Disney’s ‘Aladdin’ Remake Is Getting A White Disney Prince No One Really Wants
Hope he brought some sunblock to Agrabah!
Surprise! That famous Middle Eastern fairytale, Aladdin, finally has what it’s always been missing: a white Disney prince.
That’s right, after months of enduring the reportedly arduous process of trying to find an attractive cast of brown people who can sing, dance and act (fyi, not that hard, Hollywood), and actually finding that (hot, hot) cast, Disney has gone in an odd new direction with their upcoming live-action Aladdin remake.
The Hollywood Reporter has the exclusive on a brand-new casting announcement made by the Disney execs: Billy Magnussen will play Aladdin’s romantic rival for Jasmine’s affections, Prince Anders. Um. Yeah.
Billy Magnussen is this dude, btw.
So many questions, gang. So. Many. Who is this “Prince Anders”? Is he a supporting cast member from the Frozen sequel, who was discarded on the cutting-room floor, got stuck to an Aladdin producer’s shoe and tracked into the remake’s brainstorming session?
Why is this “Prince Anders” in the (probably) 11th century Middle East? Is he an envoy from Scandinavia? Is he a viking? And, more importantly, how on earth is he going to stop himself from getting hella sunburnt?
Here he is doing like a shirtless full monty deal because wtf not? Source: Just Jared
At the very least we know Magnussen, who is handsome in a kind of disturbing Rolf from The Sound Of Music way, can sing worth a damn. He played one of the two Prince Charmings in Disney’s adaptation of the satirical Sondheim musical Into The Woods, and featured in the film’s best duet alongside the surprisingly amazing Chris Pine.
But still… like, what? The move has led many on social media to worry that Disney thinks their audience will not be enticed enough by a non-white romantic lead to fork out the $$ for Aladdin in the cinema. But, well… this is our Aladdin. This guy.
Meet Mena Massoud. He is smokin’.
I want to watch him steal bread and shoot shit with Will Smith’s Genie and woo Jasmine. But, hey, if they can come up with a convincingly bonkers reason why a “Prince Anders” is hanging out in Agrabah, like, sure. Whatever.
Just roll on this hottie-stacked Aladdin already, please. Bring it to my eyeballs now.
