After “The Haunted Mansion” was panned by critics in 2003, everything was supposed to get better with a new adaptation attempt of the Disneyland attraction in 2023. Whether that succeeded despite cinema flop at least qualitatively, one can check soon with Disney+.
In2003, Disney released two movies within a short distance of each other based on popular Disneyland attractions and focused on family horror fun, one with Haunted House ghosts, the other with zombie pirates. But while Pirates of the Caribbean became a celebrated mega-hit that launched an entire franchise, The Haunted Mansion, which flopped with critics, is gladly shrouded in silence.
Nevertheless (or perhaps because of it), 20 years later Disney attempted another adaptation of the “Haunted Mansion” ride from its theme parks, with an all-star cast including LaKeith Stanfield, Tiffany Hadish, Owen Wilson, Danny DeVito, Rosario Dawson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jared Leto and Winona Ryder.
And indeed, “Ghost Mansion” turned out to be quite a bit better than its quasi-predecessor – which still doesn’t make it a really good movie. And at the box office, with a worldwide box office of just over $100 million at production costs of around $150 million, it did even worse than the $60 million cheaper version starring Eddie Murphy, which made a good $180 million at the time.
But if you’re curious about the scary comedy but are among the many people who missed or avoided it in theaters, you’ll soon have a chance to catch up at home: “Haunted Mansion” will be released on Disney+ just in time for Halloween month on October 4, 2023 – and just over two months after its theatrical release in late July.
Disney announced this in an official press release. The date applies thereby – as already with the previous cinema blockbusters of the mouse house (for example “Arielle, the Mermaid” or “Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3”) – also for Germany.
THAT’S WHAT “GHOST MANSION” IS ABOUT
Gabbie (Rosario Dawson) moves into a stately old mansion with her son Travis (Chase W. Dillon). But it doesn’t take long before strange occurrences start to pile up there. Are there really ghosts up to mischief?
The scientist Ben Matthias (Lakeith Stanfield), who has recently developed a miracle lens that is supposed to make ghosts visible, is supposed to investigate this. And so he sets out with an exorcist (Owen Wilson), a historian (Danny DeVito) and a medium (Tiffany Haddish) to put an end to the haunting. But the creatures surrounding the eerie Hatbox Ghost (Jared Leto) are more powerful than imagined…
Haunted Mansion Aka The Haunted Mansion already on Disney+ starting 04.10 pic.twitter.com/49mUU8ynbN
– LPVideo✖️ (@lp011987) September 10, 2023