The highly-anticipated first trailer for new Disney Movie Haunted Mansion is here – and it promises plenty of spooky treats for fans of one of the most beloved Disney institutions. Famous characters that fans have come to know and love from the Haunted Mansion attraction at the theme parks are all here.
Jamie Lee Curtis plays Madame Leota, one of the most iconic characters from the ride. Haunted Mansion is very much a ghost movie, with Jared Leto playing the famous Hatbox Ghost, and there’s also Caesar Ghost, Dueling Ghost, Drunk Ghost, and Caretaker Ghost to look forward to. The trailer features the portraits – one of the most-loved features of the attraction – as well as the endless corridor, the stretching room, the Bride and more menacing morsels for fans to enjoy.
Rosario Dawson plays Gabbie, who moves into the mansion with her son Travis. She hires priest Kent (Owen Wilson) to try to tackle her small ghost problem. Kent, in turn, hires paranormal expert Ben Matthias (LaKeith Stanfield), psychic Harriet (Tiffany Haddish), and a history professor (Danny DeVito) to actually get their hands dirty and tackle the ghosts. Hasan Minhaj, Winona Ryder, and Dan Levy play other characters.
Fans will be eagle-eyed to ensure that details such as the wallpaper (seriously) is accurate to the historic ride. The ride was conceived while Walt Disney was still alive, by some of his original Imagineers, and made its debut in 1969. The ride has gone through many changes and updates since then, but still has an extremely loyal fanbase. They include celebrities such as Ryan Gosling and Guillermo del Toro – who got fairly close to making their own movie based on the ride – but their vision was deemed too much like a horror movie, and not enough like a family movie.
A previous version of The Haunted Mansion starring Eddie Murphy was released in 2003, but that has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 14%. Fans of the ride will obviously be hoping that the new version is better and contains more of the characters and features that they know and love. Disney will obviously be hoping for a Pirates of the Caribbean sized success.
Haunted Mansion will be released on July 28, 2023. While we wait for that, check out our guide to the best scary movies for kids.