Disney is finally making a movie of one of its most famous Disneyland attractions: The Haunted Mansion. But wait; Disney already did make that movie way back in 2003. It starred Eddie Murphy and it was, frankly, not very good.
That could be why, about 20 years later, they’re doing the whole thing over again. The new Haunted Mansion (no ‘the’ in the title, it’s cleaner that way) stars Rosario Dawson, Lakeith Stanfield, and Tiffany Haddish, with Justin Simien from Dear White People and Bad Hair as director.
Exactly how this movie will differ from the previous Haunted Mansion was laid out today over at Disney Parks Blog, which unveiled the official logo (that’s it above) and a synopsis for the new movie. The Murphy version was about a hapless real estate agent who decides to spend the night in one of his new properties, only to discover it is (you guessed it) haunted.
In Simien’s film…
… A doctor (Dawson) and her 9-year-old son (Chase Dillon), looking to start a new life, move into a strangely affordable mansion in New Orleans, only to discover that the place is much more than they bargained for. Desperate for help, they contact a priest (Owen Wilson), who, in turn, enlists the aid of a widowed scientist-turned failed-paranormal expert (Stanfield), a French Quarter psychic (Haddish) and a crotchety historian (Danny DeVito).
As a general rule, I’m a big fan of any movie where Danny DeVito plays a character that can be described as “crotchety.” So far, so good.
Haunted Mansion is scheduled to open in theaters on March 10, 2023. It has nowhere to go from that Eddie Murphy Haunted Mansion movie but up.
10 Disney Movies That Deserve Their Own Rides
Here are 10 Disney movies that we think would make particularly great theme park rides, whether it be a dark ride, flume ride, or rollercoaster.
