Disney's 'HAUNTED MANSION' Fails To Scare Up Big Numbers At The Box Office

Disney could have waited till the fast approaching Halloween season to release ‘HAUNTED MANSION’ but nope, they went the summer blockbuster route and are now in a bit of a bind. You see, Haunted Mansion was released in theaters, just this past weekend, July 28th, 2023 and the numbers do not lie.

Here in the United States, the film found itself in the #3 spot on the box office charts this weekend, scaring up $24.2 million in 3,740 theaters.

Worldwide, the film’s opening weekend total was $33.3 million.

Now those numbers might look impressive but lets pull back the curtain a little bit. Haunted Mansion‘s production budget was reportedly $150 million, and that’s not even factoring in the massive marketing spend attached to the movie. The general rule of thumb is that big studio movies need to earn roughly 2.5/3x their production budget before they start seeing profits, and it’s unlikely that Haunted Mansion is going to reach that point in theaters. Disney is likely looking to bring the film home to Disney+ for Halloween, which may explain the film’s summer theatrical release.

This is the second time Disney has tried to bring the Haunted Mansion to the big screen. In 2003, Eddie Murphy was the lead in the film and it still only grossed $182 million with a production budget or $90 million. Is the Haunted Mansion just going to be another Hollywood movie that’s too expensive to produce?

LaKeith Stanfield, Tiffany Haddish, Owen Wilson, Rosario Dawson, and Danny DeVito star, with Jamie Lee Curtis as Madame Leota and Jared Leto as the Hatbox Ghost.

“In this mysterious adventure, a doctor (Dawson) and her 9-year-old son (Chase Dillon), looking to start a new life, move into a strangely affordable mansion in New Orleans, only to discover that the place is much more than they bargained for. Desperate for help, they contact a priest (Wilson), who, in turn, enlists the aid of a widowed scientist-turned failed-paranormal expert (Stanfield), a French Quarter psychic (Haddish) and a crotchety historian (DeVito).”

Katie Dippold (Ghostbusters 2016) wrote the new movie’s script for Disney.

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