Disney Drops New Haunted Mansion Movie Trailer

March 2, 2023, 1:51 PM · Disney has released a trailer for its upcoming Haunted Mansion movie, which opens this summer.

Inspired by the dark ride at Disneyland and Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom, Haunted Mansion stars Rosario Dawson, who hires "spiritual experts" (including LaKeith Stanfield, Danny DeVito, Tiffany Haddish, and Owen Wilson) to help get the haunts out of her newly purchased old house.

"As a lifelong fan of the Haunted Mansion attraction, I’m beyond excited to share the teaser trailer for our new film adaptation featuring an incredible cast," Director Justin Simien said. "Our team has worked tirelessly to create a scary, funny and cinematic otherworldly adventure for both new and die-hard fans to enjoy! I can’t wait for audiences to experience this big screen version of the iconic Disney attraction."

Theme park fans will find of Easter eggs in the trailer, which includes visual references to the Haunted Mansion ride's portrait gallery, stretch room, hatbox ghost, ballroom, the bride in the attic, and even hitchhiking ghosts.

Disney's Haunted Mansion movie premieres in theaters on July 28.

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Replies (13)

March 2, 2023 at 2:59 PM

This actually looks pretty damn cool. Of course they won’t go full-on scary with the IP, but this looks to have some genuinely creepy vibes mixed with silly fun. The vibe and look of the ride are well represented here IMO

March 2, 2023 at 3:10 PM

I will maintain my skepticism of this project. The Eddie Murphy Haunted Mansion looked similarly cool in early trailers, but ended up being a complete mess. While on the other hand, Bruckheimer's PoTC looked horrible in early marketing but was a SMASH.

March 2, 2023 at 3:20 PM

Both good points. I’ll expect garbage but hope for gold

March 2, 2023 at 4:31 PM

It has a great cast and I think there are good people involved behind the camera. We'll see, but I'm pleasantly surprised by the trailer.

March 3, 2023 at 5:16 AM

Watching the trailer I was reminded of the "double-edged-steaming-sword". That is to say: Why would a family of four buy movie tickets when they know this will be on Disney+ in a few months? I believe the inevitable arrival of films on Disney+ undermines motivation to buy tickets and pay for high-priced snacks and drinks. I believe this is what happened to 'Lightyear' when it was released.

March 3, 2023 at 7:51 AM

Sure, that’s why Lightyear was a flop. That’s also why Disney+ subscriptions are on the decline.

March 3, 2023 at 7:58 AM

TH, I think it’s a little worse than that. Disney’s animated films have often been going to streaming about 30-45 days after theatrical release.

The biggest problem that Lightyear (and Strange World) had was an underwhelming premise. I’m not going to jump into the “families don’t go to movies anymore” excuse just yet because last year’s Minions and Puss in Boots sequels were big financial hits. Meanwhile, the films people were actually excited to see like Luca and Turning Red were unceremoniously dumped to Disney+.

March 3, 2023 at 9:58 AM

I’m pretty sure that if Disney had the chance for a do-over, Encanto would have been a sure fire theatrical release before being on Disney+

March 3, 2023 at 10:38 AM

TH and James: New (old) leadership had to be brought in to course-correct. The entire industry is rethinking the streaming strategy, and for good reason. It is an important part of the media landscape, but not the only part of it, and movie ticket sales matter. I am sure Iger can get the magic back in theatrical releases--he has a proven track-record--but the bigger question is whether there is anyone else who can do that once he actually retires for good. (fwiw I was one of the few who saw Lightyear in the theatre, and IMO it didn't deserve to have box office legs)

March 3, 2023 at 11:24 AM

"Why would a family of four buy movie tickets when they know this will be on Disney+ in a few months?"

Because going to the movies is fun, and seeing a movie with an audience is far, far better. Streaming sucks.

This looks good--it's got a couple of solid laughs in the trailer, and the effects work dovetails nicely with the look of the ride. Of course, these effects are similar to those in Feig's Ghostbusters and Hocus Pocus 2, both of which failed miserably, haha, but on the basis of this trailer, so far so good.

Disney has been serving up fart after fart in recent years, hopefully this will break their losing streak.

March 3, 2023 at 1:55 PM

With a reported budget of $150 million, this will have to be a true summer blockbuster to not be a financial disaster. Meaning it will have to crossover way past theme park or horror fans.

March 4, 2023 at 10:08 PM

Disney animation has had a rough couple of years through poor premises (Strange World, Lightyear) and poor decisions on release windows and marketing (Strange World again, and Encanto’s quick move to D+). I would expect to see more familiar films to be released for the rest of this decade. That’s why we are getting Frozen 3 and Toy Story 5, not to mention Marvel, Marvel, and more Marvel.

March 5, 2023 at 9:14 PM

Not sold on this, just looks pretty poor.

I will still argue Luca and Turning Red much better in box office than sent to Disney+. Hell, Hocus Pocus 2 might have turned a mild profit in theaters.

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