Haunted Mansion reboot?

[splashmountain86]

Anyone else excited about this?

At the Walt Disney Pictures panel in Hall H at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con, moderator Patton Oswalt introduced a very brief teaser for what is to be a Haunted Mansion reboot, which simply showed The Hatbox Ghost character from the famous Disney theme park ride with the voiceover from the ride.

After the teaser, Oswalt asked the crowd who they thought would be the director for such a reimagining. To everyone’s surprise, that person is the one and only Guillermo del Toro, who make a surprise appearance at the panel.

Del Toro said that his reimagining of The Haunted Mansion will be live-action and in 3D, and will not be a comedy. He joked that he was not be answering any of Eddie Murphy’s calls, making it clear that his film won’t be like the one Murphy starred in in 2003 that failed to hit with audiences.

The director, who expressed that his love of the popular theme park ride began at age 3 when he first went to Disneyland the same year the ride opened there, said that his film will be scary but fun, though mostly scary, stressing that children who see the movie will be frightened.


He stated that the movie will reintroduce the mythology of the Mansion by centering around the character of the Hatbox Ghost, a character that appeared in the original Disneyland ride but was removed soon after his debut. Del Toro also said that the Mansion in his film will be the most haunted place on Earth.

Del Toro’s enthusiasm was contagious and the crowd seriously went wild when he was brought out and seemed to really be on board with this reboot. He joked that he planned to steal as many props from the film as possible.

**taken from geeksofdoom.com**

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

Simultaneously exciting and confusing. Wasn't there JUST a movie a few years ago?

 

[Making Magic]

This ride has so much potential to inspire a GOOD film. I hope it is done well this time around. Very cool.

 

[*NikkiBell*]

I actually read this last night. It sounds interesting! I personally wish they'd go ahead with their plans for the Jungle Cruise movie. I think it could be a neat one.

 

[Tinkerkell123]

I'm really excited about this new HM movie! I am probably one of the few that actually enjoyed the Eddie Murphy movie. Mostly because it reminds me of WDW when I'm not there...

I would also like a Jungle Cruise movie.

 

[lttlmc3]

I saw this on PerezHilton today and I'm sooooo excited about this!!!

 

[simonkodousek]

A new HM movie would be awesome! The first one w/ Eddie Murphy was just atrocious, not to mention downright weird! Maybe this time they'll find a lead actor with at least some talent...

 

[doconeill]

I posted on the N&R board yesterday and meant to cross-post it here but forgot...I had actually planned to be at Comic-Con, and then forgot about it until it was too late...

I would also like a Jungle Cruise movie.

Hmmm...all the plastic animals come to life and try to eat the guests while the skipper tries to scare them off with a cap gun?

 

[vegetablegirl]

Yes! I am so excited! del Torro will do wonderful things with this, I'm sure! I'm sort of glad they're making it a little scarier, but still fun.

 

[ssanders79]

I've been hoping this would happen for years. The first one feels more like a direct to video release/TV movie similar to Tower of Terror. With the success of POTC it proved that a darker/scarier HM would work.

 

[catycatcat4]

Simultaneously exciting and confusing. Wasn't there JUST a movie a few years ago?

Yes but it was just plain AWFUL!

 

[Jubilee]

Yes but it was just plain AWFUL!

I agree it was awful, and sometimes I can be a bit of a fanboy with stuff I want so badly to like

 

[NancyIL]

Yes but it was just plain AWFUL!

I enjoyed it - but I went to the free preview for Magic Kingdom Club (or whatever the name changed to) members!

 

[NancyIL]

Hmmm...all the plastic animals come to life and try to eat the guests while the skipper tries to scare them off with a cap gun?

That sounds like "Night at the Museum" meets "Gilligan's Island"!

 

[dalt01]

i imagine jungle cruise as a cross between Red Dust (1932) and Anaconda. the first HM fell into the trap of, its hard to start with a silly comedian and not end up with a silly comedy. you have to remember that Pirates scared the pants off of the front office and some of them were convinced that it was going to come off as a silly comedy and they were very aware of the box office history of swashbucklers. their desire to avoid the R ratings and PG13 for that matter makes it difficult to make a "scary" movie with any teeth. that type of movie almost never reaches event status (tentpole) so they dont go big budget which keeps them from A list casting. they need to roll the dice again as they did with Pirates, spend some money on the cast and director.

 

[cxcelica]

their desire to avoid the R ratings and PG13 for that matter makes it difficult to make a "scary" movie with any teeth. that type of movie almost never reaches event status (tentpole) so they dont go big budget which keeps them from A list casting. they need to roll the dice again as they did with Pirates, spend some money on the cast and director.

If they truly do want to go with a "scarier/edgier" (or whatever you want to call it) version of the haunted mansion, then they have done a pretty good job selecting Guillermo Del Toro, especially since he does already seem to be a knowledgeable fan of the subject.

Guillermo is a much bigger name (having both critical sucess with Pans Labyrinth and popular success with Hellboy) than Gore Verbinski was when he directed POTC.

I am intrigued so far by this.