According to the Hollywood Reporter, Ryan Gosling is in talks to star in Guillermo del Toro’s The Haunted Mansion, based on the Disney Parks ride. Apparently they have been developing the project together since 2010. Both Gosling and del Toro are big fans of the ride, and even spending Oscar weekend together on the ride at Disneyland.
The 2003 Eddie Murphy Version received horrible reviews, but was a moderate success. The film was made for $90 million and brought in over $182 million worldwide, and while Disney doubled their investment, it wasn’t enough to warrant a franchise. The general consensus was that it just wasn’t scary or funny enough. One may argue that the film kept with the lighter tone of scary that the ride brings, but that doesn’t make a good film, unfortunately. Del Toro is absolutely the right director if Disney wants bring a little more edge to their haunted house.