I’m a huge fan of the first two Mummy movies. I think that they are campy, adventure-filled fun that were the very definition of “popcorn flick.” With plenty of action, one-liners, and dazzling special effects, The Mummy (1999) and The Mummy Returns (2001) put writer/director Stephen Sommers on the map, and his version of the mummy story did very well at the box office.
Together, all three installments of The Mummy franchise raked in almost over $1.2 billion worldwide. Between parts two and three came the spin-off flick The Scorpion King (2002), which spawned its own direct-to-DVD enterprise. And while I feel that the third Mummy movie, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008), was a horrible, bland, installment, audiences clearly felt differently given its take at the box office.
But, like most properties in Hollywood today, it was time for a reboot. And now it has finally come into being. It was announced this week that The Mummy series will get a darker and more serious revamping than the previous series of films.
Universal has hired screenwriter Jon Spaihts (Prometheus) to pen the new version of The Mummy. No word yet on who is set to direct, but judging from the plans to re-start the franchise it’s a pretty good bet that Sommers, Brendan Fraser and the rest of the original Mummy cast will cease to exist in this new universe.
Whether or not the new Mummy will follow the storyline of the 1932 Universal classic starring Boris Karloff or be a fresh new take is yet to be seen. It’s also not know if the revamp will be a period piece or be placed in modern day or the future.
I like this idea of a reboot. As much as I usually loathe the idea of a franchise starting over again – I’m still on the fence about the new Spiderman – I think that a darker, more horror-centric approach to the concept could be successful. It helps that they aren’t just going to go with the same type of tone that the previous three had, which would just make a re-start even more unnecessary.
What do you think? Did you enjoy the first series of Mummy movies? Will you go and see the new one? Leave a comment and let us know!