When the crypt doors creak and the tombstones quake, Spooks come out for a swinging wake. Happy haunts materialize and begin to vocalize. Grim grinning ghosts come out to socialize!
On July 28, Disney once again brought its creepies and crawlies from last Halloween to life with the release of its newest live-action film, Haunted Mansion. It was the second time that Disney had created a film based on one of its most iconic theme park attractions. The original film, The Haunted Mansion, was released in 2003 and starred Eddie Murphy. The original film was considered a huge flop, sitting at a 31% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Unfortunately for Disney, its second attempt at a Haunted Mansion movie is not bringing the success Disney had hoped for. In fact, it is faring worse in terms of box office success. Eddie Murphy’s The Haunted Mansion made $182 million at the box office, while Haunted Mansion has only made about $101 million.
Despite the box office numbers, fans seem to love what they see. Unlike The Haunted Mansion‘s 31% Rotten Tomatoes score, the new Haunted Mansion has an 84% audience score. The critics don’t love it as much, but fans love how much the new movie brings them into the heart of the attraction they adore so much. Some speculate that Disney simply released the movie at the wrong time — they should have not released it in the summer and waited until the fall.
But all Haunted Mansion hope is not lost. At Destination D23 — an Expo being held at Walt Disney World Resort — Disney announced that Haunted Mansion would be coming to Disney+ in just a few weeks!
Haunted Mansion will be released on Disney+ on October 4!
For those who are not Disney+ subscribers, the movie will also be available for rent or purchase on streamers like Prime Video, Apple TV+, and Vudu.
Disney’s Newest Spooky Story
As with the original film, Disney’s new Haunted Mansion takes place in New Orleans, Louisiana. However, with this new iteration, director Justin Simien and writer Kate Dippold wanted to truly embrace the spirit of New Orleans. This makes even more sense when Disney fans remember that the original Haunted Mansion attraction on which the film is based is located in New Orleans Square in Disneyland Park.
Haunted Mansion tells the story of Gabbie, a single mom who moves into an old Southern mansion with her son Travis in the hopes of starting a bed and breakfast. As you may have guessed, the mansion is haunted. Gabbie enlists the help of several people to help her exorcise the mansion so she and her son can escape the home in which they have become trapped.
The movie stars Rosario Dawson as Gabbie and Chase Dillon as Travis. Owen Wilson plays Father Kent, LaKeith Stanfield is Ben Matthais, a psychic investigator, and Danny DeVito plays Bruce Davis, a college professor. And who better to help contact the dead than a psychic? Harriet the psychic is played by Tiffany Haddish.
Of course, Haunted Mansion wouldn’t be complete without some classic characters from the attraction. Madame Leota is played by Jamie Lee Curtis, and the Hatbox Ghost is brought to life (pun intended) by Jared Leto. J.R. Adduci plays Master William Gracey and the murderous bride, Constance Hatchaway, is played by Lindsay Lamb.
