Osama Anwar Okasha's Novel "El Eskandarany" to Be Adapted into Film

Late Egyptian scriptwriter Osama Anwar Okasha's novel "El Eskandarany" is being adapted into a film.

The reimagining stars Ahmed Elawady, Bayoumi Fouad, Mahmoud Hafez, Zeina, Salah Abdullah, and Hussein Fahmy.

Principal photography is scheduled to begin on September 13 in the Alexandria neighborhood within the Media Production City.

Later on, the shooting starts in Alexandria for the external scenes, then moves to a European country.

The film hails from director Khaled Youssef and stars Fouad as Ali El Eskandarany, one of the major merchants of Alexandria, and Elawady portrays his son, Bakr.

"El Eskandarany" marks Elawady's comeback to the big screen after 2-years of absence. He made his last onscreen appearance in the 2021 sci-fi film "Mousa."

In a statement on Wednesday, Nisreen, the late Egyptian scriptwriter's daughter, noted that the only one who obtained the family’s approval and the rights to create and produce the film was Youssef.

She said that the director had read about it and contacted her and asked her to obtain the rights to the work, and she obliged.

Nisreen added that the late writer had written a script, but noted Youssef will put his vision and update the timeline of the work.

Regarding the work, she said that it will be a continuation of her father’s journey in researching the Egyptian identity, as he used to do with his works and Youssef also shares the same direction.