Summary
- Guillermo del Toro developed an early version of the Haunted Mansion adaptation, but it was scrapped by Disney.
- The director, Justin Siemen, wanted the movie to be true to the terrifying nature of classic Disney films and not pull any punches.
- Siemen took inspiration from movies like Ghostbusters, Neverending Story, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Little Shop of Horrors to create the specific environment and tone for the Haunted Mansion.
Haunted Mansion has been trying to make it back to the big screen for a while now, and Justin Siemen was not the only director attached to the project, since another acclaimed filmmaker was close to get behind the cameras, which would have end up delivering a different version of the movie.
Guillermo del Toro, known for building fantasy horror-style worlds, developed an early version of the Haunted Mansion adaptation but ended up being scrapped by Disney. Speaking with Empire Magazine (via The Direct), Siemen shared some details about the previous story:
“You know, I never got a chance to really interact with Guillermo [del Toro’s] version of the movie. By the time it came to me, Katie Dippold had written a brilliant sort of adaptation way in, and I have absolutely no idea how that development process occurred. But I do know that I was really adamant about the movie not pulling its punches because the classic Disney movies don’t pull their punches. The classic Disney movies are terrifying to this day. And they’re more terrifying as you get older and recognize the existential implications of things like Donkey Kid Island and being haunted by your stepmother and your uncle killing your father. And all of these moments, you know, they make these movies sort of iconic and stay with you for your whole life when you lean into that stuff.”
There’s no doubt that Guillermo del Toro’s version could have been a little too scary for Disney, at least when it comes to the aesthetic, but his vision and ability to build worlds would have delivered a very interesting version of the story.
Related: Haunted Mansion Director Reveals the Unexpected Way He Managed to Get Winona Ryder in the Movie
Haunted Mansion Director Reveals the Movies that Inspired Him
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
The latest adaptation of the popular theme park attraction is a mix of horror and dark comedy, gathering all the elements that are essential to the game while adding some family friendly layers in order to be able to reach Disney’s wide audience.
Siemen recurred to some of his favorite movies as a child and growing up as an influence to create that very specific environment that Haunted Mansion needed:
“And then there was like the movies that I grew up with Ghostbusters and Neverending Story and, for me it was Nightmare on Elm Street. That might be a little too horror for this. [I meant to also say] ‘Little Shop of Horrors’, but these sort of family movies that nonetheless sort of take place in these fantasy horror realities and are grounded with practical special effects and comedic actors, comedic ensembles, movies also like clue. Those were also touchstones that I referenced a lot in communicating the vision for this film.”
Hanuted Mansion stars Jared Leto, Jamie Lee Curtis, Winona Ryder, Owen Wilson, Danny DeVito, Rosario Dawson, Tiffany Haddish, LaKeith Stanfield, and Hasan Minhaj, and this is the second time the attraction has been taken to the big screen after Rob Minkoff’s movie from 2006 starring Eddie Murphy, Terence Stamp, Nathaniel Parker, Marsha Thomason, Jennifer Tilly, Wallace Shawn, and many others.
You can view the original article HERE.
