The overall hype and the star-studded cast of Disney’s recent Haunted Mansion film didn’t translate at the box office this past weekend. It turns out that Disney Enterprises were the foolish mortals in putting the classic theme park attraction film up against the fearsome Barbenheimer. However, the real scheduling issue occurred long before competition films Barbie and Oppenheimer gained any traction.
The question is: Why schedule a spooky, haunted movie for a mid-summer release over a Halloween debut?
The Walt Disney Company is usually top-notch in its theming, which leads audiences to question why Haunted Mansion may not have made more sense to release in the fall during the designated spooky season. Variety asked the same question and cited two main reasons.
Summertime can be a great time to draw families into movie theaters. Kids are out of school, and parents need a solid way to collect their families and beat the heat. While Haunted Mansion had the makings of a promising family film, director Justin Simien and cast members like Rosario Dawson, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Owen Wilson had no idea they would have to compete with the behemoth that is Greta Gerwig’s Barbie.
After the film came in a distant third place on its opening weekend, Disney may have realized their error. Kids and families are available, but they’d rather spend their summer days with Barbie at the beach than a ghost-ridden mansion. Variety notes that the actor’s strike also “hobbled” Haunted Mansion’s ability to market.
Maybe The Walt Disney Co. knew ahead of time that the Haunted Mansion film would be met tepidly in theaters, so they picked a summer release date that allows the film to hit its streaming platform right around the Halloween season. Variety sites Disney’s 1993 Hocus Pocus as a theatrical flop that became a cult classic only in its afterlife. Is this what Disney hopes for the new Haunted Mansion film, too?
It’s hard to imagine Disney Plus will have a surge of sign-ups around Halloween just to access 2023’s Haunted Mansion, but scarier things have happened.
The new Haunted Mansion (2023) movie may become another flop from The Walt Disney Company. Although it hasn’t spawned the level of controversy associated with other films in the past 12 months, such as Lightyear (2022), Strange World (2022), or The Little Mermaid (2023), it will likely follow in the footsteps of a long life of recent box office failures.
In addition to the titles above, additional box office bombs include Elemental (2023), Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania (2023), and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023). As long as audiences choose to avoid seeing Disney movies in the theaters, the studio will continue hemorrhaging money.
It was reported earlier this year that in the past 12 months, the Walt Disney Company was estimated to have lost almost $1 billion in box office flops. And that figure was before the release of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023), which in the end could lose another couple hundred million.
Walt Disney Pictures hoped the Haunted Mansion (2023) would be a chance to turn things around. After all, it’s not a controversial live action remake, and it’s a movie based on a popular theme park ride at Disneyland (and the Magic Kingdom at Disney World). But its expected box office numbers for this weekend are $25-$30 million domestically. For comparison, Avengers: Endgame (2019) made $357 million on its opening weekend. Granted, that’s an established franchise, but those numbers are from four years ago. But when compared to The Haunted Mansion (2003) with Eddie Murphy, the opening box office is about the same ($24.3 million).
Even though $30 million (at best) is still a nice chunk of change, it’s not a win when the movie allegedly cost the studio $150 million to produce. That figure also includes no marketing or promotional costs, which could easily be another $50-$100 million. Again, Disney seems to find itself where the costs of producing its movies ends up setting a bar too high for the box office. This was the problem with The Little Mermaid (2023), Lightyear (2022), and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023).
Adding to the lukewarm box office numbers (which usually drop each week a movie is in theaters), the Haunted Mansion (2023) has received few positive reviews. Currently, it holds a critic score of 41% on Rotten Tomatoes (and it drops to 24% when filtered down to Top Critics).
Audiences seem to enjoy the movie with a score of 83%. However, a favorable audience score alone may not be enough to dig the Haunted Mansion (2023) out of its 6′ hole.
For those mortals (and Disney fans) interested in the new movie directed by Justin Simien, it’s in theaters this weekend and stars Tiffany Haddish, Rosario Dawson, Owen Wilson, Danny DeVito, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jared Leto, and Lakeith Stanfield.
By now, it’s no secret that the latest Disney movie trend is a live-action remake. But unfortunately, these live-action movies don’t seem to strike the fancy of most fans.
Disney has put a pin in the upcoming live-action Lilo and Stitch.
According to a report by The Hollywood Reporter, the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strikes have affected the production of the upcoming Lilo and Stitch remake.
The Lilo and Stitch remake was originally scheduled for a Disney Plus (Disney+) release in 2024. Now that filming has been interrupted, an actual release date is currently up in the air.
Lilo and Stitch stars Maia Kealoha as Lilo, Sydney Agudong as Nani, Zach Galifianakis as Jumba, Billy Magnussen as Pleakley, and Chris Sanders who’s returning as Stitch.
Johnny Depp may not be done as Captain Jack Sparrow, after all.
The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise has served as a $4.5 billion money-maker for The Walt Disney Company. The franchise, which has five total movies, has all starred Johnny Depp as the lead protagonist, alongside others like Keira Knightley (Elizabeth Swann Turner) and Orlando Bloom (Will Turner). The last film, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, was released in 2017, and a lot has happened since then.
Disney reportedly turned its back on Johnny Depp amid allegations from his ex-wife Amber Heard saying that the actor had physically and emotionally abused her. The ex-couple underwent two different defamation trials, one in the U.K. and then one in the United States. The defamation trial in the United States concluded last summer and resulted in a resounding victory for Mr Depp over Ms Heard. Though Amber Heard vowed to appeal the decision, she eventually settled with Johnny Depp outside of court, paying the actor $1 million this past December.
Some fans have held out hope that Johnny Depp would return to the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, but the actor revealed during the defamation trial that he wouldn’t return to Disney “for $300 million,” and he has since moved to Europe and is exploring both his music and acting career overseas, with a new movie titled Jeanne Du Barry that was just released at the Cannes Film Festival a couple of weeks ago.
Of course, the elephant in the room has been the question of a reunion. Even though neither side has come out and said that they want to reunite, they both understand that fans want to see it happen. Johnny Depp has made appearances for select fans using his Captain Jack Sparrow persona, but there’s a big difference between bringing out the character every now and then, and actually returning to Disney for a movie.
Disney has finally broken the silence on what we could expect in the future for Pirates of the Caribbean 6, including Johnny Depp’s status.
In an interview with the New York Times, Disney Studios Motion Picture Production President Sean Bailey shared that they are excited about the next stages of the franchise.
“We think we have a really good, exciting story that honors the films that have come before but also has something new to say,” he said.
When asked about the status of Johnny Depp for the film, Bailey said that Disney was “noncommittal at this point.”
This is an interesting phrase from Disney, to say the least. The comments do not close the door on a potential return, but they also don’t point to anything guaranteed at this point. Pirates of the Caribbean Producer Jerry Bruckheimer shared in the past that Disney had developed two scripts, neither of which would likely involve Johnny Depp, but that’s to say that the story couldn’t be adjusted or changed, if the two parties were to come to an agreement in the future.
So far, 2023 hasn’t seen many theatrical releases from the House of Mouse. But not to worry—there’s plenty of good stuff on the way.
Disney recently unveiled their 11-movie release slate at this year’s CinemaCon in Las Vegas, which will fill out the remaining months of 2023. While some films will get a theatrical run, many others will be sent directly to Disney+ and Hulu.
The studio released Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania in February, which rang in the MCU’s Phase Five. Other movies like Disney+’s Chang Can Dunk (2023) and Prom Pact (2023) have already made their way to the little screen, leaving 11 more exciting releases that will span across the rest of the year—including some major blockbusters. Here’s what you can expect to see in the coming months:
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” – May 5
Perhaps one of Disney’s most highly-anticipated Marvel Studios collaborations to date, James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3will see the titular team reuniting for one last ride—this time, to take down a dangerous new threat known as the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji). The movie will mark the second instillation in the MCU’s Phase Five, and sees Chris Pratt (Star-Lord/Peter Quill), Zoe Saldana (Gamora), Dave Bautista (Drax), Vin Diesel (Groot), Karen Gillan (Nebula), and Pom Klementieff (Mantis) reprising their roles alongside Iwuji and franchise newcomer Will Poulter (Adam Warlock).
“The Little Mermaid” – May 26
The latest in Disney Studios’ ongoing efforts to bring their animated classics to live action, the Halle Bailey-led The Little Mermaid swims into theaters next month—and anticipation is through the roof. A reimagined take on the original story of the same name, the film stars an A-list cast from the likes of Melissa McCarthy, who plays the infamously evil Ursula, Awkwafina as a gender-flipped Scuttle, Antonio Banderas as King Triton, and Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric, among others. Bailey’s goosebump-inducing take on “Part of Your World” is available on music streaming platforms now.
“The Boogeyman” – June 2
Originally set to premiere on Hulu, the latest Stephen King adaptation, The Boogeyman, will now get a summer theatrical release, promising haunts and horrors galore. The original short story follows a troubled man named Lester Billings, who believes that “The Boogeyman” is terrorizing him by killing all three of his children. In the upcoming movie, directed by Rob Savage, the plot will deviate slightly from the source material, focusing rather on Sadie Harper (Sophie Thatcher) and her little sister, Sawyer (Vivien Lyra Blair), still reeling from the unexpected death of their mother. Things get stranger when a desperate patient shows up at their house, begging for help from their psychiatrist father (David Dastmalchian).
“Elemental” – June 16
Pixar is going all-out for their upcoming collaboration with Disney, the animated Elemental. Directed by Peter Sohn, the film takes place in Element City, a place where anthropomorphic fire, water, land, and air residents live together. Things start to heat up when fire elemental Ember (Leah Lewis) is forced to form an unlikely relationship with water elemental Wade (Mamoudou Athie) in a world where “elements don’t mix.” Elemental will premiere early at the 76th annual Cannes Film Festival ahead of its theatrical release on June 16.
“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” – June 30
Perhaps the most anticipated project on Disney’s 2023 film slate, the final installment of the beloved Indiana Jones franchise is coming to theaters this summer. After a decades-long partnership with Disney and Lucasfilm, its star, Harrison Ford, will be hanging up his hat and bullwhip after Dial of Destiny. But there’s still plenty to be excited about, from Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who plays Indy’s equally as adventurous goddaughter, to Mads Mikkelsen, who stars as the villainous ex-Naxi, Jürgen Voller. The James Mangold-directed movie is sure to be a fitting goodbye to such an iconic character, and will also premiere early at Cannes in May.
“Haunted Mansion” – July 28
Yet another Disney remake, 2023’s The Haunted Mansion will refresh the Halloween classic audiences were first introduced to nearly 20 years ago. Starring a truly impressive cast, from Owen Wilson, to Tiffany Haddish, to Oscar winner Jamie Lee Curtis, the film will see the ensemble of spiritual “experts” attempting to fight off strange, supernatural entities—with lots of laughs along the way.
“A Haunting in Venice” – September 15
Based on Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot mystery series, A Haunting in Venice will see Oscar nominated director Kenneth Branagh and a new cast consisting of Tina Fey, Jamie Dornan, Michelle Yeoh, and Kyle Allen working together to solve a truly head-scratching murder-mystery. Distributed by 20th Century Studios, the movie is scheduled to be released this fall.
“The Creator” – September 29
Directed by Rogue One’s Gareth Edwards, the upcoming sci-fi action movie The Creator, has earned rave reviews after footage was screened at CinemaCon. Starring John David Washington, Gemma Chan, Ralph Ineson, Allison Janney, and other talented performers, the movie is scheduled to be released this fall by 20th Century Studios.
“The Marvels” – November 10
Captain Marvel’s Brie Larson, WandaVision breakout star Teyonah Parris, and Ms. Marvel‘s Iman Vellani are teaming up for the MCU’s next major crossover event in The Marvels. Picking up sometime after the events of Avengers: Endgame (2019), the story will follow the trio of superheroes as they try to figure out why their powers are interconnected with each other. The movie has been postponed and delayed several times by Marvel Studios, but after waiting patiently for the better part of a year, fans can finally look forward to seeing it in theaters this fall.
“Next Goal Wins” – November 17
The sports comedy Next Goal Wins has a very famous director attached to it: none other than Thor: Love and Thunder‘s Taika Waititi. Set to follow a football coach (Michael Fassbender) who tries to turn a fledgling footabll team into superstars, the movie is based on a real-life documentary of the same name. It arrives in theaters this November.
“Wish” – November 22
At CinemaCon, it was revealed that Chris Pine would lend his voice to Disney Animation’s Wish, a movie that will explore how the legend of the wishing star came to be. Pine will play King Magnifico alongside West Side Story‘s Ariana DeBose, who voices Asha. Set in the magical kingdom of Rosas, Asha, a witty and compassionate young woman, finds her plea answered by a far-off, cosmic force after wishing on a star. With the help of the cosmos, Asha sets off face on an adventure to stop the most formidable of foes in order to save her community.
