We have yet another nail in the coffin of Guillermo del Toro‘s dream “Haunted Mansion” movie. Despite years of arduous dedication and devotion shown towards making a movie based on the popular Disney attraction for years, the House of Mouse is reportedly moving ahead with a new take of the story, only without the Oscar-winning filmmaker. Instead, it will be up to the writer of the “Ghostbusters” reboot, Katie Dippold, to pen the script.
The scoop comes from The Hollywood Reporter, stating that Dippold will write a new feature based on the “Haunted Mansion” ride, with Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich producing the live-action film via their Rideback banner, which was behind the recent “Aladdin” remake.
Honestly, that whole sentence is enough of a turn-off. Not because of Dippold, who actually did a good job on the vastly underrated “Ghostbusters” reboot, but because it seems like Disney will treat this just like another live-action remake of their IP. Guillermo del Toro has been taking and pushing his vision for the film for years, which he developed with Ryan Gosling in mind for the starring role, until the project reportedly proved too scary for Disney’s young target audience.
Meanwhile, Dippold’s background in comedy, together with the Rideback banner as part of the production, seems to hint at yet another comedic adaptation of the Disney ride, which is exactly what Disney tried to do back in 2003. The original “Haunted Mansion” film, starring Eddie Murphy, leaned in more towards the laughs than the scares, and ended up a disappointment. The other film based on a Disney ride that came out that year, “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” managed to find the right balance between kid-friendly adventure and the dark subject matter of, you know, actual pirates.
But who knows, maybe this will turn out like that time the guy behind “The Hangover Part II” and “Identity Thief” shocked us with “Chernobyl,” or that time the guy behind “The Hangover” made a ton of money with “Joker,” or even that one time the guy behind “Animal House” went on to make the delightfully creepy and fun “An American Werewolf in London.”
