For years now, Disney has been trying to make a big-screen take on the iconic Haunted Mansion ride that lives up to the original attraction – and while the Eddie Murphy-starring 2003 film has its moments, and the recent Muppets Haunted Mansion special is a good time, they haven’t quite got there yet. But this summer’s Haunted Mansion is looking promising – not only boasting a stellar ensemble cast, but also including all kinds of references and homages to the ride. It’s helmed by Dear White People and Bad Hair filmmaker Justin Simien, with Rosario Dawson as Gabbie – a woman who moves into the eponymous haunted house, and hires LaKeith Stanfield’s paranormal guide, Tiffany Haddish’s psychic, Owen Wilson’s priest, and Danny DeVito’s historian to help banish the beasts within. Watch the latest trailer here.
This is shaping up to be a spooky good time – leaning into both the fear and the fun that have made Haunted Mansion a Disneyland and Disney World mainstay for decades. If you’ve ever been on it, there’s plenty you’ll recognise here: the ghost bride, the stretching room, the Hatbox Ghost, and a brief flash of Jamie Lee Curtis as head-in-a-bowl Madame Leota. And that scooped chair that whisks Tiffany Haddish around just over a minute in? It looks just like the booths you sit in while you ride. And the cast for this one really is stacked – also featuring Winona Ryder, Hasan Minhaj (part of that properly rib-tickling final scene of the trailer), and Dan Levy. The film is written by Katie Dippold.
While this one, intriguingly, isn’t setting itself up as a Halloween launch, it’s a big family-friendly horror-ish blockbuster planted right in the middle of summer – UK audiences will see it from 11 August, while lucky American viewers can see it from 28 July. Hey, maybe it’ll be on Disney+ when October rolls around. Start your spiritual protection spells now, people.