It may have only released today, but Disney’s Haunted Mansion is already fighting an uphill battle to ensure it doesn’t wind up as the Mouse House’s latest high-profile bomb, despite the best efforts of director Justin Simien.
The filmmaker knows he’s been placed into a difficult situation on account of the writers’ and actors’ strikes, but he’s obligated to go out there and promote a $150+ million fantasy without the backing of his star-studded cast, which got even harder in the face of underwhelming reviews.
Haunted Mansion is only tracking for an opening weekend in the $30 million range, which isn’t great when Barbenheimer and Sound of Freedom are still playing like gangbusters, but that didn’t prevent Simien from making the bold move of comparing star LaKeith Stanfield and his performance as paranormal tour guide Ben to Johnny Depp’s iconic Captain Jack Sparrow in an interview with CBR.
“The studio really got it when they saw LaKeith. My pitch for him was like, ‘Hey, remember how Johnny Depp was one thing, and then he was in Pirates, and all of a sudden, he was another thing.’ This guy has that same sort of star quality, and he pulls you into characters that you don’t expect to affect you quite as hard. Johnny Depp can not say any words in a movie, going back to Edward Scissorhands , and you care for him so deeply. LaKeith has that same magical quality.Once we got him sorted, it became about, ‘Well, who do we put around LaKeith to balance that energy and keep the ensemble exciting?’
It’s a combination of who the studio thinks would be great, financially speaking, in terms of promoting the movie, which is very ironic. And for me, who do I think dynamically works against that energy? It’s not a process I’ve ever had full complete control of. I don’t think anyone really does. People are unavailable; people aren’t interested. It’s not the right price point; it isn’t the right time. A lot of people weigh in on the casting phase, but this one fell so nicely into place.”
Stanfield is most definitely one of his generation’s most consistent and acclaimed talents, but that’s a lot of pressure to put on somebody’s shoulders, especially in a film that’s not even predicted to do anything other than flop. Hopefully, the leading man and Simien get another crack in the big budget arena sooner rather than later, because they’ve definitely earned it.
