Actor Mena Massoud was recently under fire for downplaying the projected box office success of the live-action remake of the Disney classic The Little Mermaid, which he shared in a now-deleted tweet.
The supporters of the remake have been criticizing the ‘Aladdin’ star since May 13, when he claimed that in a statement that his film, Aladdin, 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 TLM [The Little Mermaid] doesn’t cross the billion mark but will undoubtedly get a sequel.’
That tweet from Massoud was in response to some reports that the live-action Halle Bailey-starrer would bring in $110 million over the Memorial Day weekend.
Massoud starred in the 2019 live-action remake of the Disney classic ‘Aladdin’ as the titular character. Alongside him were Will Smith as the Genie and Naomi Scott as Princess Jasmine. The film also debuted over Memorial Day weekend and brought in $116.8 million in domestic ticket sales. The film also crossed the billion dollar mark at the global box office two months after its release, according to a report.
Whether his remarks about the film’s expected number of sales seem shady or not, fans of Bailey have swarmed his tweet. That led him to deactivate his own Twitter account. One account sarcastically asks who Massoud is and then claims that the reason they went to see the live-action remake of Aladdin was because of actor Will Smith.
First off who the hell is Mena Massoud?😂 We all know Will Smith was the main reason we all went to see Aladdin. And I’ll stand 10 toes down for TLM. This is exactly why we need to pack every theater up on May 26th. Bring your kids, nieces, nephews, grandkids. The entire Family! pic.twitter.com/bNKfY7Erv3
— Bianca Wilson (@___bjw___) May 13, 2023
Bailey previously stated that her portrayal of Ariel is a huge accomplishment for diversity.
“I know people are like, ‘It’s not about race.’ But now that I’m [Ariel], people don’t understand that when you’re Black, there’s this whole other community. It’s so important for us to see ourselves,” she said in a February cover story for The Face magazine.
She also paid tribute to the black princesses that came before her, like Brandy as Cinderella and Anika Noni Rose as Tiana from Princess and the Frog.
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