This past weekend the premiere of the new film based on the famous Disneyland attraction, ‘Haunted Mansion’, took place. On this occasion, none of the film’s stars were expected to attendsuch as LaKeith Stanfield, Tiffany Haddish, Danny DeVito, Rosario Dawson, Chase W. Dillon, Daniel Levy or Jamie Lee Curtis, due to the actors’ strike.
Despite this, Disney has gone ahead with the film’s premiere at one of its amusement parks, Disneyland Anaheim, in California. On this fact, the director of the film, Justin Simien, has declared to Variety that he was “sad” that his cast could not attend the premiere, but he understands why and supports the actors’ strike.
You may wonder, how is a premiere possible without actors? Well Disney has decided to fill the event’s red carpet with characters from their movies. Or what is the same, with actors who work in the amusement park disguised as iconic villains such as the Evil Queen, Maleficent or Cruella de Vil, and even Mickey and Minnie themselves, who have posed for the photographers along with anonymous guests. . ‘Haunted Mansion’ marks the first premiere of a film under the actors’ strike.
If Disney had canceled this event, they probably would have lost the revenue generated by the sponsors of the premiere. and would have disappointed guests who had already RSVP’d for the evening. Regarding Bob Iger’s words that the actors’ strike was not “realistic”, the president of the actors’ union, Fran Drescher, wanted to show her disagreement after an interview with Variety from the Paramount picket line in Hollywood.
“I find them terribly disgusting and out of place. Positively tactless. I don’t think he did well. If I were that company, I’d lock him behind doors and never let him talk to anyone about this, because it’s so obvious he has no clue what’s really going on. on the street with working people who do not earn anywhere near the salary that he earns. Seven figures, eight figures, that’s crazy money he makes, and they don’t care if they’re earthmen from a medieval time.”
With all this commotion, some union actors have wanted to lend a cable to their colleagues who have attended the premiere disguised as villains. Through social networks, they wanted to show their support after the criticism received where they were accused of scabs. In this way they have wanted to call for calm, explaining that these actors are employees of Disneyland and they would not be part of the union, and that they would just be doing their job.
first reactions
As we have seen, the premiere has gone ahead despite the strike and some of those present have taken to the networks to give their opinion about the film. “Happy to say that ‘Haunted Mansion’ is one of those family movies that will scare the kids, make the adults laugh (a lot)and the fans of the attraction will point to the screen continuously because it is full of easter eggs,” Steven Weintraub tweeted.
I got to watch the #HauntedMansion (before the strike).
It’s a love letter to the iconic Disney ride & a family friendly thriller. The cast, led by LaKeith Stanfield, is outstanding & hilarious. Full of fun cameos, references to the ride & a healthy dose of jump scares. pic.twitter.com/rj92ujOMU7
? POC Culture ? #SDCC (@POCculture) July 16, 2023
The editor of POC Culture, has said about the film that “The cast, led by LaKeith Stanfield, is outstanding and hilarious. Full of funny cameos, attraction references and a healthy dose of jump scares.” On the other hand, Shannon McGrew, was still pondering her opinion on the film, adding on her social networks that “the amount of heart it has could not have been achieved without Katie Dippold’s script. It weaves a story that deals with death / mourning in a palpable way while navigating a fine line between humor and horror.”
‘Haunted Mansion’ opens only in theaters the 28th of July.
Reference-www.ecartelera.com
