Well this is a little bit awesome. If you recall, back in 2010 Guillermo del Toro announced he was doing an adaptation of The Haunted Mansion attraction for Disney. Here he is at that year’s San Diego Comic-Con talking about how helming the movie is the Holy Grail of film making
Alas, it’s been mostly radio silence as to whether the production was a go or not. The news resurfaced today because Ryan Gosling is in apparent talks to star in it.
According to The Wrap, del Toro and Gosling have developed a friendship. “The duo were also photographed together at Disneyland over Oscar weekend, where they rode the Haunted Mansion ride in addition to Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain Railroad and the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction.”
I can’t think of anybody better than one of the current Master’s of Horror to helm one Disney’s spookiest rides. When exactly we can see this project is anybodies guess. I would say within the next 2 years.
I don’t see how working an alternative big screen adaptation of Haunted Mansion–following a basically totally failed effort to do so–is a holy grail. Disney’s list of live-action adaptations of animated films has grown so long it hurts the eyes and heart to read it. The Attraction-to-film adaptation film list is nearly as bad. This is the very last thing I can imagine anyone is clamoring for.
You’re taking multiple genres of film and clumping them all into one situation just because they’re under the Disney name. I agree the list is long, but the subject is far from dead, so to speak. Haunted Mansion is wildly popular, every time new merch pops up and with the news of the Hatbox Ghost reappearing in May I know it will grow even more. Needless to say just because someone failed before doesn’t mean it will happen again because it’s in completely different hands. Plus it being 12+ years apart. Toro has mastered creepy, and is also a huge fanboy that would probably trash the project rather that produce something epic to stand behind.
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