Aladdin Star Deletes Twitter After Failed Attempt to Subtly Shade Little Mermaid
Many fans felt that the actor meant to insult the movie.
Actor Mena Massoud, who starred in the live-action version of Aladdin, has weighed in on the box office performance of The Little Mermaid remake.
Massoud suggested that the new Disney creation will not make a billion like Aladdin, but it will definitely get a sequel.
His comment caused a wave of discussion among fans, which led the actor to delete the Twitter account where the message was posted. The now-deleted tweet read:
"Our film was unique in that audiences went to watch it multiple times. It's the only way we reached the billion-dollar mark with our opening. My guess is ['The Little Mermaid'] doesn't cross the billion mark but will undoubtedly get a sequel."
Some users have suggested that there is a subtext in Mena Massoud's words and that he meant that The Little Mermaid does not deserve a possible sequel.
Someone saw the comment as jealousy, since Massoud's career cannot be called successful after his participation in Aladdin.
The actor admitted that after the release of Aladdin, he did not receive a single invitation to audition. The actor went around more than two thousand applicants for the lead role in the film adaptation of the 1992 Disney cartoon.
After the release of the movie, which earned more than a billion dollars at the box office, many believed that Massoud's career would take off. However, this did not happen.
Mena believes that he has become a hostage of one role and that directors simply do not see him in more serious projects.
The actor is worried about his age and believes that filmmakers underestimate him, even though he began his acting career ten years ago.
It's also possible that the actor is upset that Aladdin never got a sequel, even though it grossed $1 billion at the box office.
Director Guy Ritchie has expressed his desire to make a sequel to Aladdin, but Disney has never gotten around to making a second movie.
However, some users saw no subtext in the actor's words, as he was simply making an assumption about The Little Mermaid's future box office. Many found the fans' criticism of Mena too harsh.
It won't be long before we find out just how right the actor was – The Little Mermaid hits theaters on May 26.