Haunted Mansion director hopes film is "beginning of a longer series"

“Oh, I'd love for it to go on," he said. "You know, I think that it certainly has that world-building stuff that is really great for the beginning of a longer series."

He added: "So we'll see what the audiences say, what the box office gods have for us."

It's worth noting that this interview took place before the film's US release on 28th July, where it has performed below box office expectations – leading to some unconfirmed reports that any planned sequel has already been jettisoned.

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During the interview, Simien also explained how the Disneyland ride was the "ultimate inspiration" for the film.

"Whenever there was a question, we kind of went back to 'well, what were they deciding to do for the ride?'" he explained. "The remarkable thing about it is that they had that same argument: should it be scary, should it be funny, should it be cute?

"And what they came up with is this very subversive blend of all of those things. And I found that pretty irresistible and... it was kind of like a frequency check, you know, to go back to over and over again.

"Just to kind of remember exactly what that vibe was that they were setting back in 1968. And how do we kind of update that and bring that forward in this one."

Haunted Mansion is out now in UK cinemas. Check out more of our Film coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what's on tonight.
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