Phroobar
Well-Known Member
Even worst!
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Haunted Mansion
- Thread starter DCBaker
- Start date
Disney’s Official ‘Haunted Mansion’ Board Game Is Now Available Online
Disney’s “Haunted Mansion” had a strong weekend at the box office, debuting with just under $25 million in ticket sales. Now, fans of the movie — and the Disneyland theme pa…
variety.com
Why Didn’t Disney Save ‘Haunted Mansion’ for Halloween?
Disney opened “Haunted Mansion” in the heat of summer and months removed from the spookiest time of year. Whether the release date is connected, ticket sales were veering on scary as th…
variety.com
CJR
Well-Known Member
It's sad this film didn't sell more tickets than the Eddie Murphy film. I think it's superior, although still fell a bit short. It is a struggle to find the right balance between family friendly horror and comedy. This got close though, IMHO.
I think HM would work better as a Disney+ series that focuses on the background story of a specific ghost or group of ghouls in the mansion. With 999 haunts, there'd be plenty to tell. Hopefully, they'll give it a try someday.
I think HM would work better as a Disney+ series that focuses on the background story of a specific ghost or group of ghouls in the mansion. With 999 haunts, there'd be plenty to tell. Hopefully, they'll give it a try someday.
TP2000
Well-Known Member
It might be time to stop trying to use Walt-era theme park rides that had no discernible plot line to base movies off of that need... a plot.
True. In the 1960's leading up to the rides opening at Disneyland, the Walt Disney Productions PR machine kept hyping the Disneyland Haunted Mansion was a retirement home for ghosts whose original homes had been torn down for freeway construction.
I always thought that ghosts displaced by freeway construction line was a clever gimmick, and Disneyland audiences ate it up. When the Haunted Mansion opened in August, 1969 it set an all time attendance record for Disneyland Park that still ranks highly today.
So often today Disney corporate seems to have no sense of humor, and they take themselves and their products so damn seriously when all they are really selling is decadent amusement parks and plastic crap made in China that no one actually needs. But with the Haunted Mansion movie, they seem to have shown a glimmer of self-awareness and self-deprecating humor. Like the Zillow ad for the Mansion, or the Small World music playing in the "building next door". That's good stuff, and I'd wish Disney Corporate could do more of it.
Disney should ditch their charmless Communications Majors and humorless DEI Executives, and start hiring more people with wit and charm instead. They'll get good results with the combination of wit and charm, as most humans do with other humans.
SosoDude
Well-Known Member
The Ghost and Mr. Chicken was a good one... But not a Disney movie.
SosoDude
Well-Known Member
Finally saw it last night. I think my opinions fall right in line with others on here. Over all, I enjoyed it, but felt it could have been SO much more. On a scale of 1 -10, I give it a 5.
The Good: The actors and acting was fine to me. In fact, I shudder to think how this would have tuned out with lesser actors. The over-all story was good and I like how they dealt with grief. The 3rd act was good to me, but a bit rushed. Chase W. Dillon was good and I wish they had focused on him a bit more. He seemed absolutely terrified in his first scenes and I think everyone can relate to being a scared kid. I loved all of the ride references. I thought the FX were ok.
The Bad : To me, the first 2 acts felt too slow and we needed more of what we got in the 3rd act. The storyline was good, but I felt the pacing of that story had lots of room for improvement. This movie tries to hit a slow pace early for dramatic effect and it just doesn't work. Slow pacing with too many characters makes it drag. Didn't care for Jamie Lee Curtis. I like JLC in everything, but this just didn't work for me. Leota is such an integral part of the HM experience, I'd try to keep that character as close to "ride canon" as possible. Leota could have been used to give a true spooky feel to this movie, but they went with (bad, $3) comedic value. To be fair, I didn't care for the Jennifer Tilly version either. Most of the jokes just fall flat throughout the movie. Wish they had worked in Paul Frees' voice in some way.
In the end it was just ok. Not bad, not great, but a solid family movie. If you can get past the slow prerequisite first half, you will probably enjoy the second half.
The Good: The actors and acting was fine to me. In fact, I shudder to think how this would have tuned out with lesser actors. The over-all story was good and I like how they dealt with grief. The 3rd act was good to me, but a bit rushed. Chase W. Dillon was good and I wish they had focused on him a bit more. He seemed absolutely terrified in his first scenes and I think everyone can relate to being a scared kid. I loved all of the ride references. I thought the FX were ok.
The Bad : To me, the first 2 acts felt too slow and we needed more of what we got in the 3rd act. The storyline was good, but I felt the pacing of that story had lots of room for improvement. This movie tries to hit a slow pace early for dramatic effect and it just doesn't work. Slow pacing with too many characters makes it drag. Didn't care for Jamie Lee Curtis. I like JLC in everything, but this just didn't work for me. Leota is such an integral part of the HM experience, I'd try to keep that character as close to "ride canon" as possible. Leota could have been used to give a true spooky feel to this movie, but they went with (bad, $3) comedic value. To be fair, I didn't care for the Jennifer Tilly version either. Most of the jokes just fall flat throughout the movie. Wish they had worked in Paul Frees' voice in some way.
In the end it was just ok. Not bad, not great, but a solid family movie. If you can get past the slow prerequisite first half, you will probably enjoy the second half.
Well I broke down and saw Haunted Mansion…I was not going To after I read some critic reviews, but then I saw so many people here enjoying it…I figured us Disney fans must get it. It seems I didn’t enjoy it as much as most posters here….I didn’t hate it…there was some good in there…I thought it was a bold move for the story to focus on grief in a family movie, but thought it was great they did…people forget that Kids can grieve too when losing a loved one at a young age…I thought Lakeith Stansfield was a standout…which I also though it was bold to center on his character rather than the kid….I also like all the references to the ride…that was great…it was littered with references to the ride for us park fans…almost distractingly so as I found myself constantly looking for all the Easter eggs
However I did feel they could of tighten up the script…it was a bit all over the place…I feel they were focusing too much on cramming as much Haunted Mansion references instead of story…It’s ok to save some for the sequel if it was successful…It did not feel theatrical to me as the sets did not feel real…much of it felt like it was shot on a soundstage…I agreed with the poster above who said it had too many characters…It should of stayed focused on LaKeith‘s character as well as the mom and kid…with the others showing up for a scene or two
I did feel I would of thought differently if I caught it on Disney +…I think I would of thought hey that was pretty good…instead of meh
However I did feel they could of tighten up the script…it was a bit all over the place…I feel they were focusing too much on cramming as much Haunted Mansion references instead of story…It’s ok to save some for the sequel if it was successful…It did not feel theatrical to me as the sets did not feel real…much of it felt like it was shot on a soundstage…I agreed with the poster above who said it had too many characters…It should of stayed focused on LaKeith‘s character as well as the mom and kid…with the others showing up for a scene or two
I did feel I would of thought differently if I caught it on Disney +…I think I would of thought hey that was pretty good…instead of meh
MoonRakerSCM
Well-Known Member
Word on the block is this thing may not break 100 million. Man, Disney is fighting itself for biggest bomb this year.
mf1972
Well-Known Member
although i liked it, i think indy 5 has the best chance to win that title this year
LSLS
Well-Known Member
To be fair, WB is right there too.
AndyS2992
Well-Known Member
WB’s Barbie has the potential to be the highest grossing film of the year. I don’t think they’re too worried.
I think the poster was referring to the individual film that was the biggest bomb not studio as a whole
LSLS
Well-Known Member
It absolutely does. But we were talking the competition for biggest bombs of the season, and the Flash is definitely a front runner.
draybook
Well-Known Member
A shame too, because I really enjoyed that. But let's get back to the real topic of how ridiculous is it that the little boy in this Haunted Mansion is dressed up in a ventriloquist dummy's 3 piece suit in the South? Seriously, there are only 2 seasons in the South, super Summer, and mild Summer. Not to mention I don't know any kids that age that willingly want to dress up like every day is the final interview for that assistant VP job they've been trying to land for the last 4 months...
Tha Realest
Well-Known Member
Maybe they shouldn’t have released their entire slate of films for the year in a compressed, five month window, especially with the ongoing strikes.
Disney Irish
Premium Member
Outside of HM, what this shows is that TMNT isn't getting families racing out to the theater. Its made $28M on the weekend domestic, and $51M in 5 days worldwide.
I saw it and it didn't add much to the TMNT lore that hasn't already been told.
Which shows that even with a similar art style to Spiderverse its not replicating the same draw. Basically unless this one pulls an Elemental and gets legs over August it may end up dying in the sewers.
It also cost half as much as Elemental and Haunted Mansion to produce.
It will be fine even if not a smash hit.
It is not dying in the sewers.
Teachers and Students across the nation begin to start back, but it will still hover around 3rd place for this week and the next. It will also still be in theaters for Labor Day Weekend which willl give it a nice boost. Critically it is very much enjoyed, and word of mouth is great.
I don't think Voyage of Demeter this week will still Turtle's Target Audience and will still hover high for those weeks leading to Labor Day.
Disney Irish
Premium Member
Maybe, maybe not. Its not having a great start, and while its audience scores are good that hasn't been an indication on box office performance this year.
So as I said unless it gets legs like Elemental it may end up dying in the sewers. Which is to say that we'll see how it does over the next week or two.
Its third only due to Barbie and Oppenheimer. I think it has to lose a bit before we say it needs to get legs. It has not even lost its momentum yet. It opened on Tuesday and earned ten million its first day. the 28 is only Friday, Sat and Sunday.
Come back at the end of next weekend after Blue Beetle is released and see how it is doing.