Disney’s D23 Expo is underway in Anaheim, California and bringing plenty of Disney-related news and announcements with it. In the first major panel of the convention, director Justin Simien took to the stage to deliver some casting developments for his upcoming Haunted Mansion movie. This announcement came after the debut trailer for yet another spooky classic, Hocus Pocus 2, which will return the Sanderson Sisters to their witchy ways later this year.
Most notably, Jamie Lee Curtis will be joining the production to play Madame Leota, the Mansion’s resident psychic who appears as a ghostly head inside a levitating crystal ball. Simien also teased that Jared Leto may be playing the Hatbox Ghost–another iconic character who was present for the ride’s original conception, and then removed for several decades, only to be restored as a brand new animatronic in 2015. Simien played coy with that particular announcement, however, and only winked at the possibility of Leto appearing. Unlike Curtis, Leto was not on-hand at the show.
Also joining the cast will be Hasan Minaj, Winona Ryder and Dan Levy in unannounced roles. Rounding out the cast are the previously announced Danny DeVito, Owen Wilson, Rosario Dawson, Tiffany Haddish, and Lakeith Stanfield.
Fans in attendance were able to get a sneak peak at the movie’s first trailer, which featured all sorts of Easter eggs for the rides, including chairs shaped like the ride vehicles, the famous hitchhiking ghosts, the Hatbox Ghost showing up in a mirror, and Leota’s seance room.
D23 Expo will continue through the weekend, where we can expect to see more news, announcements, and first look trailers at upcoming Disney, Marvel, and Star Wars projects.
Haunted Mansion is set to debut on Disney+ in 2023.
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