| The Haunted Mansion | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster |
|
| Directed by | Rob Minkoff |
| Produced by | Andrew Gunn Don Hahn |
| Written by | David Berenbaum |
| Based on | Walt Disney's The Haunted Mansion |
| Starring | Eddie Murphy Jennifer Tilly Terence Stamp Marsha Thomason Nathaniel Parker |
| Music by | Mark Mancina |
| Cinematography | Remi Adefarasin |
| Distributed by | Walt Disney Pictures |
| Release date(s) | November 26, 2003 |
| Running time | 88 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $90 million[1] |
| Box office | $182,436,254[1] |
The Haunted Mansion is a 2003 American comedy horror family film which is based on The Haunted Mansion attraction at Disney theme parks. The film is directed by Rob Minkoff, and stars Eddie Murphy, Terence Stamp, Jennifer Tilly, Marsha Thomason, and Nathaniel Parker. It was released on November 26, 2003 and is Disney's fifth film based on an attraction at one of its theme parks, following Tower of Terror (1997), Mission to Mars (2000), The Country Bears (2002) and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003).
Contents |
Jim Evers (Eddie Murphy) is a workaholic real estate agent who has little time for his family, wife Sara (Marsha Thomason), thirteen-year-old daughter Megan (Aree Davis), and ten-year old son Michael (Marc John Jefferies). After missing his own wedding anniversary to seal a business deal, Jim promises his family to go on a weekend away to a nearby lake. Sara is contacted by the occupants of the Gracey Manor, located in the bayou swamps of New Orleans, and an eager Jim drags his family along to do business at the house. They meet Master Edward Gracey (Nathaniel Parker), his stern butler Ramsley (Terence Stamp), and other staff Emma (Dina Waters) and Ezra (Wallace Shawn). Master Gracey invites the family to stay the night when a rainstorm floods the river. Jim is taken to the library by Ramsley; he becomes trapped in a secret passageway. Michael and Megan encounter a "ghost ball" which leads them to the mansion's attic where they find a portrait of a woman resembling Sara. Sara meets Master Gracey who explains that his ancestor's lover Elizabeth Henshaw (Marsha Thomason) seemingly committed suicide via poison, and his ancestor followed suit via hanging.
However, Jim encounters gypsy woman Madame Leota (Jennifer Tilly), whose head is encased in a crystal ball. After briefly being scared away, Jim and his children learn that all of the mansion's residents are actually ghosts, cursed to be trapped in the mansion until Master Gracey and Elizabeth's ghosts are reunited, and Master Gracey believes that Sara is his lover reincarnated. In order to break the curse, Madame Leota sends the Evers family, minus Sara, into the mansion's cemetery and to a mausoleum to fetch a key. Jim and Megan locate the key, but awaken all of the mausoleum's undead inhabitants; they escape unharmed thanks to Michael overcoming his arachnophobia and rescuing them. Madame Leota points the family to a trunk in the attic, where Jim finds an old letter from Elizabeth to Edward with the promise of marriage, revealing that her suicide was false. Ramsley appears and reveals that he murdered Elizabeth to prevent Master Gracey from abandoning his home and heritage. To hide the truth, he traps the children in a trunk and literally throws Jim out of the mansion.
Master Gracey reveals to Sara his ghostly self, and obsessively believes she is Elizabeth. Ramsley approaches Sara and blackmails her into marrying Master Gracey for the sake of her children. During the wedding ceremony, Ramsley poisons Sara's drink so that she will die and return as a ghost and end the curse. Madame Leota gives Jim the confidence to ram his BMW into the house, save his children and confront the ghosts. He gives the letter to Master Gracey, revealing him the truth about Elizabeth's death, and Master Gracey confronts Ramsley for murdering Elizabeth. An enraged Ramsley tries to summon wraiths to kill the group, but this backfires as a fiery dragon emerges from the fireplace and drags Ramsley into the mouth of hell for his actions. Ramsley seizes Jim and attempts to pull him down with him to hell for ruining his plans, but then Master Gracey rescues Jim while Ramsley is dragged into hell forever. Sara succumbs to the poison, but the ghost ball arrives and possesses her body, revealing itself to be Elizabeth's ghost. Elizabeth and Master Gracey kiss, and Sara is revived. In gratitude and seeking redemption, Master Gracey gives the Evers the deed to the house, allowing them to do what they want with it as long as they remain happy. The ghosts all depart the mansion and move on to heaven.
The film ends with the Evers driving off to the lake, accompanied by Madame Leota and four singing busts who end the film with their own rendition of "When the Saints Go Marching In". After the end credits, Madame Leota bids farewell to the audience and invites them to join the dead.
The mansion scenes were filmed at Sable Ranch in Santa Clarita, California. The main building was constructed over a period of weeks while the cupola and chimneys on the top of the mansion were computer generated. The paperboy in the opening scene is the nephew of the director, Rob Minkoff. A Hidden Mickey is briefly seen when Ramsley pours the poison in the goblet of wine during the wedding.
The costume and special effects designers wanted the ghost characters to become "more dead" the farther they were from the mansion. Note that while Ezra and Emma look human in the house, their leaving it causes them to become blue and transparent. The zombies in the mausoleum are the "deadest", as they are farthest away.
This was the first movie to air on Disney Channel to contain any profanity beyond "Hell" or "Damn" for years. It also aired the phrase "Big ass termites!", which was stated by Murphy. In addition, the scene where Edward hangs himself is usually cut from the broadcasts.
The design of the mansion is loosely based on Disneyland's version of Haunted Mansion while the iron/glass conservatory was based on Walt Disney World's version of the ride.
In the opening scene of the film, Nathaniel Parker had great difficulty trying to carry Elizabeth up the staircase, which is shown on the expressions of his face. This was due to her slippery silk dress.
According to Box Office Mojo, The Haunted Mansion grossed $24,278,410 on its opening weekend with an average of $7,776 per theatre in the United States. With the domestic gross at $75,847,266, the film gained more than a quarter of the earnings of its theme-ride predecessor Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. The film achieved better in foreign markets, with an overseas total of $106,443,000.[1]
Despite being a box office success, The Haunted Mansion was met with disastrously negative reviews, earning a 13% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 139 reviews, with the general consensus that it was "Neither scary nor funny" and that it was "as lifeless as the ghosts in the movie".[2]
The DVD release came with several special features, including a behind-the-scenes look at the film's production, describing how the zombies were created, and how certain visual effects were performed or produced; a scene anatomy of the graveyard; a virtual interactive ride of the film's Haunted Mansion with Emma and Ezra as hosts; a single deleted scene; an outtake reel; and a minute and a half long video about the attractions.
It was announced on July 22, 2010, at San Diego Comic-Con International that a new film based on Disney's Haunted Mansion was in development with Guillermo del Toro writing and producing. Del Toro saw the 2003 film with his daughters; when asked about his involvement in the new project, he said, "the thing I want to do is remake it."[3] Elaborating, he commented, "The movie I see in my head of 'Haunted Mansion' is not, I believe, what everyone is imagining it to be. It's not just a regular world with a haunted mansion plopped in the middle. I really am thinking of a movie that has a heightened reality."[4] Del Toro said that Hatbox Ghost would be the main haunting[4] and added, "We are not making it a comedy. We are making it scary and fun at the same time, but the scary will be scary." It is to be filmed in live-action 3D.[5] It was later announced by del Toro that he is aiming for a PG-13 rating for the film.[6]
|
|||||||||||