Disney has shared a new photo of the director Justin Simien’S Haunted house film, and offers our first look at Jamie Lee Curtis as fan-favorite medium, Madame Leota.
The character appears during the iconic séance scene. During an interview with EW, Simien opened up about the character in the film, saying, “He starts out as one of the relics, one of the objects, one of the aspects of the house that needs to be discovered, but he becomes a functional character and a useful ally in the film.” .
Madame Leota then assists a single mother (Rosario Dawson) and her young son in ridding their New Orleans home of haunting spirits. The character is described as “a little subversive and a little funny in his translation from park to screen. However, he also packs the gravitas you’d expect from the fabled conduit between the realm of the living and the spirit world beyond.”
Haunted Mansion is about a mother and her son “who enlist a diverse group of so-called spiritual experts to help rid their home of supernatural squatters.” It has a great cast which also includes LaKeith Stanfield, Tiffany Haddish, Owen Wilson, Rosario DawsonAND Danny DeVito star, with Jared Leto as the hatbox ghost. Winona Ryder, Dan LeviAND Hassan Minhaj will also appear in the new film.
The director went on to talk about the film, saying, “You truly encounter the mansion as you would as a guest at the park: through the eyes of a new cast who explore the lore with you. The script puts it firmly in the New Orleans mansion, but that’s not to say there aren’t other mansions in the film.
He added: “It got to the point where we obsessed with the angle where you first see the mansion when you walk on the carousel at Disneyland, when we see it through the gates and we see the pillars. That angle has got to hit. Here’s how specific we were: When you first walk through the dining room and see the dancers waltzing, that angle had to be right, because that’s where you gasp during the ride.
When discussing the feeling he hopes the film captures, he said: “You know you’ve been pranked, 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 that’s because it’s so old school that it feels like it’s actually there. There is a practicality to travel tricks that I felt was important. When I took the job I said, “I don’t want to do CGI soup.” We have to build the house.’ Even if we’re basically not making an impact, we need to make it look like we did, because there’s something about the solidity of the ride that makes it what it is. It makes him fascinating.”
In this horror adventure, “a female doctor and her 9-year-old son (Go after Dillon), looking to start a new life, move into an eerily cheap mansion in New Orleans, only to find the place is much more than they bargained for. Desperate for help, they contact a priest, who, in turn, enlists the help of a widowed scientist turned failed paranormal expert, a French Quarter psychic, and a cantankerous historian.
I liked what I’ve seen from the movie so far. It looks like it will be a fun family horror film that captures the spirit of the Disneyland attraction on which it’s based. This must have been such a great experience for Simein, because to help make the film, Disney offered him access to things most of us will never see or experience.
The film is scheduled for release on August 11, 2023.
by Joey Paur
Source: Geek Tyrant
Lloyd Grunewald is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. He is a talented writer who focuses on bringing the latest entertainment-related news to his readers. With a deep understanding of the entertainment industry and a passion for writing, Lloyd delivers engaging articles that keep his readers informed and entertained.
