A new Haunted Mansion movie is in the works at Disney, the popular attraction coming back to theaters on March 10, 2023, and EW reports that Jared Leto has joined the cast.
According to the site, Leto is playing the “Hatbox Ghost.”
The site also confirms that Jamie Lee Curtis is playing Madame Leota!
Justin Simien (Dear White People, Bad Hair) is directing the new live action adaptation of the popular, long-running Disney theme park attraction that’s home to 999 haunts.
The known ensemble cast for the Haunted Mansion movie at this time includes LaKeith Stanfield, Tiffany Haddish, Owen Wilson, Rosario Dawson, and Danny DeVito.
“In this mysterious adventure, a doctor (Dawson) and her 9-year-old son (Chase Dillon), looking to start a new life, move into a strangely affordable mansion in New Orleans, only to discover that the place is much more than they bargained for. Desperate for help, they contact a priest (Wilson), who, in turn, enlists the aid of a widowed scientist-turned failed-paranormal expert (Stanfield), a French Quarter psychic (Haddish) and a crotchety historian (DeVito).”
The dark ride attraction, which launched in 1969 and is still going strong today at Disney parks, “sees theme park guests go inside a spooky and creepy manor that has a wide array of supernatural frights. It also features a graveyard’s worth of characters.” The most popular characters include Hatbox Ghost, Madame Leota, The Phantom and the Hitchhiking Ghosts.
Rob Minkoff directed the feature film The Haunted Mansion back in 2003, the first big screen adaptation of the ride. Eddie Murphy starred in the film. More recently, Guillermo del Toro was attached to adapt the ride for a brand new movie. Alas, it never came to life.
Katie Dippold (Ghostbusters 2016) is writing the new movie’s script for Disney.
