At D23 in September 2022, The Walt Disney Company made a spectacle of introducing the cast for the live-action reboot of Haunted Mansion (2023), based on the fan-favorite Disney Parks ride and about 20 years after the release of The Haunted Mansion (2003), starring Eddie Murphy.
The announcement kicked off with Jamie Lee Curtis appearing onstage in a “Doom Buggy,” as Disney Parks fans well know, the ride vehicle for the dark ride attraction featured in Walt Disney World, Disneyland California, Paris, Tokyo, and more.
Fans of the original film and the ride were ecstatic, giving Curtis a big round of applause at the casting announcement for her character, Madame Leota. A cast of A-listers, a heavyweight promotional campaign, and the full Disney treatment. However, the film bombed at the box office, earning only $117,449,790 in the worldwide box office despite a hefty $150 million budget. Adding insult to injury, the film also received only a mere 38% critic rating from Rotten Tomatoes. Talk about scary.
This film had the star power, the budget, and the intellectual property (IP) behind it. So what went bump in the night to cause this film to plummet?
A strong ensemble cast
This film had a really strong cast, so much so that it’s easier to just list them.
- LaKeith Stanfield as Ben Matthias
- Rosario Dawson as Gabbie
- Owen Wilson as Father Kent
- Jamie Lee Curtis as Madame Leota
- Tiffany Haddish as Harriet
- Danny DeVito as Bruce Davis
- Jared Leto as the Hatbox Ghost, aka Alistair Crump
- Chase Dillon as Travis
To be honest, I didn’t even know Jared Leto was playing the Hatbox Ghost until I had to look up the credits for this movie.
Nonetheless, the rest of the cast meshes together well. Though we don’t see a ton of Curtis’s Madame Leota, she isn’t entirely absent. Wilson, DeVito, and Haddish add a lot in terms of comedic action in the film.
My one complaint is I feel like Stanfield and Dawson could have brought a lot more to the film with the right script. They’re both strong actors, but I feel like their skill set wasn’t fully tapped into on the part of the dialogue or the director. Being perfectly honest, I think Stanfield is actually too talented for a film like this, but what actor wouldn’t want to be under Disney’s umbrella if given the opportunity? Dawson herself is a seasoned Disney veteran, having appeared in major roles with Marvel, Star Wars, and more. Even Wilson is no stranger himself to Disney’s stratosphere of films and subsidiaries.
Even so, overall, I like the dynamic of the characters, how they play together, and what each brings to the table. Stanfield is obviously the star, but the full cast is given room to shine in their respective parts.
The right plot, to a point
I actually watched this movie twice: the first time when it arrived on Disney+, and the second time recently to see if it was as underwhelming as I remembered it. Surprisingly, I liked it a lot more the second time around.
I think I, like many other fans, went into this film with pretty high expectations. There was a lot behind this film, and Disney was only really just ramping up their live-action reboots, so the whole premise didn’t feel entirely overdone yet, but it was at the start of the turning point here.
Characterized as a supernatural horror-comedy, the film is less funny than it is lighthearted, which I attributed primarily to making sure it wasn’t too scary for kids but still brings in the 999 haunts appropriately.
The movie actually starts with a lot of heart and a strong performance from Stanfield. The beginning scenes feel like they could belong to an entirely different film.
When the film starts, he’s a young, inspired astrophysicist. After tragedy, however, Stanfield’s Ben finds himself down on his luck with no direction. Wilson’s Father Kent attempts to enlist his expertise to help a young mom and her son rid their new home of the ghosts that seem to inhabit it. The film from there is fairly predictable, but entertaining nonetheless.
For the majority of the film, it’s an enjoyable watch. A few jokes don’t quite land from time to time, but it doesn’t take away from the rest. It’s also full of references to the Disney Parks ride that fans of the source material will be able to point out with ease. Though these references are sprinkled throughout the whole movie, it doesn’t feel overly forced. The turn, however, comes at the big climax of the movie.
Without giving the plot away, I’ll just say the film becomes a CGI-fest, which is a bit underwhelming itself in terms of quality. The CGI used in the film itself is, overall, inconsistent. Sometimes it’s great, while other times, it feels like the scene was treated more as an afterthought. At the climax of the film, where CGI is most utilized, the quality seems the worst.
Plot-wise, this is also the part where the film started to lose me. The entire climax just doesn’t feel like it fits the same level of quality as the rest of the movie, which honestly isn’t saying much. The film starts off really strong with heartfelt acting, strong plot progression, and easy humor. Yet, what makes each of those early scenes strong seems to fall away the longer you watch the movie.
The movie felt like it was treated as a sprint and not a marathon. With better pacing, stronger attention to detail, and prioritizing quality over fan service, I think we would’ve seen a much different version of this film.
Disney needs to loosen the reins
Disney’s live-action films are so close to being good movies, but they’re consistently missing the mark in the same areas.
In my review of Moana (2026), I noted that the actors’ delivery and dialogue felt really forced at times, often taking the viewer out of the moment. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that I felt the same pressure in Haunted Mansion (2023), though certainly not as aggressive.
Film after film of the same issues is giving the feeling that Disney has entirely lost touch with what makes a good film and is instead opting to put all their eggs into fan service. Take, for instance, the stories that came out of the making of Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026).
In press interviews, Tom Holland shared that an earlier cut of the film, edited based on early test screenings and audience feedback, was terrible. The studio wanted to produce a film based on the opinions of a select few fans.
Let me say this now: fans don’t know what it takes to make a good movie.
Being entirely honest, I’m not even confident I know what it takes to make a good movie. That’s why I’m not doing it.
Disney would rather let focus groups make their movies than real actors, directors, and writers. It’s starting to show.
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) doesn’t feel like a Disney movie. Why? Because they weren’t forcing the film into strict Disney-set parameters. The goal was to make a good movie with loose inspiration from the parks. It succeeded so well in that goal that the rides themselves were changed to better fit the films, and it sparked a major franchise. It didn’t go the other way around.
To this day, the original trilogy is not just one of the best Disney trilogies; it’s one of the best movie trilogies in general.
I’m an avid Disney fan, I’ve visited different parks several times in the last few years, and I continue to go to the theater to see their films. That doesn’t make me qualified to dictate the way their stories are being told, which is rich considering I’m writing a review about it. Believe me, the irony isn’t lost on me.
My ultimate point is that fan opinion can only take you so far. Spider-Man and Tom Holland did it well: hear what the fans have to say, but trust your judgment as a professional to deliver the final product. And while I’m standing on my soapbox: keep AI out of it!
Perhaps all of that is better saved for a different article because, as a solo film, Haunted Mansion is an entertaining, Halloween-friendly watch for the season. It isn’t the best live-action Disney has put out in recent years, but it is also far from being the worst.
Albeit, it did take watching this movie for a second time to enjoy it.
When it is all said and done, however, the short of it is this: this is a fun movie to watch when the season is appropriate. It doesn’t make my “must-watch” fall favorites list, nor does it entirely beat out its predecessor as the better film; however, it does offer a new and unique take on the story that has already captivated so many Disney fans across the globe, from the theme parks to the silver screen. It’s a fun watch when all you go into it wanting is a few hours of entertainment.
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Happy haunting!
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