Warner Bros. has officially pulled the wraps off Lee Cronin’s The Mummy, and this new take on the classic monster isn’t playing around. The first teaser trailer for the film dropped yesterday, and it leans hard into full-blown horror.
The movie comes from Lee Cronin, the filmmaker who delivered some seriously nasty surprises with Evil Dead Rise. The reveal didn’t stop with imagery either. Cronin decided to have a little fun and embedded a hidden message in Morse code that fans had to decode to get the full picture.
Cronin didn’t leave everyone hanging for long. After teasing the message across social media, he shared both the translation and the key needed to crack it.
The message reads, “In ancient Egyptian civilization, dark spirits and visions of the dead were never an illusion. Some that passed over were gone forever, but an unlucky few were consumed by a darkness far more evil than anyone could have ever imagined. Today it begins.”
It’s a chilling note and a pretty clear signal that this version of The Mummy is aiming straight for dread, not adventure.
The film follows a journalist, played by Jack Reynor, who loses his daughter Katie, portrayed by Natalie Grace, while working in the desert. Eight years later, she suddenly returns, and it quickly becomes clear that something is very wrong. This isn’t a heartwarming reunion, and the family is forced to confront a nightmare that should’ve stayed buried.
The supporting cast includes Shylo Molina, May Elghety, Hayat Camille, Verónica Falcón, Laia Costa, and May Calamawy. It’s a lineup that suggests this story won’t be confined to one location or one perspective, which only adds to the unease.
In an interview with IGN, Cronin offered a glimpse at the tone he’s aiming for. He described the film as “one part Poltergeist,” pointing to its focus on family and home life, while also drawing inspiration from Seven for its “dark, investigative angle.”
That combination sounds like a brutal mix of emotional trauma and creeping horror, which feels like exactly where Cronin thrives.
The Mummy is set to hit theaters on April 17.
