Disney’s remake of the 2003 comedy movie, The Haunted Mansion, has just added another star to its cast. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Danny DeVito joins the production and is set to play a supporting role in the upcoming adventure movie.
Based on one of Disney’s signature theme park rides, The Haunted Mansion remake, follows the story of a mother and her son, who stumble across a spooky mansion full of spirits and mysteries. Previously, in the early 2000s, the studio adapted the attraction into a film with a slightly different premise. The original Haunted Mansion movie – starring Eddie Murphy – focused on a realtor whose family is lured into a haunted house thanks to some ghosts, who happen to be obsessed with his wife. However, the 2000s movie proved to be a critical flop, and to this day still only holds 14% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Although details about the new story for the remake of The Haunted Mansion, penned by Katie Dippold (The Heat), are being kept under wraps, it seems like the studio is going for big names and wacky roles for its cinematic do-over. THR reports that DeVito will play a supporting role in the film as a currently unnamed “smug professor” – hinting that there will be plenty of comedy in the upcoming script.
DeVito is the latest addition to the increasingly star-studded cast of Disney’s remake. Other confirmed cast members for the Haunted Mansion include LaKeith Stanfield (Knives Out), Tiffany Haddish (Girls Trip), Rosario Dawson (Luke Cage), and Owen Wilson (The French Dispatch). Justin Simien (Dear White People) is directing the flick, which has now officially begun production in New Orleans and Atlanta.
The Haunted Mansion marks DeVito’s second live-action Disney flick since 2019’s Dumbo, the same year he featured in action movie Jumanji: The Next Level. Besides the Disney movie, the actor is also currently working on the long-awaited sequel to the hit ‘80s movie Twins, titled Triplets, where he will appear alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger and Tracy Morgan.