Aladdin actor Mena Massoud found himself in trouble after commenting on the potential earnings of Halley Balley starrer 'The Little Mermaid' and the backlash resulted in Mena deleting his Twitter handle. According to a report in People Magazine, Massoud replied to a tweet that reflected the box office projections forecast for The Little Mermaid movie that led to such retaliation from the netizens. His tweet read, "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 TLM doesn't cross the billion mark but will undoubtedly get a sequel."
His tweet was in response to another user weighing in on why Aladdin never got a sequel despite its strong box-office performance. The comparison triggered a counterblast from The Little Mermaid fans. A user replied, "And what exactly did you gain from commenting on this?". Another commented, "I'm honestly still confused as to why Mena Massoud tweeted this in the first place".
In order to take down the comparative comment, a user referred to Mena not bagging any roles even after the mammoth success of his film Aladdin. The user wrote, "I don't understand why Mena Massoud felt the need to put down #TheLittle Mermaid when the black community showed up for him after he cried about being unemployed."
Massoud's post comes across as a counterattack, as he recently confirmed that Aladdin is very unlikely to get a sequel. The movie, which also featured Will Smith as the genie, grossed over $1.051 billion worldwide against a production budget of $183 million.
This is not the first time The Little Mermaid has faced criticism, even before its release. The makers were bashed for casting Halley Balley as the female lead for the Disney film. The Little Mermaid is scheduled to release in theatres worldwide on May 26.
