In 2003, Disney released two films in quick succession based on popular Disneyland attractions and aimed at spooky family fun, one featuring haunted house ghosts and the other featuring zombie pirates. But while ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ became a celebrated mega-hit that launched an entire franchise, ‘The Haunted Mansion’, which received no critical acclaim, is often shrouded in silence.
Nevertheless (or precisely because of it), Disney tried to adapt the ‘Haunted Mansion’ attraction from its theme parks twenty years later, with an all-star cast including LaKeith Stanfield, Tiffany Hadish, Owen Wilson, Danny DeVito, Rosario Dawson and Jamie Lee Curtis, Jared Leto and Winona Ryder.
And indeed is “Haunted house“ is a lot better than its quasi-predecessor – but that still doesn’t make it a really good movie. And at the box office, with worldwide box office revenues of just over $100 million and production costs of around $150 million, it performed even worse than the $60 million cheaper version starring Eddie Murphy, which grossed over $180 million at the time.
But if you’re curious about the horror comedy but are one of the many people who missed or avoided it in theaters, you’ll soon have the opportunity to catch up on it at home: “Haunted Mansion” will be released on Disney+ on October 4, 2023, just in time for Halloween month – just over two months after its theatrical release at the end of July.
Disney announced this during the Destination D23 event in Orlando. Even though it wasn’t explicitly stated there, the date is probably not just for the US market, but – as with the Mouse House’s previous theatrical blockbusters (such as ‘The Little Mermaid’ or ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3).’ ) – also apply to Germany.
That’s what ‘Ghost Villa’ is about
Gabbie (Rosario Dawson) moves to a stately old villa with her son Travis (Chase W. Dillon). But it doesn’t take long before strange events start happening there. Do ghosts really cause problems here?
This is what scientist Ben Matthias (Lakeith Stanfield) must investigate, who has recently developed a miracle lens that should make ghosts visible. And so he sets out with an exorcist (Owen Wilson), a historian (Danny DeVito) and a medium (Tiffany Haddish) to put an end to the terrifying events. But the creatures surrounding the scary Hatbox Ghost (Jared Leto) are more powerful than expected…