Following a magical premiere at the happiest place on earth, Haunted Mansion will be out for the public to enjoy this Friday. On July 15, fans, press, and influential figures gathered to celebrate Disney’s iconic film that accurately brought the ride to life and immersed you into a new world of specters and spectacles.
The film stars LaKeith Stanfield, Tiffany Haddish, Owen Wilson, Danny DeVito, Rosario Dawson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jared Leto, Winona Ryder Chase Dillon, and many more ghoulish talents. The premise of the film follows a single mother played by Dawson, and when she and her son move into an old mansion they discover that it is haunted. To combat the spirits, they hire a former paranormal investigator turned tour guide, a priest, a psychic, and a college history professor.
The film is the perfect homage to the beloved ride with cleverly planted easter eggs, ghost stories, comedy, and the story of grief and how to overcome it. A film that can be enjoyed by all ages with messages that will be universal for all. Each character has their own struggles that the mansion helps them overcome and the brilliant storytelling by director Justin Simien and screenplay by Katie Dippold brings everything to life timelessly with nods to the past and present.
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Haunted Mansion is going to be a classic for years to come as it captures the essence f the ride perfectly while also offering its audience teachable moments, emotional lessons, and laughter, and we got to pick Director Justin Simien’s brain to dive into the genius behind the film.
Simien was once a theme park employee and his talents, imagination, and drive brought him to this film, and there couldn’t have been any better choice, as someone who geeked out and loved the ride, he put all of his passion into it. We touched on his reaction to positive reviews and notes that his film is preferred over the Eddie Murphy version. While we loved both films, Simien’s Haunted Mansion pulls on the heartstrings more and nails the elements of the ride.
Simien also shared how he meticulously cracked the code and decided which parts of the ride to incorporate into the film and some of the iconic ghosts and stories, as well as the cast and how well everyone world together. LaKeith Stanfield’s grief-stricken character and performance were astounding and showed off his diverse skill, and the love and laughs from all of the other cast brought together the perfect ensemble.
The film itself is very visually pleasing with sets from all over New Orleans that give you the realistic feel of the time that some of the ghosts were from. Simien chose to use live sets over CGI effects for the whole movie because he wanted the audience, cast, and crew to feel the presence of the ghosts, and it makes the film more realistic and scary, after all, “old Disney films are the most scary movies ever.”
Watch our full interview above and catch Disney’s Haunted Mansion only in theatres Friday, July 28!
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