.

(SD-Agencies)