If fans are unable to make it to one of Disney’s various theme parks this summer, they’ll still be able to get a taste of one of their most popular attractions with the upcoming filmHaunted Mansion, based upon one of the parks' staple rides. The film boasts an all-star cast includingDanny DeVito, who appears in a newly released image from the film as Bruce - a professor and paranormal enthusiast.
Haunted Mansionhas a star-studded cast including the likes ofLaKeith Stanfield,Owen Wilson,Tiffany Haddish, and recent Oscar-winnerJaime Lee Curtis, as a single mother enlists the help of a team of so-called experts to rid her new home of unwanted paranormal activity. The film also starsRosario Dawson, who sees another high-profile releasethis Augustwhen theStar WarsseriesAhsokapremieres on Disney+.
One ofHaunted Mansion’s biggest names is Danny DeVito, who appears in the new image decked out in a raincoat and hat - he said toEmpire, “I’m shrink-wrapped into this. I’m like a piece of meat in this.” The dashing look is apparently befitting of his character in the film, as he explained, “as soon as I saw it, I said, ‘This is my whole character in a nutshell, right?’ He’s very, very particular.” The actor joked that he was drawing upon his own unsettling experiences with the “unknown”, saying “yesterday I was just sitting around, working on something, and I saw this bird. Now I’ve seen that bird several times. I don’t know if it’s the same bird, but I got a feeling it may be… you could say, it’s a coincidence, but if something happens again and again and again, is it a sign? How do you interpret it?”
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Return to the Haunted Mansion
This isn’t the first time the fan favoriteDisney attractionhas been granted the big-screen treatment, as 2003 saw the release of theEddie Murphy-leadThe Haunted Mansion, which also starred the likes ofMarsha Thomason,Terence Stamp, andJennifer Tilly. That film, however, was met with a less-than-stellar critical reception to say the least (it currently holds a score of a measly 14% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes), despite being a hit at the box office; the film grossed $182.3 million worldwide against its $90 million budget. The new film will no doubt be looking to improve upon its predecessor - directorJustin Simienreflected on that film’s shortcomings, tellingEntertainment Weeklythat he “had a little bit of beef with the first film”, confessing that he “looked at [the film] a lot, mostly to see how easy it would be to go awry in certain spots” during the production of his version.
Haunted Mansionwill be released into theaters on July 28. Check out the film’s trailer below:
