Aladdin star Billy Magnussen has offered an update on the planned spinoff film centered around his supporting character from the reboot film, Prince Anders. Magnussen, whose early appearances include small roles in Into The Woods and The Big Short, has recently had memorable turns in films such as Game Night, where he played competitive friend Ryan, and the latest James Bond film No Time To Die as smug-faced CIA agent Logan Ash.
Magnussen joined the live-action Disney universe in 2019 when he starred alongside superstars such as Will Smith in Guy Ritchie’s remake of Aladdin. Magnussen had a secondary but still memorable turn as Prince Anders, the potential suitor of Naomi Scott’s Princess Jasmine from the fictional European kingdom of Skanland. Anders was invented in place of the character of Prince Achmed from the original 1992 Aladdin animated classic. Following the box office success of the remake, Disney soon announced plans for a sequel as well as a surprising Aladdin spinoff film about Magnussen’s out-romanced Prince Anders.
Now, three years on from the hit remake, the actor has issued a promising update on Prince Anders’ solo venture. During an exclusive interview with Screen Rant, Magnussen was asked about the Aladdin spinoff. The star confirmed the film was “in development” with “rewrites” underway. Magnussen reiterated that the planned Disney+ movie is still moving forward before marvelling at the opportunity he has had to “create a world and a story” with the original character. Check out the full quote from the actor below:
Exclusive: “It’s in development. We are in the stages of rewrites right now, and it’s still moving forward. Yeah, it’s really exciting … I loved making that character up, and to have the opportunity to create a world and a story with him in it has really been a treat. I love that. That’s what I really love about this industry; to play in such a way like that … To be the not-Prince-Charming Prince, you know? We always see Prince Charming, so I was like, ‘Let’s mix it up.”
The proposed Aladdin spinoff is set to come to Disney+ at some point in the near future, with Magnussen currently the only name attached to the cast. Plot details about the Prince Anders film are being kept under wraps at this stage, so it’s unclear what the story will entail. The original script was penned by upcoming talents Jordan Dunn and Michael Kvamme, with additional work on the script recently carried out by Shane Andries and Chris Smith. In the meantime, Magnussen has been working on upcoming airplane-based heist movie Lift, in which he will star opposite Daredevil’s Vincent D’Onofrio and Peaky Blinders’ Paul Anderson under the direction of Straight Outta Compton’s F. Gary Gray.
While Prince Anders was announced way back in 2019, progress on the project had been slowed by recent global events, so fans of Aladdin will be eager to hear that the spinoff is still very much on its way. Along with Prince Anders, news has also been scarce on Aladdin 2, though star Mena Massoud promised good news was on the horizon recently. Prince Anders is certainly a promising project given it is an original character for Disney, and audiences can likely expect more news on the Aladdin spinoff in the coming months.
