The upcoming Tower of Terror movie gets an update from Scarlett Johansson. The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror is among the most famous rides at Walt Disney World and has exhilarated guests for decades by imagining a haunted elevator belonging to the Hollywood Tower H๏τel. Following a 1997 movie, starring Steve Guttenberg and Kirsten Dunst, a new Tower of Terror adaptation was announced in 2021. Details remain scarce, but Johansson previously teased the status of the screenplay in 2023, revealing that it was still being worked on.

During a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Johansson gave an update on how Tower of Terror is coming together. As she explained, it has been challenging to make the original theme park ride story into a movie. Johansson also revealed that it “doesn’t have so much to dig into,” but noted that creating the film has been an enjoyable process. Read her comments below:

It’s a hard nut to crack. Harder than you think, because the ride itself, there’s some lore to it, but it’s… I don’t want to say thin, but it is, kind of!

That’s part of the mystery of the ride. It’s been a fun project to work on, because it’s a blue sky project. It has also proved to be a hard nut to crack. But, we’ll crack the case of it. It’s taking shape!

What Scarlett Johansson’s Update Means For Tower Of Terror

Adapting The Disney Ride May Be Tough

Adapting a theme park attraction, especially one as long-standing and beloved as the Tower of Terror, is naturally difficult. If the story accompanying Tower of Terror, which involves former H๏τel guests who seemingly vanished one Halloween evening, needs to be adjusted for feature length, then continuing to develop it is best. Haunted Mansion, another spine-chilling, but family-friendly, adaptation of a Disney ride, managed to feature an impressive number of references but drew some criticism for its story.

Bringing the Tower of Terror movie to life has taken some time, partially because of Johansson’s lawsuit against Disney, regarding the premiere strategy of Black Widow. While that has since been resolved, the Hollywood writers’ strikes caused another delay to Tower of Terror. As the WGA, along with SAG-AFTRA, went on strike, many movies and TV shows were halted, and writing for the Disney adaptation could not continue until it ended in 2023.

Our Take On The Tower Of Terror Movie

Can It Successfully Be Pulled Off?

Disney fans may be eager for another Tower of Terror adaptation, following the television film directed by D. J. MacHale. A modern imagining, and potentially releasing it in theaters, makes Tower of Terror one of the most compelling ride-to-movie adaptations yet. Given how few details surround the upcoming project, it will be interesting to see what the Tower of Terror story eventually becomes and whether the movie can be a successful adaptation. Should it involve more recognizable talent and share any connection to The Twilight Zone, or contain actual scares, audiences familiar with the Disney attraction may be in for a good time.

Source: EW