Disney’s Tower Of Terror Movie May Suffer From Scarlett Johansson’s New $6 Billion Franchise Role

While Disney’s Tower of Terror movie was announced a few years ago, another franchise hiring its star Scarlett Johansson may hold up the project. Adaptations of Disney’s theme park rides have provided the studio with some major financial successes over the years, but not all these projects have been so lucky. The Pirates of the Caribbean series is one of the most popular franchises of all time, but both 2021’s Jungle Cruise and 2023’s The Haunted Mansion failed to replicate its success upon release. The poor performances of these adaptations may have impacted Disney’s planned Tower of Terror movie.

In 2021, plans for a Tower of Terror adaptation starring Scarlett Johansson were first announced. According to outlets like Bloody Disgusting, the movie would reportedly be penned by Toy Story 4 director Josh Cooley and directed by Taika Waititi. Tower of Terror’s movie adaptation risks repeating the worst mistakes of 2023’s starry The Haunted Mansion reboot, but the involvement of these major talents seems to bode well for the movie. That said, there has been no movement on the project since plans were first announced in 2021, and Johansson’s upcoming blockbuster role casts doubt on its potential to move forward.

Tower Of Terror Won’t Be Scarlett Johansson’s Priority If She’s In Jurassic World 4

The Jurassic World reboot will take precedence for the A-list star

While Universal has not yet announced Johansson’s casting in the upcoming Jurassic World 4, this development has been heavily reported by The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, and other trade outlets. Since Jurassic World 4 has a July 2025 release date, Johansson will likely be filming the movie for a good chunk of 2024. Johansson’s Jurassic World 4 role would shape her year and limit her involvement in other projects, meaning Tower of Terror will spend another year on the back burner. To make matters worse, the star will most likely spend some of 2025 doing Jurassic World 4 reshoots and press.

Jurassic World 4 is both a huge movie and the revival of a series that has been incredibly financially successful, but critically maligned. Johansson’s high profile means she will replace Chris Pratt as the face of the franchise, meaning she will be front and center when it comes to Jurassic World 4’s promotion. Jurassic World 4’s post-Dominion reinvention of the series means that Tower of Terror will not only be delayed for most of 2024, but its promotion could result in months of further delays throughout 2025. By that stage, its announcement would be four years old.

Jurassic World Would Give Scarlett Johansson A Bigger Franchise Than Tower Of Terror

Tower of Terror is a riskier investment than the reliably popular series

While the Pirates of the Caribbean series might be huge, other movies based on theme park rides have struggled. Especially after the failure of The Haunted Mansion reboot, there is no guarantee that Tower of Terror would work. While it would be exciting to see Johansson try her hand at a family-friendly horror comedy, Jurassic World 4 is a sure thing in comparison to the theme park movie. Jurassic World 4 would also likely give her a big franchise with multiple movies going forward. This could both guarantee career stability and, unfortunately, remove focus from Tower of Terror even further.

Since Jurassic World 4 is a new era for the franchise, Johansson has the opportunity to headline an already massive series. In contrast, Tower of Terror may fail as a standalone movie and, even if it succeeds, might not spawn a subsequent series. While Pirates of the Caribbean did lead to a string of successful sequels, it is worth noting that the ride adaptation was a historical action-adventure franchise. In comparison, as a horror-comedy story, Tower of Terror is much more similar to The Haunted Mansion, which never gained any sequels in 2003 or 2023.

Will Scarlett Johansson’s Tower Of Terror Movie Still Happen?

Tower of Terror may still happen but the project seemingly isn’t a high priority

While Tower of Terror is still in development and its latest updates were positive, the project is taking a very long time to get going. Tower of Terror has a lot of exciting potential, but the fact that the project’s director, star, and writer haven’t been formally announced almost three years after its plan was originally discussed isn’t particularly promising. Johansson’s busy slate is exciting for fans of the actor but it doesn’t bode well for Tower of Terror specifically, particularly when the superficially similar The Haunted Mansion was an expensive misfire.

If Tower of Terror does happen, it looks increasingly likely that the project will need to work around the Jurassic World franchise’s plans. That blockbuster series will be Johansson’s primary priority for the foreseeable future, but this doesn’t mean that there won’t be room for Tower of Terror on her slate. That said, even the most optimistic forecast would predict that Tower of Terror won’t arrive for quite some time, judging by Scarlett Johansson’s current career plans.