We were all very surprised to hear that Universal’s planned reboot of The Mummy had nabbed Tom Cruise for its male lead, and now it looks as if they’ve scored another coup by signing highly in-demand actress Sofia Boutella (blade-legged assassin Gazelle in Kingsman: The Secret Service) to play the ancient undead Egyptian herself. Yes, as previously reported, this new take on the Mummy will be female.
Though no plot details have been released just yet, we do know that Cruise will play the protagonist (there’s been some speculation that he’ll actually be an incarnation of Van Helsing), and will do battle against the cursed creature. Aside from that though, the project is shrouded in secrecy, but we’re certainly intrigued.
This will be the first of a series of films that are being referred to as Universal’s “Monster movie universe” and will eventually expand to include new takes on the likes of Dracula, Frankenstein, the Invisible Man, the Bride of Frankenstein and the Wolfman.
Alex Kurtzman will direct from a script by Jon Spaihts, and The Mummy will terrorize theaters on March 24, 2017.