[NEWS] Disney remaking "Haunted Mansion" (spooky ghosts)

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From Variety.com ...


'Dear White People' Filmmaker Justin Simien
to Direct Disney's 'Haunted Mansion' Remake
-------------------------------------------
Justin Simien, the director of "Dear White People" and "Bad Hair,"
has been tapped to direct Disney's "The Haunted Mansion" remake.

Though taking inspiration from the spooky theme park ride, plot
details have been kept under wraps for the upcoming live-action
movie. The Haunted Mansion theme park ride, which first opened in
1969, takes guests through a ghostly manor, where strange sounds
and deceased inhabitants abound. It's one of the only attractions
in which Disney employees are encouraged not to smile.

Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich, who recently teamed on Disney's
live-action adaptation of "Aladdin," are producing the film
through their production company Rideback. Nick Reynolds of
Rideback will serve as executive producer.

Katie Dippold, a writer on the sitcom "Parks and Recreation" who
later penned "The Heat" and the "Ghostbusters" reboot, wrote the
most recent draft of the screenplay.

Disney has mined the Haunted Mansion ride for the big screen once
before, in a 2003 movie starring Eddie Murphy. It wasn't well
embraced and barely turned a profit at the box office, grossing
$180 million from a $90 million budget. Several other theme park
rides have inspired films and televisions shows, including
"Pirates of the Caribbean," "Tower of Terror" and the upcoming
action adventure "Jungle Cruise" with Emily Blunt and Dwayne
Johnson.

Simien is best known for writing the satirical comedy "Dear White
People," which premiered to acclaim at Sundance Film Festival in
2014. It was later adapted into a television series at Netflix.
He returned to Sundance in 2020, one of the last major Hollywood
events prior to the pandemic, to debut "Bad Hair." The film,
starring Jay Pharoah, Lena Waithe and Kelly Rowland, was acquired
by Neon.

Deadline Hollywood first reported the news of Simien's hiring.


<https://variety.com/2021/film/news/justin-simien-haunted-mansion-director-disney-1234958036/>