Haunted Mansion Trivia | 30 facts about the movie

«Haunted Mansion» is an upcoming American supernatural horror comedy film directed by Justin Simien from a screenplay by Katie Dippold.

Let’s find out more about the upcoming movie!

1. Haunted Mansion is an upcoming American supernatural horror comedy film.
2. It was directed by Justin Simien.
3. The screenplay was written by Katie Dippold.
4. The film stars LaKeith Stanfield, Rosario Dawson, Chase W. Dillon, Owen Wilson, Tiffany Haddish, Winona Ryder, Dan Levy, Hasan Minhaj, Danny DeVito, Jared Leto, and Jamie Lee Curtis.
5. Produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Rideback.
6. It is the second theatrical film adaptation of Walt Disney’s theme park attraction The Haunted Mansion, following the 2003 film of the same name.
7. In the film, Gabbie (Dawson) and Travis (Dillon) enlists the aid of a team to help exorcise the mansion and destroy the ghosts around them.
8. Plans for the reboot adaptation based on The Haunted Mansion began in July 2010, when Guillermo del Toro.
9. He intended to write and produce, stated the project would take place in a heightened reality rather than in a real-world setting.
10. Guillermo del Toro was no longer attached as the project’s director in July 2013.
11. After spending years in development hell, Disney officially announced Haunted Mansion in August 2020, with Dippold signed on to write a new screenplay for the film.
12. Simien negotiated to direct the film by April 2021, and was officially confirmed three months later.
13. The primary cast was confirmed from July to October, while additional cast was announced the following year.
14. Principal photography began from mid-October 2021 to late February 2022.
15. Haunted Mansion is scheduled to be released in the United States on July 28, 2023, by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.
16. Guillermo del Toro had plans to use the famed “Hat Box Ghost” character from the popular Disneyland attraction to play a large role in the film. Del Toto at a Reddit AMA session in July 2014 mentioned they already had concept artwork and maquettes of the Hat Box Ghost, which would likely be played by Doug Jones. Del Toro said this: “We have developed 50-60 pieces of art, We’ve developed maquettes of the Hat Box Ghost, over the body and face of Doug Jones, but we have not succeeded yet in cracking the screenplay. I have to believe that Disney will make this movie as soon as we crack the screenplay, but until then we cannot tackle it.”
17. In April 2015, Ryan Gosling was in talks to join Guillermo del Toro’s long-gestating project. Del Toro moderated a panel at the South By Southwest Film Festival for Ryan Gosling’s directorial debut Lost River (2015), and they were also spotted at Disneyland over Oscar weekend, riding the Haunted Mansion ride together and others such as Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Pirates of the Caribbean. No details have ever been given for what character Ryan Gosling may portray. It was rumored Gosling was still attached to this project but with the announcement in August 28, 2020, of writer Kate Dippold and producers Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich coming a board through their Rideback banner and Guillermo del Toro and his team looking to be no longer involved with the project, it’s to be assumed Gosling is no longer involved either anymore.
18. Disney reportedly wants to reboot the film because it sees it as potentially having Pirates of the Caribbean levels of success. That series has, to date, earned more than $4.5 billion at the global box office, with further movies on the way.
19. Guillermo del Toro is quoted as, “The result is a unique combination of dark and fun,” and wants to really honor the two sensibilities.
20. On August 28, 2020, it was revealed that a reboot of this project was officially in the works again at Disney with Katie Dippold as its main writer and producers Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich coming a board through their Rideback banner which has led to the belief Guillermo del Toro and his writer D.V. DeVincentis are no longer involved with the project in any capacity especially after del Toro has been pushing and developing this project since 2010. No word has been officially given on what happened with del Toro on this project but this has made many fans of the theme park ride nervous about the latest possible film adaptation due to having Dippold as its main writer.
21. This is mainly due to the fact that most of the films she has written have been poorly received comedies. It is understandable why people are nervous for the upcoming film adaptation, as many of them want to see a faithful adaptation of the ride which had fans excited on del Toro’s take and not another silly standard comedy version like Rob Minkoff’s The Haunted Mansion (2003) starring Eddie Murphy.
22. The Haunted Mansion ride debuted in 1969 and has been a favorite of park goers since then with it appearing in both Disneyland and Disney World. The premise sees theme park guests go inside a spooky and creepy manor that includes some classic characters like the spirit of psychic medium Madame Leota to the skeletal Bride to the cloaked Hatbox Ghost. The 2003 movie starring Eddie Murphy followed that storyline pretty closely, but Insiders say this will be a completely different take. It will reportedly stand on its own, but also leave room for sequels.
23. As of January 2022, was filming in the French Quarter and Lafayette Cemetery No. 2 under the name JoyRide.
24. Guillermo del Toro at a Reddit AMA session in July 2014 hinted that, due to his busy schedule, he may end up just serving as a producer on the project. Del Toro explained: “It is a movie I would love to direct, but I would be happy to just produce it if the timing is not right.”
25. Set for release 20 years after the first Haunted Mansion film adaptation.
26. Guillermo del Toro held a Reddit AMA session in July 2014 where he offered an update on the project’s status, del Toro explained stating: “Well, I spent 2 weeks ago, I went back to Disneyland with the executives with whom I am developing the screenplay. It’s a hard screenplay to crack. We’ve done it a few times. We are on our third or fourth draft, with 2 different writing teams, and I think the main thing is to try to combine everything that is great about the ride into the movie, and to make it a really intense but with a sense of fun – just like the ride. It’s a tough balance, and I would be happy to report if we had the screenplay. We always feel like we are very close, but not yet.”
27. The cast includes one Oscar winner: Jared Leto, and five Oscar nominees: Jamie Lee Curtis, Danny DeVito, Winona Ryder, LaKeith Stanfield, and Owen Wilson.
28. It was reported on April 23, 2021 that Disney may be in talks with Justin Simien, director of Dear White People (2014), to helm the film. This sparked rumors that this adaptation may once again feature black characters like the 2003 Eddie Murphy version. Disney has wanted to work with Simien for some time, with him meeting on several other projects before settling on this one following his recent pitch on how he envisioned the story going.
29. Jamie Lee Curtis and Danny De Vito’s 2nd movie collab after Drowning Mona(2000).
30. Jamie Lee Curtis and LaKeith Stanfield appeared in «Knives Out» (2019).