Once Universal’s terrible Mummy reboot with Tom Cruise in the lead came out, folks wished they’d have just gone ahead and made another one with Brendan Fraser – the actor himself included. From 1999 to 2008, Fraser starred in three horror/adventure movies which earned a grand total of $1.41 billion. You might think that Universal were fools for stopping at three, then, but it’s interesting to note that they very nearly made a fourth entry in the series.
In a piece on the future of the Universal Monsters franchise, The Hollywood Reporter recalls that a fourth film was proposed following the release of The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Unfortunately, however, the studio ultimately elected to move forward with building a cinematic universe instead in an attempt to rival Marvel and DC. And as we all know, that didn’t work out as planned.
“Universal opted not to go forward with a fourth film that would have seen the O’Connells face off against Aztec mummies in South America with Antonio Banderas playing the villain, and instead set its sights on a cinematic universe.”
Mummy fans don’t look too kindly upon Tomb, as it’s widely agreed to be a drop in quality after the first two, perhaps because Stephen Sommers didn’t return to write and direct, with Rob Cohen taking over the reins. It was also a major blow that Rachel Weisz elected not to return as Rick O’Connell’s wife Evey, with Maria Bello replacing her. Nevertheless, the threequel made $401 million at the box office and as such, it was a bold move for Universal to turn down producing a follow-up.
To be fair, though, 2017’s The Mummy actually earned a bit more, coming in at $410 million worldwide. However, a critical mauling meant all future sequels and spinoffs were cancelled and instead, the studio’s now going in a different direction. 2020’s The Invisible Man, for instance, is co-produced with Blumhouse and is expected to be a lower budget effort that leans into the horror. Paul Feig is also working on Dark Army, which looks to be a good old-fashioned monster mash-up movie.
Tell us, though, do you think a fourth Mummy should have happened, or even should happen now? Sound off in the comments section down below with your thoughts.