Haunted Mansion director knows it was, uh, less than ideal to release the film in July

It’s October. There’s a chill in the air. People are layering up, carving pumpkins, picking out their best Barbie pinks (or Ken fluffy jackets) for Halloween, and maybe even going to a haunted mansion or two to celebrate the season. One thing they’re certainly not doing is going to Disney’s Haunted Mansion though, because the mouse house made the truly baffling decision to release their spooky ride adaptation in July.

Not only that, but the film also had to contend with box office juggernauts Barbie and Oppenheimer, as well as the actors strike that began two weeks before its planned release. Remember that cringey decision to have Mickey and Minnie scab and walk the red carpet in Anaheim in the absence of the striking actors? Unsurprisingly, the film was a flop.

At least director Justin Simien knew a lot of this could have been avoided. “I think the release date was really tough—I saw Barbie coming from miles away,” he said in an interview with TheWrap. “I was disappointed by some aspects of our release, but I was not really surprised.”

“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,” he continued. “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.” About the weirdness of that summer release date, he added: “I certainly have heard the feeling from a lot of folks, and I can’t say I disagree. This is a much better time to receive a movie like this.”

One has to wonder why, if Simien truly did foresee all of these issues, it didn’t dawn on anyone to release the film later—or closer to October 31, for that matter. It sounds like he doesn’t really know either, although he does own up to actively not thinking about “the politics of the company that has financed it” or “a strike that may or may not happen” later in the interview. Shifting blame and not being able to fix things in hindsight… now that’s spooky.

Haunted Mansion is now streaming on Disney+.