The Big Picture
Haunted Mansion faces tough competition at the box office against blockbusters like Barbie and Oppenheimer, hindering its success. Despite an interesting premise and strong performances, the film still has a long way to go to recoup its $150 million budget. Haunted Mansion has passed $76 million worldwide in its third weekend at the box office.
Disney’s underwhelming box office streak continues with Haunted Mansion, which faced the impossible task of scaring up a strong showing at the box office against the “Barbenheimer” wave. In its third week, the live-action adaptation based on the famous ride has finally surpassed $76 million globally, with $53 million coming from the domestic box office, and a $23 million international haul. The feature is directed by Justin Simien and stars a stellar cast but even with an impressive -39% hold in its third weekend, Haunted Mansion is in an uphill battle against blockbusters like Barbie, Oppenheimer, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.
What to Expect from Haunted Mansion?
Based on a famous Disney ride, the feature follows the story of a single mother Gabbie (Rosario Dawson), and her son, who buys a new property at a pretty cheap price. Things change when they find out the house comes alive at night with various spirits haunting the mansion. Gabbie enlists the help of numerous specialists including a priest, a psychic, a paranormal investigator turned tour guide, and a college history professor to get rid of the spirits.
While the feature has an interesting premise and good performances, it still has a long way to go to make back its estimated $150 million budget. Along with a number of factors limiting its box office haul, the actors weren’t able to promote the feature given the SAG-AFTRA strike and a summer release against tentpole films like Barbie and Oppenheimer, despite being much more suited for spooky season, set Haunted Mansion up for an underwhelming box office haul.
Image via Disney
When compared to similar Disney releases, like Halle Bailey’s The Little Mermaid which saw a global debut of $163 million earlier this summer to become a sensation at the global box office, and Jungle Cruise which earned $90 million on its opening weekend alone, Haunted Mansion’s run is certainly lower than anticipated. The feature is the second live-action adaptation of the ride-based IP and has been long in the making. Nonetheless, despite its issues, the individual performances and references to the ride have been praised by fans and critics alike.
Along with aforementioned talents, the movie also features Owen Wilson as Father Kent, LaKeith Stanfield as Ben, a paranormal tour guide, Tiffany Haddish as Harriet, a psychic, Danny DeVito as Bruce, the historian, Jamie Lee Curtis as Madame Leota, and young actor Chase W. Dillon as Gabbie’s son Travis. Further rounding out the cast is Jared Leto as the Hatbox Ghost, along with Winona Ryder, Hasan Minaj, and Dan Levy in minor roles.
Haunted Mansion is in theaters now. Check out our interview with Curtis and Haddish, conducted prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike, below.
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