Haunted Mansion 2
2023’s Haunted Mansion is the second theatrical film adaptation of the popular Disney theme park attraction of the same name. With accomplished director Justin Simien (Dear White People) at the helm, and an accomplished cast that includes LaKeith Stanfield, Tiffany Haddish, Owen Wilson, Danny DeVito, and Rosario Dawson, the film manages to rise above the Eddie Murphy-starring 2003 adaptation that failed to impress film critics and cinema-goers at the time of its release.
But while this new film is better than the underwhelming spookfest that came before it, it still suffered from mixed reviews and an underwhelming box office performance. Could these factors scupper the chances of a sequel? Or has Haunted Mansion 2 already been given the green light? Let’s consider the possibility of a sequel.
What is Haunted Mansion about?
The movie tells the story of a woman (Rosario Dawson) and her son (Chase Dillon) who enlist a crew of so-called supernatural experts to rid their home of the ghosts that are taking up residence in the mansion.
These ‘experts’ include a tour guide (LaKeith Stanfield), a psychic (Tiffany Haddish), a priest (Owen Wilson), and a historian (Danny DeVito), who try to exorcise the house of the spectral menaces and escape the mansion alive. But as the spirits, led by Madame Leota (Jamie Lee Curtis) and the Hatbox Ghost (Jared Leto), are determined to add another to their ghostly group, the living beings inside the mansion don’t have an easy time of things when they try to cleanse the house of these pesky phantoms.
Will there be a Haunted Mansion 2?
At the time of writing, a sequel to Haunted Mansion has not been officially confirmed.
But the film”s director is optimistic about a sequel. In an interview with Comicbook.com, Simien told the website there is a possibility for sequels and spin-offs to his spooky film. He said:
“It definitely leaves a door open for more and for other spaces where, you know, ghosts might materialize.”
In an interview published at Screen Rant, the director went on to say:
“My favorite thing about being a director is building the world around the story so that you feel like, ‘Okay, after the story ends and before the story begins, there’s still a world there.’ That’s my favorite part. And so there’s a lot of things that we set up in the movie and a lot of places that we just point to as being over there, but we don’t necessarily go all the way in that particular room or go all the way into that particular mansion. So I think that there is plenty, plenty more story left, plenty more mysteries to discover in the mansion itself.”
But despite Simien’s optimism, there is no guarantee that Haunted Mansion will spawn as many sequels as the previous Disney theme park adaptation – Pirates Of The Caribbean.
The film, which has been budgeted at $150 million, only grossed $76 million worldwide (at the time of writing), which might have something to do with audience apathy after the failure of the 2003 film, as well as the heavyweight competition of the latest Mission Impossible film, Barbie, and Oppenheimer, which pulled in bigger audiences than Haunted Mansion did.
We predict Haunted Mansion will not get a sequel due to the middling box office numbers and less-than-positive critical response. That being said, the film might fare better when it lands on Disney+ (presumably around Halloween time), so if it manages to pull in subscribers, a sequel could be given the green light. If this is the case, we expect the sequel (or spin-offs) will head straight to the Disney streaming service instead of being granted a theatrical release.
We will update this page when we have more information to share with you.
What could Haunted Mansion 2 be about?
According to the first film’s director, there are “plenty more mysteries to discover in the mansion,” so we expect the sequel (if it ever happens) will return to the original mansion for its story. Presumably, the film will feature some of the ensemble cast from Haunted Mansion, perhaps with a few new faces (playing both the living and the dead) to bring something different to the sequel.
It’s hard to say more without revealing the end of Haunted Mansion, so we aren’t going to speculate further. But what do you think Haunted Mansion 2 could be about? If you have any ideas, let us know in the comments below.
When could Haunted Mansion 2 be released?
If a sequel is granted a cinema release, we predict it will be released at Halloween, perhaps in 2024 or 2025, as the spooky season is a more logical choice for a release than the summer season, which may have been a contributing factor to the first film’s failure.
Of course, there has been no official confirmation that a sequel will happen, so Haunted Mansion 2 might never materialize. As such, you shouldn’t get your hopes up for a spooky sequel.
Would you like to see a sequel to Haunted Mansion? What did you think of the first film? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.