Was Haunted Mansion a Box Office Success or Another Disney Flop? (2024)

Despite having great expectations, Disney's Haunted Mansion's opening weekend result caused many to wonder about the film's future as a box office success. Based on a renowned Disneyland attraction, the humorous horror movie underperformed in terms of ticket sales. It only made about $33.3 million globally at the box office on opening weekend, which is disappointing given the large budget required for production — at least $150 million (via Forbes). The film's domestic total was a disappointing $67 million, with a worldwide total of $116 million.

2023 has been a difficult year for Disney, that have seen many high-profile films like The Little Mermaid, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania underperform. So far, the only smash hit Disney has had is Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, although Elemental did recover a lot in the following weekends and became a slow-burn hit. Was Haunted Mansion a flop for Disney, and is that the end of the road for it, or will it have a second chance at life on streaming?

Update October 26, 2023: With Halloween fast approaching, this article has been updated with addtional box office information around Haunted Mansion and what the films future on streaming might be.

The competition for Haunted Mansion was intense during its debut, as it opened the week after the blockbuster smash double hitter of Barbie and Oppenheimer. It then faced competition from family audiences as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem opened less than a week later.

Aside from the stiff competition, Haunted Mansion faced additional hurdles. It was the first big-budget film to be impacted by the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, which started in mid-July 2023. The actors' union prevented its members from participating in any promotional activities for completed films and TV series as a result of the strike.

This meant no red-carpet appearances and no interviews in newspapers or magazines. Unlike Barbie and Oppenheimer, whose advertising efforts were mainly completed before the strike, the Haunted Mansion was forced to cancel several promotional appearances and events. The film's red carpet premiere at Disneyland was mocked for featuring cast members from Dinsey parks dressed as Disney villains.

A dozen appearances by cast members on popular TV shows had to be scrapped, as well as planned promotional tours in various cities, generating millions of potential social media mentions. Disney's executive vice president of theatrical distribution, Tony Chambers, acknowledged the impact of not having the cast available for promotion in a July 2023 interview with The New York Times. He said, “Not having the cast available definitely had an impact, especially with ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’ attracting so much attention — they’re just behemoths,"

Finding the Right Audience

The underwhelming start might be attributed to the lack of interest in and popularity of Haunted Mansion. The movie earned mixed reviews for being a fun ride and an improvement over the 2003 version. Still, its lack of intensity and urgency made it difficult to compete with other summer blockbusters. Critics blamed the film's low performance on pacing issues, a weak narrative, and inconsistency, among other things.

At the box office, Haunted Mansion needed to make around $450 million to break even and about $500 million to be considered a success. Although Haunted Mansion did not hit that goal, it's not too late for it to become a cult classic and Halloween favorite.

In the previously mentioned New York Times interview, Tony Chambers remained optimistic, mentioning that Haunted Mansion had received a positive response with an 85 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. As of October 2023, the audience score is a respectable 84%, while the critic score is only 37%. As a Halloween-themed movie that audiences enjoyed more than critics, that puts Haunted Mansion right at home with Hocus Pocus, and that could be a similar road to success.

A New (After) Life on Streaming

Despite a slow start and a somewhat discouraging theater performance, Haunted Mansion still has a chance to succeed. Two other Halloween hits saw major success later on, sparking them to be brought back to theaters over and over again.

Hocus Pocus was released in July 1993, for the same reason as Haunted Mansion — summer vacation moviegoers. It even had its own Barbenheimer competition in the box office beast Jurassic Park. Despite not doing well at the box office and receiving poor reviews, Hocus Pocus bounced back. It was circulated on television in the late '90s, and DVDs of the movie were made in 2002. Sometime in the mid-2000s, it started gaining popularity (via The Wrap). A sequel dropped on Disney+ in 2022, and another is being worked on. Many people feel that Halloween is not complete without a little magic from the Sanderson Sisters, and the film returned to theaters to celebrate its 30th anniversary.

The Nightmare Before Christmas also turns 30 in 2023 and recently played in theaters for its anniversary. Disney was nervous about the reaction to the film in 1993, afraid of angering parents after Tim Burton's violent Batman Returns ruffled feathers. They even released the film under Touchtone instead of the main Disney name. However, the animated Halloween adventure did all right at the box office and did not cause any trouble. Like Hocus Pocus, the fan base grew and grew over time, and it continued being released in theaters (via Forbes). As of October 2020, The Nightmare Before Christmas had earned over $90 million at the box office over its initial release and rereleases (via Forbes).

Due to the trends for these now-iconic Disney Halloween movies, Haunted Mansion absolutely has the potential to take off and find a new, devoted audience on Disney+. It was released to the platform in time for the 2023 Halloween season. Since the film features outstanding performances, interesting practical effects, and significant appeal to the younger audience, the heartwarming ghost adventure may get a second chance at (after) life.

This might be another case where future generations see it as a Halloween classic the same way some view Hocus Pocus and The Nightmare Before Christmas. Disney clearly now has three films to constantly play in circulation on Halloween.