LaKeith Stanfield and Tiffany Haddish are in talks to star in Disney’s new Haunted Mansion with Justin Simien set to direct. Katie Dippold penned the script that is reportedly based on the studio’s iconic theme park attraction.
The Haunted Mansion theme park ride debuted in 1969 and takes guests through a ghostly manor where strange sounds are heard. It also includes some classic characters like the spirit of psychic medium Madame Leota to the skeletal Bride to the cloaked Hatbox Ghost. It’s one of the only attractions in which Disney employees are encouraged not to smile.
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While it is inspired by the spooky theme park ride, plot details have been kept under wraps for the upcoming live-action movie. Also Simien’s take is said to be completely different than the approach Disney took to the property 20 years ago.
Disney previously turned the ride into a 2003 movie starring Eddie Murphy. While it grossed $182 million worldwide against a $90 million budget, it wasn’t well embraced. It only clocks in at just 14 percent fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
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Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich will produce via their company Rideback, whose Nick Reynolds will serve as an executive producer. Lin and Eirich previously produced Disney’s live-action Aladdin movie, which grossed more than $1 billion worldwide.
Several other theme park rides have inspired films and televisions shows, including “Pirates of the Caribbean,” “Tower of Terror” and the upcoming action adventure “Jungle Cruise” with Emily Blunt and Dwayne Johnson.
Stanfield, one of the stars of FX’s Atlanta, toplined with Daniel Kaluuya in Judas and the Black Messiah, which earned Stanfield a best supporting actor nomination. He next stars in the stylish Western The Harder They Fall, which will be released on Netflix this fall.
Haddish next appears in the Nicolas Cage meta-movie, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, which Lionsgate is due to release in 2022.