When it comes to theme park rides turned into blockbusters, Disney has gotten a lot of mileage out of Pirates of the Caribbean but not much from The Haunted Mansion. The latter became a movie in 2003 starring Eddie Murphy and made back more than double its budget at the box office. Nevertheless, not much happened with the property since. Until now, that is, as Disney has a new Haunted Mansion film in the works.
For a while, Guillermo del Toro expressed interest in rebooting the franchise, but it appears it’s come down to screenwriter Katie Dippold, the Hollywood Reporter revealed. Dippold previous wrote the screenplay for the 2016 Ghostbusters reboot.
The original Haunted Mansion ride opened in 1969, scaring guests with a ride through an old mansion and the surrounding graveyard. After the 2003 movie came out, it was reworked slightly to reflect the film. It’ll be interesting to see what kind of tone the reboot strikes, and whether the ride will see another update to reflect it.
While this will be the second film version of The Haunted Mansion, Disney will debut the first film based on its iconic ride Jungle Cruise ride next year.
