Disney’s Haunted Mansion scared up fewer ticket sales than expected and debuted in third place — with an estimated $24.2 million at the weekend box office, Comscore reported Sunday.
Inspired by the classic theme park attraction, the film centers on a woman and her son who enlist spiritual experts to help rid their newly bought mansion of supernatural squatters.
The cast includes LaKeith Stanfield, Rosario Dawson, Owen Wilson, Tiffany Haddish, Danny DeVito, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Jared Leto. Justin Simien directed the film from a script written by Katie Dippold.
The horror comedy played in 3,740 locations across the U.S. and Canada, for a disappointing per theater average of $6,471.
Pre-release expectations had Haunted Mansion opening domestically with $25-30 million, and those projections were on the low end. Eddie Murphy’s version, titled The Haunted Mansion, opened in the $24 million range back in 2003.
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The decision to release the new film in July instead of the Halloween season may have hurt its earning potential.
The movie also had the distinction of holding the first red carpet premiere since SAG-AFTRA called an actors strike on July 13.
Simien and the producers walked the red carpet along with costumed characters on July 15 at Disneyland.
None of the film’s stars attended since SAG-AFTRA’s strike rules bar them from promoting studio projects.
Meanwhile, the press junket took place before the actors strike began and interviews with the cast were shown on Extra, Entertainment Tonight, Access Hollywood and several online outlets.
Fans who saw Haunted Mansion gave it a “B+” CinemaScore, while critics handed the film a disappointing 41 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Worldwide, Haunted Mansion earned $33.3 million this weekend. The Hollywood Reporter described the film’s debut as “one of the lowest starts ever among Disney’s live-action reimaginings of theme park attractions.”
The film had a reported $150 production budget and cost millions more to promote. Barring a supernatural intervention, it’s on track to lose money.
Elsewhere, Barbie and Ken continued to dominate the box office.
Warner Bros. and Mattel’s Barbie, directed by Greta Gerwig, rang up another $93.0 million in ticket sales this weekend and held onto the top spot.
The film only dropped 43 percent from last weekend’s total, and has now earned $351.4 million through Sunday in the U.S. and Canada. Worldwide, Barbie has hauled in a massive $774.5 million.
The film features an all-star cast that includes Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera, Issa Rae, Alexandra Shipp, and Kate McKinnon.
Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer also had a strong second weekend, bringing in another $46.2 million domestically for a second place finish.
The war epic only dropped 44 percent from last weekend and now has a domestic total of $174 million. Globally, it has earned $400 million through Sunday. The cast of the Universal Pictures release includes Cillian Murphy in the title role plus Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Josh Hartnett, Matthew Modine and Kenneth Branagh.
As mentioned, Haunted Mansion opened in third place.
In fourth place, Angel Studios’ Sound of Freedom added another $12.4 million in its fourth weekend. The film now has a domestic total of $148.9 million, per Comscore. The story follows a federal agent who rescues a young boy from ruthless child traffickers, only to learn the boy’s sister is still captive and must be saved.
Rounding out the top 5, was Paramount’s Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One starring Tom Cruise with $10.7 million. After three weekends, the film has made $139.2 domestically. Worldwide the movie has earned $448 million.
