What better way is there to spend this upcoming Mother’s Day than by binging all The Mummy movies? And by all, I mean the “original” ones starring Brendan Fraser. If you like the sounds of this, you’re in luck, as SYFY is screening all three Mummy films – 1999’s The Mummy, 2001’s The Mummy Returns and 2008’s The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor – as well as the Dwayne Johnson-starring spinoff The Scorpion King (2002).
Obviously, these aren’t the original Mummy movies, as the brand goes back to the 1930s, but Universal’s relaunched saga – which gave things more of an action/adventure bent – remains hugely popular and is the definitive version of the franchise for this generation. Sorry, 2017 reboot starring Tom Cruise. Actually, I’m not sorry. You really sucked.
Fraser stars in all three of these pics as adventurer Rick O’Connell, with Rachel Weisz joining him as Evelyn “Evie” Carnahan, an expert Egyptologist who falls in love with Rick (the first one), has a kid with him (the second) and then transforms into Maria Bello (the third). Of course, the loss of Weisz in Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is one of the reasons why it’s a lot weaker than the original two. Scorpion King isn’t great either, but The Rock fans will get a kick out of it.
A fourth film was in the works as well, with Rick and his family set to face off against Aztec mummies in South America and featuring Antonio Banderas as the villain. However, Universal ultimately chose to pursue a cinematic universe instead. Given how poorly that turned out, fans have been wondering if the studio could resurrect the Sommersverse to recapture some of the old magic. If they did, Fraser has said he would definitely return as Rick.
The Mummy marathon airs Sunday, May 10th on SYFY, from 1 PM-11 PM ET/PT. Alternatively, you can stream the movies On Demand at Syfy.com and via the NBC OneApp.