Jared Leto, Jamie Lee Curtis are the latest happy haunts to join Disney's 'Haunted Mansion' (original) (raw)
Classic ghosts hitch a ride on Disney's new movie adaptation of the classic ride.
Published on August 2, 2022 12:43PM EDT
Disney fans, beware of hitchhiking actors: Jared Leto and Jamie Lee Curtis have boarded the House of Mouse's Haunted Mansion movie.
EW has confirmed with a source close to the production that both actors will participate in director Justin Simien's new movie adaptation of the classic attraction, which operates in various versions at parks in California, Florida, France, and Japan.
Leto reportedly plays the "Hatbox Ghost" who appears throughout the ride, while Curtis portrays Madame Leota — otherwise known as the psychic medium whose head resides in the ride's iconic crystal ball — according to One Take News, which first reported the information.
Jared Leto and Jamie Lee Curtis have joined Disney's 'Haunted Mansion' movie. Samir Hussein/WireImage; Joshua Sudock/Disneyland Resort; Amy Sussman/Getty Images
Simien's contemporary update — also starring Rosario Dawson, LaKeith Stanfield, Owen Wilson, Danny DeVito, and Tiffany Haddish — is Disney's second attempt at translating the Haunted Mansion attraction into a feature film, after Eddie Murphy fronted a heavily maligned adaptation in 2003.
Writer Katie Dippold's (The Heat, Ghostbusters) plot revolves around a mother (Dawson) who attempts to exorcise her New Orleans mansion from the happy haunts inside after she moves in. It is the latest in a growing line of films based on classic Disney attractions, joining Brian De Palma's Mission to Mars, 2002's The Country Bears, Tomorrowland, last year's blockbuster Jungle Cruise, and the hit Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise. Taika Waititi is also reportedly at work on another feature-length Tower of Terror film with Scarlett Johansson.
The Haunted Mansion first opened at California's Disneyland in 1969, years after it was initially conceived by Walt Disney as a walk-through attraction. It later evolved into a ride that takes guests through a supernaturally charged abode in Louisiana. Later versions at other parks have deviated slightly on the theme and location, with both Walt Disney World's and Tokyo Disneyland's editions featuring more show scenes, a longer ride time, and a Gothic aesthetic, while Disneyland Paris' version, Phantom Manor, is themed to a decimated house on the American frontier.
Simien's Haunted Mansion movie opens March 10, 2023.
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