Credit: DisneyHaunted Mansion, the Justin Simien-directed adaptation of the famed Disney Park dark ride, is flopping hard, despite kidnapping Winona Ryder for a cameo. Despite that, it seems that the director is interested in a potential movie crossover with Ryder’s former fiance, Johnny Depp, in his guise as Captain Jack Sparrow.
Haunted Mansion at the Box Office
Despite a huge marketing push and a cast that includes stars like Owen Wilson, LaKeith Stanfield, Tiffany Haddish, Danny DeVito, Rosario Dawson, Dan Levy, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Jared Leto (as the Hatbox Ghost), Haunted Mansion is doing quite poorly, unable to compete with the twin behemoth of Barbie and Oppenheimer.
Part of that likely has to do with the odd choice to release a supernaturally-themed movie in the middle of summer rather than a more traditional date like Halloween. However, Justin Simien seems to feel that his movie would pair up nicely with another Disney ride adaptation.
Related: Disney Axed Darker Ending for ‘Haunted Mansion’
‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ Meet ‘Haunted Mansion’
In a recent interview with GamesRadar, Justin Simien opined that Haunted Mansion could easily crossover with Pirates of the Caribbean, opening the possibility of Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow facing off against Jared Leto’s Hatbox Ghost.
After all, it would be far from the first ghost that Sparrow has faced off against.
Justin Simien explained that “[a lot of these worlds can fit side by side, like the crocodiles in Haunted Mansion and Peter Pan and Pirates [of the Caribbean] are kind of similar. You’ve got the mermaids on the Peter Pan [ride too]. There’s a lot of cross-pollination that is certainly possible should the movie gods decide so.”
It is certainly ambitious to think of Captain Hook and Captain Jack Sparrow teaming up against the ghosts of Gracey Manor, but that’s filmmaking for you.
Future Disney Crossovers
That said, Justin Simien was clear that the actual greenlight decision was not up to him, saying, “All of that’s above my paygrade, I’m taking one movie at a time right now.”
There are certainly worse ideas than pairing ghosts and pirates together, and Disney is certainly eager to get the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise up and going again.
Related: Johnny Depp Revives ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’, Gives Long-Awaited Response!
On the other hand, Johnny Depp is suffering from a whole new set of potentially-fatal personal issues these days, and his reunion with Disney is by no means assured.
However, since Disney can’t seem to figure out what to do with the Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion is DOA, why not throw them together and see what sticks?
Do you think Disney should mash its franchises together? Let us know in the comments below!