Goodbye, Agrabah! Live-Action ‘Aladdin’ Sequel Seemingly Not Moving Forward at Disney

Aladdin actor Mena Massoud has spoken out on the potential sequel to the live-action Disney remake, and unfortunately, it does not look good.

Back in 2019, The Walt Disney Company had an incredibly strong box office year. With multiple titles scooping up a billion dollars (or more), fans of Disney’s many franchises flocked to the movie theaters to get a taste of the action. There was Captain Marvel (2019) and Avengers: Endgame (2019) from Marvel Studios, Disney animation’s very own Frozen II (2019), and two more splashy live-action remakes, Aladdin (2019) and The Lion King (2019).

The latter two projects were part of Disney’s effort to reimagine many of their classic animated movies, and these are perhaps two of the giants. Hailing from Disney’s 1990s boom, Aladdin, originally released in 1992, and The Lion King, two years later in 1994, are some of the most popular and beloved Disney animated musicals of all time.

Directed by Guy Ritchie, Aladdin brought the world of the famous “street rat” to the big screen in a whole new way. Mena Massoud and Naomi Scott brought Aladdin and Princess Jasmine to life, while Will Smith took over the role of the Genie, made immensely popular by the late Robin Williams in the original movie. Marwan Kenzari played Jafar.

But despite doing over $1 billion at the global box office, there is not yet a sequel. As for The Lion King, Jon Favreau’s massive hit will be followed up next year with Barry Jenkins’ prequel, Mufasa: The Lion King (2024), which is said to borrow aspects from The Lion King‘s animated sequels.

Related: Fans Can’t Believe New ‘Moana’ Look With Zendaya and Dwayne Johnson

Back to Aladdin, though, and while promoting his new film, The Sacrifice Game (2023), Mena Massoud told Screen Rant that he believes the sequel to his major blockbuster breakthrough is dead in the water.

“I don’t have any updates,” he told the outlet. “I think, like you said, the strike kind of just put everything on hold. I know [Disney] were trying to get it off the ground for a long time, but I have no idea where it’s at.”

“Listen, we shot in 2017. It’s been six years now since we shot and wrapped the project,” the actor continued. “To me, at a certain point, life just goes on. I’m sure they have their reasons. I know they were trying for a long time, so I don’t know what the obstacles exactly were. But maybe now, after the strike is over, they’ll continue to try to get it off the ground.”

Interestingly, back in early 2020, Deadline confirmed a sequel was in the works, with John Gatins and Andrea Berloff tapped to pen the script, but it seems, according to Massoud, that no further progress has been made. There is also the case for the Prince Anders spin-off Disney+ film that was announced in 2019, which was set to follow Billy Magnussen’s character from the film.

Massoud’s success story has been an unusual one. Despite leading the major Disney remake, his Hollywood status did not blow up as many expected. At one point, the actor was heavily rumored to be playing the Jedi Ezra Bridger in the Star Wars franchise, with a potential appearance in the “Mando-Verse” era of shows, especially Star Wars: Ahsoka. The role, however, would go to Eman Esfandi, who debuted as the beloved Star Wars Rebels character in the penultimate episode of the limited Disney+ series.

More recently, Massoud came under fire for negative comments about Disney’s recent live-action The Little Mermaid (2023). He posted to X (formerly Twitter) back in May, saying, “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.” The comment left a sour taste in many fans’ mouths, and the Aladdin actor left the social media platform shortly after.

Then there is the Will Smith-ness to all of this. The actor famously slapped Chris Rock at the 2022 Academy Awards and has since kept a relatively low profile when it comes to blockbuster projects.

As for the future of the Disney live-action remakes, a new installment in the Angeline Jolie-led Maleficent series was revealed by the Hollywood actress herself. Maleficent 3 (TBD) will join the long list of Disney remakes coming to audiences over the next few years. From Hercules, which will be helmed by Aladdin‘s Guy Ritchie, to Bambi, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, to Robin Hood, there are many projects in early development.

Scheduled for release in the next couple of years is the aforementioned Lion King prequel, Disney’s Snow White (2025) starring Rachel Zegler, and Dwayne Johnson’s recently announced remake of Moana (2016).

Related: Disney Looks Set To Cast Michael B. Jordan as Lead in Live-Action ‘Hercules’

The Walt Disney Company Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger is currently on a mission to course-correct the House of Mouse’s creative output and recently stated that the studios need to think about how messaging is intertwined into their various modes of storytelling. Last year, upon his return, the Disney CEO revealed that new movies in both the Frozen and Toy Story franchises were on the way, as was a sequel to 2016’s Zootopia.

Would you have liked to see a live-action sequel to Disney’s Aladdin? 

This post is originally appeared on Inside the Magic.