Haunted Mansion director on the possibility of a sequel

Last Updated on August 4, 2023

Disney’s Haunted Mansion movie will hit theaters later this month, and like Pirates of the Caribbean before it, the film could lead to a sequel.

While speaking to SFX Magazine, Haunted Mansion director Justin Simien said that the movie leaves the door open for a sequel. “It’s definitely in the realm of possibility,” Simien said. “I sort of get my rocks off on world-building, so we certainly set up a lot that I think a lot of other stories could derive from and continue from. Not really up to me, but I definitely think there are possibilities there.” The Haunted Mansion attraction at Disneyland has plenty of details that could easily be expanded upon for a sequel.

Justin Simien added that his movie dives into “the lore of the 99 haunts” and other elements of the ride but fleshes them out in new ways. “It was really just about expanding what we know and what we can see around the story just a bit further, but not filling in every blank,” Simien said. “Certainly Hatbox Ghost, that was a big one. We’re pulling from what has been established, what really has been rumored, and tried to flesh him out and flesh that story out too. I think it’s really satisfying. But it also leaves the door open for a lot more.“

Just as with the Haunted Mansion ride itself, Justin Simien has previously said that he wanted to do as many practical effects as he could. “You know there’s a trick being played on you, but you’re not sure how they did it. The Pepper’s Ghost effect [during the ride’s finale], it’s so old school, you know it’s not a screen, but it’s because it’s so old school that it feels like it’s really there,” Simien explained. “There’s a practicality to the tricks on the ride that I felt was important. When I took the job I said, ‘I don’t want to make CGI soup. We have to build the house.’ Even if we’re not doing an effect practically, we have to make it look like we did, because there’s something about the grounded-ness of the ride that makes it what it is. It makes it charming.“

Haunted Mansion follows a woman and her son who enlist a motley crew of so-called spiritual experts to help rid their home of supernatural squatters. The film stars LaKeith Stanfield, Tiffany Haddish, Owen Wilson, Danny DeVito, Rosario Dawson, Dan Levy, Jared Leto, Chase W. Dillon, Hasan Minhaj, Winona Ryder, and Jamie Lee Curtis. Haunted Mansion will hit theaters on July 28th.