The popular Disney attraction The Haunted Mansion is headed back to the big screen, with Justin Simien (Dear White People, Bad Hair) directing a new live action movie.
LaKeith Stanfield, Tiffany Haddish, Owen Wilson, and Rosario Dawson are already part of the cast, and THR reports tonight that Danny DeVito has now also come on board!
The dark ride attraction, which launched in 1969 and is still going strong today at Disney parks, “sees theme park guests go inside a spooky and creepy manor that has a wide array of supernatural frights. It also features a graveyard’s worth of characters.” The most popular characters include Hatbox Ghost, Madame Leota, The Phantom and the Hitchhiking Ghosts.
THR notes, “The film follows a mother and her son who come across a mansion that is more than it seems while being orbited by various characters key to undressing the spooky mystery. DeVito will play a smug professor.”
Rob Minkoff directed the feature film The Haunted Mansion back in 2003, the first big screen adaptation of the ride. Eddie Murphy starred in the film. More recently, Guillermo del Toro was attached to adapt the ride for a brand new movie. Alas, it never came to life.
Katie Dippold (Ghostbusters 2016) is writing the new movie’s script for Disney.
Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich’s Rideback will be producing.
New Halloween special “Muppets Haunted Mansion” is now streaming on Disney+.
