We Have A Ghost - What We Know So Far

Up-and-coming horror filmmaker Christopher Landon, who's previously written and directed horror hits like "Happy Death Day 2U" and last year's "Freaky" starring Vince Vaughn and Kathryn Newton, is putting a family adventure twist on the classic ghost story with the upcoming movie "We Have A Ghost." Based on a fictional short story called "Ernest," written by Geoff Manaugh and published on Vice back in October 2017, the new film will focus on a family that, as the title suggests, discovers that they have a ghost living in their house. But while most people would cry or scream at this realization, the father of the family starts to laugh instead, recording the ghost's reaction to cause a frenzy on social media. 

Originally announced back in November 2017 by Deadline as a project coming from Legendary, the movie appears to have jumped over to Netflix, where Landon will direct a self-written script with a major cast of actors. While there's still plenty of mystery surrounding the project, the film continues to release little tidbits of information here and there, which are building up to form quite an interesting picture of "We Have A Ghost." Here's everything we know so far about the new Netflix film.

According to Productionlist.com, "We Have A Ghost" recently started filming, shooting between June 28, 2021 and August 30, 2021, which Landon confirmed on his Twitter. The movie is reported to be filming in New Orleans, Louisiana, a popular city for the entertainment industry. Past projects that have used New Orleans as a filming site include "American Horror Story," "Queen and Slim," "Looking for Alaska," and "On Becoming a God in Central Florida." The location also seems to be a particular favorite for Netflix, as a few past Netflix Original features that have filmed there are "Tall Girl," "Power," and "Eli," with "We Have A Ghost" becoming another member of that list (Experience New Orleans). 

As of right now, there is no word yet on an official release date. Considering the projected shooting end date of August 30, 2021, it's highly likely that we will see the upcoming film hit the streaming platform in mid-to-late 2022. After filming ends, "We Have A Ghost" will go into post-production, and with an actual ghost being central to the plot, the movie will probably need a bit of effects work during this stage. Another factor to note is whether or not Netflix would want to save the release of "We Have A Ghost" for next Halloween, which is very possible. 

The upcoming movie "We Have A Ghost" has quite the cast of actors working on the project. Leading the group are the MCU's Anthony Mackie and David Harbour of "Stranger Things," the latter being a frequent collaborator with Netflix. Along with them, there's Tig Notaro, who recently worked with Netflix on "Army of the Dead," and Jennifer Coolidge, who is currently starring alongside Connie Britton in HBO's new drama, "The White Lotus." 

As filming just started, the movie is probably done or almost done with casting, and there are a handful of other actors in key roles. This includes rising star Jahi Di'Allo Winston, Erica Ash, Isabella Russo, Niles Fitch, Faith Ford, and Steve Coulter (The Hollywood Reporter). So far, there is no information about who is playing what characters, and with only the short story as source material, Landon will likely be expanding on "Ernest" and adding in some new, original characters here and there. 

What would you do if you found a ghost in your house? Would you scream, cry, or laugh, like the father in this story does? In the original short story, "Ernest," a family, led by father Frank Presley, moves into a new house — well, new for them. The house is an old, traditional home, so various noises and settling are to be expected. But during the night in their new home, Kevin wakes up to a strange shuffling sound and tracks it to an empty bedroom, where a ghost is standing in the middle of the space. When Frank arrives, the ghost does what you'd expect one to, staggering towards Frank with a moan as lights flicker. But Frank isn't scared. In fact, he finds it hilarious, and so he pulls out his phone and records it all. 

This leads to a huge rush of fame as Frank starts tormenting the ghost, which he names "Ernest," for social media clout, milking the situation for all the attention he can get. But this is all halted when one day both the ghost and Frank's eldest teenage son, Kevin, disappear, instigating a CIA manhunt that produces surprising revelations about the real story of the ghost known as Ernest. To note, this is being described as a "family adventure" movie, and Landon has made it very clear on Twitter that despite his resume of past films and the ghostly subject matter, "We Have A Ghost" is definitely not a horror movie.