Haunted Mansion Maker Says He ‘Kidnapped’ Winona Ryder! Find Out More!

Rumors say that director Justin Simien kidnapped Beetlejuice 2 star Winona Ryder to get her to star in Haunted Mansion (wait, what?)

Haunted Mansion is a film adaptation of the infamous Disney theme park Haunted Mansion Ride. It follows a mother-son duo as they try to save their home from nefarious supernatural powers.

Despite the curious premise, the film is struggling at the box office and has managed to amass a meager $30 million from its opening weekend.

Winona Ryder’s hilariously creepy performance as tour guide Pat has been one of the film’s major selling points. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, director Simien jokes about kidnapping her off to the sets of the film. Read his full quote below:

We kidnapped her. We told her that she was shooting Beetlejuice 2, and she just went with it for a while until she caught on. Carmen Cuba, the casting director, myself, and the studio were really enamored with this idea of plugging in classic faces in these cameo roles, and it just felt so right that she’d be the tour guide at the end of the movie. She was just so delightfully weird and funny in her performance, and it was a super magical time having her on this project.

Jokes apart, Ryder is an ideal fit for Haunted Mansion, given her rich background in the horror genre. Her resume already contains some of the past’s biggest horror cult classics, like Edward Scissorhands, Stranger Things, and Beetlejuice. 

Ryder exemplifies an actor who has earned recognition for her off-hand humor in dark settings, and the cameo is a fitting tribute to her and the franchise’s legacy.

Haunted Mansion doesn’t scare the bejesus out of you like Stranger Things. The film infuses dark humor into almost every scene while also remaining sufficiently family-friendly to obtain a PG-13 rating. This results in a fairly optimistic conclusion that diverges significantly from the usual genre style. 

Ryder already has tons of experience in comedic horror (like Edward Scissorhands), and this film falls right in that ballpark.

Haunted Mansion might also act as a catalyst for Beetlejuice 2 before its 2024 release, several decades after the release of the first Beetlejuice film. This is because Ryder’s cameo in Haunted Mansion is bound to instigate more people to check her other works in the genre, poking them to learn more about the Beetlejuice franchise. 

Despite the struggles of Haunted Mansion, it is doing well to catalyze the success of both Ryder and her upcoming film.

About Haunted Mansion

The Haunted Mansion is an upcoming horror-comedy movie based on the Disney amusement ride of the same name.

It is written by Katie Dippold and will be directed by Justin Simien. Dan Lin and Jonathan producing under the banner of Rideback alongside Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. 

It will follow a mother and son who come across a mansion that is more than it seems, being surrounded by quirky characters who are essential to solving its mysteries. 

Cast includes Owen Wilson, Tiffany Haddish, Danny DeVito, LaKeith Stanfield and Rosario Dawson. Release date is TBA.