We might only be in the earliest stages of writers and actors striking together for the first time in decades, but Disney is already emerging at the front of the queue when it comes to being named as the studio handling the situation in the worst possible fashion.
CEO Bob Iger has infuriated everyone from the stars of canceled Marvel shows to countless former on-camera talents for both blaming the cinematic universe’s expansion for its downturn in quality and claiming that the demands being made on the picket lines were unrealistic when he makes tens of millions of dollars annually, and he wouldn’t even sanction the premiere of Haunted Mansion being canceled.
The reboot carrying an estimated price tag of $157 million is already in danger of becoming the Mouse House’s latest box office disaster after projections had it barely outpacing its Eddie Murphy-led predecessor that released 20 years ago, and the optics of the company recruiting theme park actors in costume to populate the red carpet in the absence of the striking stars aren’t exactly great.
Remember, Haunted Mansion boasts Academy Award winners Jamie Lee Curtis and Jared Leto amongst its ensemble alongside the likes of Oscar-nominated LaKeith Stanfield, the legendary Danny DeVito, Star Wars favorite Rosario Dawson, Tiffany Haddish, and Winona Ryder to name but a few, but those in attendance included people dressed as Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Snow White, and Maleficent instead.
Director Justin Simien was there, at least, but you can’t help but feel it would have been wiser to simply scrap the event altogether.