‘Haunted Mansion’: Everything We Know So Far About the Disney Ride Adaptation
Disney has found success in adapting some of its iconic theme park attractions into movies. Pirates of the Caribbean has become a billion-dollar franchise and Jungle Cruise, starring Dwayne Johnson, could be the beginning of a new franchise. Disney is now working on a second movie adaptation of Haunted Mansion. Here is everything we know about the upcoming project.
Haunted Mansion is one of Disney’s most iconic rides
Haunted Mansion first opened up at Disneyland in 1969. Since then, various versions of the ride have appeared at Disney parks around the world. The ride is a fan favorite due to its immersive theming and creative storytelling.
The ride takes guests through an old, creepy mansion via a “doom buggy.” A “Ghost Host” gives you a tour of the mansion while ghosts materialize throughout the attraction. Haunted Mansion has a lot of interesting lore and features some of the most iconic Disney parks characters including the hitchhiking ghosts and Madame Leota.
In 2003, Disney released The Haunted Mansion, a film adaptation starring Eddie Murphy. While the movie did well at the box office, many Disney fans were disappointed with it along with critics. The Haunted Mansion has a 13% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes along with a 30% from audiences. Haunted Mansion could be a gold mine for Disney, so it makes sense that the studio would want to try again.
Who stars in the upcoming Disney ‘Haunted Mansion’ movie?
Disney’s Haunted Mansion stars Rosario Dawson, Tiffany Haddish, Lakeith Stanfield, Owen Wilson, Danny DeVito, and Jamie Lee Curtis. It is being directed by Justin Simien with a screenplay penned by Dippold. It was recently announced that Jared Leto is attached to the project as the voice of the Hatbox Ghost. While the Hatbox Ghost’s appearance is great, many Disney fans are mixed about Leto voicing him.
The story centers around Dawson’s character who moves into a strange mansion in New Orleans with her young son. When she discovers it’s haunted, she recruits a priest, a psychic, a paranormal expert, and a historian to try and exorcise it. The plot for Haunted Mansion sounds rather silly but that’s part of the fun of the Disney attraction. While it has a spooky tone, it’s mainly focused on giving families an entertaining experience with ghosts and skeletons.
The project has been in development since 2010 with Guillermo Del Toro attached as a writer and producer. However, Del Toro eventually left the project after the studio deemed his script to be too scary for family audiences. It is still intended to have a PG-13 rating, but it would have been amazing to see what Del Toro would have brought to this project.
When is the Disney movie coming to theaters?
Haunted Mansion is expected to hit theaters in March 2023. With the movie being less than a year away, we will likely learn more about it in the coming months. The D23 Expo takes place in September, so Disney will most likely talk about the project more at this massive event.
Haunted Mansion is scheduled to materialize in theaters on March 10, 2023.
