Billy Magnussen Says There’s Still Hope for His Planned ‘Aladdin’ Spinoff: ‘It’s Not Dead’

Samantha Bergeson
·3 min read

Billy Magnussen is still riding out that magic carpet at Disney.

The actor told IndieWire that his long-awaited “Aladdin” spinoff is still in the works, despite the Disney+ feature being announced back in 2019. The film will center around Magnussen’s character Prince Anders from Guy Ritchie’s live action remake of the Disney classic, and was billed as being a standalone feature separate from the slated “Aladdin” sequel.

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“The pandemic happened when we were really putting it together,” Magnussen told IndieWire of the Prince Anders film when promoting his upcoming indie “Coup!,” which he stars in and produced. “There were a few changes with a few companies. It’s not dead. Every day is creating these beautiful stories. In my career, I just like doing fun stuff. What would I want to see and what would I want to hang out and do? So no, it’s not dead. It’s still going.”

Back in 2019, it was shared that Magnussen himself pitched the spinoff to build out his character Anders, who was one of the suitors of Princess Jasmine (Naomi Scott). Magnussen later told Screen Rant in 2022 that the film was still in development and was undergoing rewrites. The script was initially written by Jordan Dunn and Michael Kvamme.

“I think I was 30 seconds in that movie, and there was no plan for Disney to do anything with it or whatever,” Magnussen told Screen Rant of pitching the spinoff. “And I just kind of went around to them. I was like, ‘Hey, I just don’t want this guy to die. I’ve really enjoyed living in this world, and I have some ideas that could be fun.’ To be the not-Prince-Charming Prince, you know? We always see Prince Charming, so I was like, ‘Let’s mix it up.'”

And Magnussen is still part of the Disney family: The actor is set to star in the live-action adaptation of “Lilo and Stitch,” which is produced by “Aladdin” production company Rideback.

“‘Lilo and Stitch’ is so fun,” Magnussen told IndieWire. “I feel so lucky with that stuff. I love doing Disney stuff because it’s just a fun world. You’re creating these high characters. I just love that I was able to follow people in dream. That’s all it is.”

And in the meantime, Magnussen ushered in the production of indie “Coup!” with his production company Happy Bad Bungalow.

“Happy Bad Bungalow had the opportunity to be part of this project from the beginning,” Magnussen said. “The writers, Austin and Joey, wrote this beautiful, beautiful script. I read the script and was like immediately let’s have my production company come onboard and help out. From there, we were finding the location, finding the actors. I’m pretty sure whomever we sent the script to said yes. Peter [Sarsgaard] was the next cast and we were like, ‘Please be a part of this,’ and he was like, ‘Of course.'”

“Coup!” premieres in theaters August 2.

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