'Haunted Mansion' Premiere is Canceled, Actors Strike Takes Off

Every Disney film based off one of their classic Disney theme park attractions has held their premiere at a Disneyland. The Pirates of the Caribbean films held their first four premieres at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, CA. The last one, Dead Men Tell No Tales differed by being held at Disneyland Shanghai. Then, Jungle Cruise had its premiere at the original Disneyland. Therefore, many Disney fans have been expecting the red carpet premiere of Disney’s Haunted Mansion to materialize at the “Happiest Place on Earth” as well.

The debut is scheduled for July 15, 2023 at Disney California Adventure. However, the impending SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actor’s Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio) strike will now turn the premiere into a “fan event.” It will be the first major global premiere following a strike deadline. Since the strike is imminent, the film’s stars, which include Tiffany Haddish, Danny Devito, Rosario Dawson, Lakeith Standfield, Chase W. Dillon, Daniel Levy, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Hasan Minaj, will not be in attendance.

SAG-AFTRA has one of the largest unions that represents 160,000 performers. The upcoming strike follows in tandem with a lot of the demands the Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) is seeking in the Film Industry. Here are four reasons why SAG will be striking:

• There is not a proper calculation on residual payment collection from streaming services. Many actors have been paid a base-fee formula from streaming companies, but many professionals feel this does not reflect the right viewership metrics and seek more transparency.
• The expense of self-taping. Post-pandemic, there has been a shift to actors taping their own auditions from home. Actors have expressed this new format is time-consuming and costly and requires they learn large amounts of dialogue in a short time span.
• No change in minimum pay. Actors desire a higher minimum wage to compensate for inflation shifts and longer gaps between productions.
• No regulation on A.I. There is no system in place to compensate actors who have their likenesses and voices copied by artificial intelligence programs.

Disney is currently assessing how to proceed with the potential “fan event” as the strike goes through. They have  reportedly considered having a press line with studio executives and crew. The movie’s director, Justin Simien, producers, Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich, and composer, Kris Bowers, are still expected to attend event.

Even with the stars voiding their attendance, the “fan event” will still take place on Saturday, July 15, at Disney California Adventure’s Hyperion Theater at 5 p.m., PST.