Thank the Egyptian gods! A new Mummy movie starring Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz is finally in development, and it can’t come Anck-soon enough.
Original stars Fraser and Weisz, who starred in The Mummy in 1999 and its 2001 sequel The Mummy Returns, both directed by Stephen Sommers, are in talks to reprise their respective roles as married American adventurer Rick and British Egyptologist Evie O’Connell.
Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, the filmmaking team known as Radio Silence, are set to direct the forthcoming fourth installment in the fan-favorite supernatural-adventure film series based on Universal Pictures’ classic monster. The duo previously directed the critically acclaimed 2019 horror film Ready or Not.
Radio Silence also directed the fifth and sixth Scream movies, which came out in 2022 and 2023, respectively. The films were highly successful, so the pair know a thing or two about resurrecting and breathing new life into a beloved franchise for a new generation.
According to a source who spoke to The Hollywood Reporter, the project will serve as a proper sequel, not a reboot. The source also claims the film will disregard the events of the third film, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.
Released in 2008, the third installment in Fraser’s The Mummy series takes place in Egypt and follows Rick, Evie and their adult son Alex as they uncover the mystery of the Terracotta Army and battle against an evil ancient warlord known as the Dragon Emperor. The role of Evie, originally played by Weisz, was recast with Maria Bello due to Weisz having just given birth, as well as her dissatisfaction with the film’s script.
Tomb of the Dragon Emperor was technically a success at the box office, though it remains the lowest-grossest film in the series. The movie, which failed to capture the magic of the first two films and lacked Fraser and Weisz’s palpable on-screen chemistry, received negative reviews from critics and longtime fans alike.
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Universal tried to revitalize the monster IP in 2017 with The Mummy starring Tom Cruise. The film, which was initially meant to launch the Dark Universe, a new franchise of modern movies based on Universal’s classic monsters, performed well at the box office but was panned by critics and audiences. Ultimately, the Dark Universe was scrapped.
At a fan event earlier this year, Fraser speculated that Cruise’s Mummy film unraveled due to its lack of fun.
“I know Tom Cruise tried to make his movie and it ain’t easy! We all know how hard this movie is to make. With the exception of three [The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor], the thing with all of these films is that, at least it was fun, it was a thrill ride, and you wanted to do it again,” the actor shared.
Meanwhile, yet another reboot based on the classic Mummy character is scheduled to hit theaters in 2026. Directed by Lee Cronin (Evil Dead Rise) and produced by Jason Blum and James Wan, The Mummy will be a dark supernatural horror film, as well as the first Mummy film not to be distributed by Universal Pictures since the Hammer Films series of the 1950s through 1970s.
Cronin’s The Mummy will be released on April 17, 2026.
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