Disney Looks To Continue Dismal Box Office Year With Another Flop
We’re still two days away from Disney’s next big movie hitting the theaters. But we’ve looked into the future, and it doesn’t look good for Disney’s Haunted Mansion. In fact, according to critics who’ve already uploaded their thoughts to the Rotten Tomatoes database, Disney’s latest attempt to entertain cinema-goers is almost guaranteed to be a total flop.
According to the consensus, despite featuring a talented cast of A-list actors, the Haunted Mansion reboot isn’t scary or funny. Directed by Justin Simien and written by Katie Dippold, Haunted Mansion is the second film to come out of Disney Studios based on the Disney Parks ride of the same name. It’s a reboot of the story originally told 20 years ago and starring Eddie Murphy, Marsha Thomason, and Jennifer Tilly.
Despite featuring a talented cast of A-list actors, the Haunted Mansion reboot isn’t scary or funny.
The new movie stars LaKeith Stanfield, Tiffany Haddish, Owen Wilson, Danny DeVito, Rosario Dawson, Dan Levy, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Jared Leto. Like Murphy’s 2003 film, the new Haunted Mansion is about a family navigating through a haunted house. However, that’s where the similarities between the two movies end.
The 2003 version followed an overworking realtor who brought his family to the mansion in order to book a job but soon was forced to unravel a supernatural mystery while learning an important lesson about family.
“Just as busy, corny, and predictable as its 2003 iteration.”
Nick Schager
The new Haunted Mansion focuses on a single mother who, along with her son, moves into a haunted house and attempts to exorcise the ghosts from inhabiting it. She does so by hiring a tour guide, psychic, priest, and historian to help her, the group of characters creating plenty of roles for the various Hollywood stars appearing in the film.
The original The Haunted Mansion was one of two movies that were released in 2003 based on a classic Disney Parks ride. The other was Pirates of the Caribbean, which came out five months earlier and was a massive success, leading to four sequels and a multi-billion dollar franchise.
“So possessed with recreating the ride’s details that it misses a bit of its spirit.”
Matt Singer
Unfortunately, Murphy’s Haunted Mansion didn’t follow the same success as the Pirates franchise—while it met mediocre box office success, it was obliterated by critics, though it eventually gained a cult following.
Rebooting the franchise with Haunted Mansion is likely the studio’s attempt to find the next Pirates of the Caribbean. After facing years of box office flops, Disney desperately needs a win in order to keep bringing fans into the theater. However, like Disney’s other most recent films (Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Elemental, and The Little Mermaid), it doesn’t look like Haunted Mansion will cut it.
“I probably wouldn’t let my nine-year-old watch it. The basic premise of Jared Leto’s character is super morbid.“
Joseph Robinson
“Just as busy, corny, and predictable as its 2003 iteration,” Rotten Tomatoes critic Nick Schager claimed. Haunted Mansion might end up being good fun for fans of the Disney Parks who can pick up on the many easter eggs that hint towards the original ride or for young kids who are just looking to be entertained.
However, many critics claim the film is lacking in originality and wit, so the film likely will not end up being the critical success that Disney needs in order to bounce back after the damage that was caused during the pandemic.
