The internet is discovering Guillermo del Toro's scrapped Haunted Mansion movie, which was set to star Ryan Gosling – and, as you might imagine, everyone is distraught.
The release of Barbie has catapulted us into the Age of Gosling, and it's got us doing everything from calling for a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his Kenergetic performance, crying out for The Nice Guys 2, and appreciating the actor's cover of "Push." Now, we're also crying real tears over what could have been.
Del Toro was announced to be directing another Haunted Mansion movie back in 2010, and in 2015, Gosling was cast in the project. Things later fell apart, with del Toro including it on a list of movies that had failed to materialize in 2018.
"Sad to learn that Guillermo del Toro was going to make a Haunted Mansion movie with Ryan Gosling as LEAD , like ??? Can we have anything good" writes one person.
remember what they took from you pic.twitter.com/yqG1XKhvuQJuly 27, 2023
"I didn't have in my head how awesome a Haunted Mansion movie would be if helmed by del Toro. Now I do. And now you do too," says someone else.
"It's such a tragedy that we'll never see Guillermo del Toro's Haunted Mansion," shares another person. "I know his version would’ve been incredible"
Del Toro, for his part, seems to be mourning his lost movie too, retweeting some Haunted Mansion themed pictures with "Sigh- The haunting reverie…" as his caption. The director even shared a throwback picture of a behind the scenes tour of the attraction itself, along with a picture with Gosling at Disney:
Many, many, many years ago- Gary De Ocampo and I toured the BTS of the Haunted Mansion at 5:00 am. Gary took this picture... pic.twitter.com/mnsIPDTzxXJuly 29, 2023
Ken and his Mexican MaxiKen in a toy car pic.twitter.com/S9lJukoWryJuly 21, 2023
Strangely enough, the release of Barbie has come right alongside the release of a new Haunted Mansion movie. The Disney film is Justin Simien's take on the classic ride and features an all-star cast that includes Rosario Dawson, Owen Wilson, Danny DeVito, LaKeith Stanfeld, Jared Leto, and Jamie Lee Curtis.
As everyone knows, though, there's always room for one more in the Haunted Mansion. We're holding out hope that del Toro and Gosling get to put their spin on the ride someday – especially since there's a perfect Haunted Mansion story out there already, just waiting to be adapted…
In the meantime, though, Simien's Haunted Mansion is plenty of fun and is out in theaters now. For even more on the spooky new film, check out our roundup of all the Haunted Mansion Easter eggs you might have missed. As for everything else, see our guide to all the upcoming major movie release dates.
