Disney’s red carpet premiere for “Haunted Mansion,” held on July 15 at Disneyland, will take place even if there is a SAG-AFTRA strike.
If the actors guild does call a strike, the premiere will pivot to a “fan event,” according to a source. It is the first major world premiere set to take place after the strike deadline.
The stars of the movie, including LaKeith Stanfield, Tiffany Haddish, Danny DeVito, Rosario Dawson, Chase W. Dillon, Daniel Levy, Jamie Lee Curtis, Hasan Minhaj, Marilu Henner and Lindsay Lamb, would no longer be able to take part in the festivities in the case of a strike.
It is not clear if director Justin Simien, producers Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich, executive producers Nick Reynolds and Tom Peitzman and composer Kris Bowers, would participate in a traditional red carpet with photographers and interview press. That is, if Disney still rolls out a carpet.
Strike or no strike, the studio is expected to host about 2,000 guests, including fans in costumes, at the premiere. The screening takes place at 7 p.m. PT at the Hyperion Theater with a pre-reception featuring food and drinks starting at about 5 p.m.
A tip sheet for the premiere was sent to press on July 6 with the cast and creatives listed as attending.
“Haunted Mansion” is inspired by the theme park ride of the same name. Some of the cast — including Haddish, Stanfield and Dawson as well as director Simien — promoted the movie at the Essence Festival of Culture in New Orleans on July 1, as seen in the photo above.
The film will be released in theaters on July 28.
As Variety exclusively reported, leadership from the performers guild SAG-AFTRA held a conference call with top Hollywood publicity agencies on Monday. The objective of the call, according to sources, was to brief the reps on protocols and how talent can best serve the union if and when a strike takes place.