Justin Simien insists the decision to release the horror movie a week after 'Barbie' and 'Oppenheimer' has played a part in the movie's disappointing box office result.
- Oct 22, 2023
AceShowbiz - Justin Simien is unhappy that "The Haunted Mansion" was released in the shadow of "Barbenheimer". The 40-year-old filmmaker directed the Disney picture that came out just a week after the two blockbusters and thinks the scheduling contributed to the picture's disappointing box office performance.
"I think the release date was really tough - I saw 'Barbie' coming from miles away. I was disappointed by some aspects of our release, but I was not really surprised," Justin told The Wrap.
He continued, "There's a lot of folks in the industry that just kept saying, 'I don't know' and 'That'll probably not be as big as it sounds like.' And I was like, '(Barbie) is going to be huge.' What 'Oppenheimer' did so well - the marketing for 'Oppenheimer' embraced the fact that 'Barbie' was coming with this gigantic, cultural juggernaut."
"I don't know that our campaign necessarily embraced or acknowledged that we were essentially coming out in the shadow of what was clearly such a box office phenomenon."
The SAG-AFTRA strike also started shortly before the movie was released, meaning that cast members including Tiffany Haddish and LaKeith Stanfield were unable to promote the project.
Simien said, "There was a lot of stuff going on with the strike... a lot of stuff that had nothing to do with the movie that I think really got in the way, and that was frustrating to see because I came up in publicity. If you had asked me and sat down with me... I would have seen some of these things coming. I'll put it that way."
Simien also claimed that audiences felt a Halloween release would have been more appropriate than a summer launch. The "Dear White People" helmer said, "I certainly have heard the feeling from a lot of folks, and I can't say I disagree. This is a much better time (in October) to receive a movie like this."
