“Aladdin” Spinoff Focusing on Prince Anders Reportedly in Development at Disney+

Just a few days after actor Mena Massoud revealed that he hasn’t “had a single audition since Aladdin came out,” it was announced that a new spinoff, starring Billy Magnussen, who played Prince Anders in a brief part of the 2019 film, is coming to Disney+. According to EW, the spinoff was actually Magnussen’s idea, and he approached producers about it. The outlet also notes that it is “reportedly not a sequel to the original movie.”

While a film about Prince Anders, a slightly dim-witted suitor of Naomi Scott’s Princess Jasmine, could be funny, it comes on the heels of some pretty big news from Mena, who starred as Aladdin in the recent live-action remake.

Mena got real with The Daily Beast, saying, “I want people to know that it’s not always dandelions and roses when you’re doing something like Aladdin. ‘He must have made millions. He must be getting all these offers.’ It’s none of those things. I haven’t had a single audition since Aladdin came out.”

Mena continued to open up about the very real struggles in Hollywood. "People have these ideas in their head. It’s like, I'm sitting here being like, OK, Aladdin just hit $1 billion. Can I at least get an audition? Like I’m not expecting you to be like, here’s Batman. But can I just get in the room? Like, can you just give me a chance? So it’s not always what you think.”

Movie fans on Twitter couldn’t help but notice the disparity between a project starring a white man getting the green light while the lead actor of the same movie, a person of color, is struggling to find work. And in an industry where representation is still a struggle, this factor has hit especially hard. “Are you f*king kidding me? A movie about brown people and the white guy gets a spin off. But ALADDIN himself can’t get an audition?” tweeted one fan.

“Aladdin makes a billion and they somehow find a way to give a white guy a spinoff,” added another. And one person broke it down like this: “So basically the actual ALADDIN isn’t getting any roles in films and auditions and has talked about the struggles through interviews but the white guy in Aladdin who talked like four times is getting a whole ass spinoff on Disney+, no thanks.”

Disney has not yet addressed the news of the spinoff and the ensuing controversy.

Related: Aladdin Star Mena Massoud Says He Hasn't Gotten a Single Audition Since the Movie's Release

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Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue