New ‘Haunted Mansion’ Movie in The Works

Disney finally moving forward on a brand new Haunted Mansion movie, the studio has tapped screenwriter Katie Dippold (Ghostbusters) to the script for the project, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. LISTEN: The DisInsider – Episode Two (Patreon Exclusive) Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich, the duo behind Disney’s live-action Aladdin and the upcoming Lilo & Stitch remake, are producing under their Rideback production banner. Haunted Mansion is being intended for a theatrical release, not Disney+ as some have rumored and will be live-action. Read: Kelly Marie Tran Replaces Cassie Steele In Disney Animations ‘Raya And The Last Dragon’ Disney has been trying for over ten years to get a new Haunted Mansion film made, back in 2010 Hellboy director Guillermo Del Toro was announced that he would be directing, writing, and producing the project, with Ryan Gosling (The Notebook, La La Land) was in talks to star. The film was said to feature the now-iconic Hatbox Ghost. It unlikely Gosling or Del Toro are involved on this new project. In 2004, Disney released a Haunted Mansion film, starring Eddie Murphy, Terrence Stamp, Jennifer Tilly, and directed by Rob Minkoff (The Lion King) opened to negative critic and audience reviews, and the film never garnered the box office success as Pirates only making $174 million worldwide. With the success of the Pirates franchise and Jungle Cruise on its way and expected to be a blockbuster for the studio, Disney is looking for Haunted Mansion to be its next great attraction based film. The Haunted Mansion debuted in 1969 and was an immediate success. The premise sees theme park guests go inside a spooky and creepy manor that has a wide array of supernatural frights. It also featured a graveyard’s worth of characters, ranging from the spirit of psychic medium Madame Leota to the skeletal Bride to the cloaked Hatbox Ghost. Sadly, Walt Disney never got to experience the attraction but was very much involved in the development process, as he was with every the company was doing. Source: The Hollywood Reporter