Ever since he left “The Hobbit,” what Guillermo del Toro will direct next has been a topic of constant discussion. He already has an insane number of potential projects on his plate, including “Frankenstein,” “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” “Slaughterhouse-Five,” “At the Mountains of Madness” and “Van Helsing.” Well, you can add one more.
Del Toro has revealed at Comic-Con that he will produce and possibly direct “The Haunted Mansion” for Disney. As you might recall, the Disneyland ride was already brought to the big screen in a 2003 film starring Eddie Murphy, but obviously, del Toro’s vision will be quite different than Rob Minkoff’s.
“It’s going to be a thrill ride for the whole family but it’s definitely going to be scary,” he said. “(Walt) Disney is one of the creators of some of the scariest images in my childhood. People forget that he not only made sweet images but also images of nightmare. We need to honor that side of the legacy.”
And, duh, Disney is totally on board with going darker, with production head Sean Bailey adding, “We want a scary movie that’s as scary as the ride. If you’re 11 years old, you can go on the ride but it’s still scary. Tonally we’re going to make a movie that is for families but is a fun and, at times, scary movie.”
Even though we think it’s a bit of a waste of del Toro’s talents to be either producing or directing (both) a movie based on a theme park ride, he is apparently a huge fan of the ride with “a room dedicated to “Mansion” in his home — filled with secret bookcases, wallpaper from the original ride, and original art from Imagineer and “Mansion” ride co-designer Marc Davis.” Geez.
Plot details are being kept mum for now, but the Hatbox Ghost is confirmed to be making an appearance and “one of its conceits, which the movie will also use, is that the mansion is home to 999 haunts and 999 ghosts (with room for one more!).”
Del Toro will co-write the script with Matthew Robbins (“Mimic,” “Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark”) and we presume the project is moving up his priority list, but don’t forget, del Toro has said he still has a big announcement for after Comic-Con, which we’re guessing will be his first official post-“The Hobbit” directing job. [Heat Vision]