There was definitely “room for one more” at screenings of Haunted Mansion across the country, with the new take on the Mansion delivering only $24.2 million in its first weekend of release.
Haunted Mansion’s debut came at a boom time for cinemas and the worst time for a new film to gain any traction, with the two-headed, cash-eating monster named “Barbenheimer” continuing to rule the land.
Barbie finished in first place once again with a staggering $93 million (over $351 million in two weeks in North America) and Oppenheimer followed in second place with $46.2 million in sales.
Haunted Mansion‘s third place finish (and paltry box office total) wasn’t helped by mediocre reviews with a current score of 41% on Rotten Tomatoes and a B+ CinemaScore. The Audience Score on Rotten Tomatoes was much a higher (85%) (which is not unusual for any film with a rabid fanbase), but they didn’t turn up to buy tickets unfortunately.
Twenty years ago, the original Eddie Murphy-led Haunted Mansion opened with an identical $24.2 million in 2003 money, before ending with $75 million domestically and an additional $106 million from international audiences.
This time around, Haunted Mansion grossed $9.1 million from 53 international markets, roughly 50 percent of the entire global marketplace.
To the disappointment of fans of the venerable attraction on both coasts, it doesn’t appear that the new Haunted Mansion will turn much of a profit with production costs estimated at $150 million before promotional costs, eliminating any chance of a sequel.
Come back next week to see if Haunted Mansion can rise from the dead with added competition from four animated turtles named after Renaissance painters.