Movies
Walt Disney World Secretly Unveils New ‘Haunted Mansion’ Hitchhiking Ghosts!
My day almost began in a fit of rage, but was quickly subdued when I watched the following mind-blowing video, courtesy of Inside the Magic.
This morning Walt Disney World made a pretty substantial upgrade, one that will piss off the purists (that’s me!), but also blow their minds into confusion.
“This morning Walt Disney Imagineering unveiled its most impressive and interactive effect to date, adding playful new versions of the famous Hitchhiking Ghosts in ‘The Haunted Mansion’ who take delight in pranking unsuspecting guests. The classic dark ride has always featured ghosts “who follow you home,” appearing sitting next to guests by way of mirrors in the attraction’s final scenes. The with new technological advances, Disney’s Imagineers have created more lifelike and fun ghosts than ever before seen in the ride.”
Watch the video inside and then tell us your thoughts. Are you OK with the change? Is this impressive new technology worthy of desecrating a holy plot on Disney soil?
Movies
‘Abigail’ on Track for a Better Opening Weekend Than Universal’s Previous Two Vampire Attempts
In the wake of Leigh Whannell’s Invisible Man back in 2020, Universal has been struggling to achieve further box office success with their Universal Monsters brand. Even in the early days of the pandemic, Invisible Man scared up $144 million at the worldwide box office, while last year’s Universal Monsters: Dracula movies The Last Voyage of the Demeter and Renfield didn’t even approach that number when you COMBINE their individual box office hauls.
The horror-comedy Renfield came along first in April 2023, ending its run with just $26 million. The period piece Last Voyage of the Demeter ended its own run with a mere $21 million.
But Universal is trying again with their ballerina vampire movie Abigail this weekend, the latest bloodbath directed by the filmmakers known as Radio Silence (Ready or Not, Scream).
Unlike Demeter and Renfield, the early reviews for Abigail are incredibly strong, with our own Meagan Navarro calling the film “savagely inventive in terms of its vampiric gore,” ultimately “offering a thrill ride with sharp, pointy teeth.” Read her full review here.
That early buzz – coupled with some excellent trailers – should drive Abigail to moderate box office success, the film already scaring up $1 million in Thursday previews last night. Variety notes that Abigail is currently on track to enjoy a $12 million – $15 million opening weekend, which would smash Renfield ($8 million) and Demeter’s ($6 million) opening weekends.
Working to Abigail‘s advantage is the film’s reported $28 million production budget, making it a more affordable box office bet for Universal than the two aforementioned movies.
Stay tuned for more box office reporting in the coming days.
In Abigail, “After a group of would-be criminals kidnap the 12-year-old ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure, all they have to do to collect a $50 million ransom is watch the girl overnight. In an isolated mansion, the captors start to dwindle, one by one, and they discover, to their mounting horror, that they’re locked inside with no normal little girl.”
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