Brendan Fraser offers his opinion on why Tom Cruise's reboot of The Mummy wasn't successful. Released in 1999, Stephen Sommers' The Mummy introduced audiences to Fraser's intrepid adventurer, Rick O'Connell. The film received somewhat mixed reviews from critics but was a hit at the box office, and was ultimately followed by two sequels, including The Mummy Returns in 2001 and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor in 2008. Although none of the films in Fraser's Mummy trilogy totally struck a chord with critics, audience responses, especially to the first two, were very positive, and the movies are still remembered fondly today.
After lying dormant for almost 10 years, The Mummy franchise was brought back to life in 2017 with a film from director Alan Kurtzman. The reboot, which starred Cruise as mercenary Nick Morton, was a flop critically and commercially, earning only $410 million worldwide and falling far short of expectations. The movie follows Morton and his partner as they accidentally awaken Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella), an ancient Egyptian princess who is determined to make the world feel her wrath. The Mummy reboot was supposed to kick-start Universal's Dark Universe of monster movies, introducing characters like Russell Crowe's Dr. Jekyll, but plans for ambitious cinematic universe were scrapped after the film's failure.
In a new interview with Variety, Brendan Fraser shares his thoughts on Tom Cruise's The Mummy movie and offers an explanation as to why it may have failed. With the reboot going for a much scarier and more serious tone, Fraser believes that one important element that was present in his own Mummy films got lost in the process. Check out Fraser's full comment below:
“It is hard to make that movie. The ingredient that we had going for our Mummy, which I didn’t see in that film, was fun. That was what was lacking in that incarnation. It was too much of a straight-ahead horror movie. The Mummy should be a thrill ride, but not terrifying and scary. I know how difficult it is to pull it off. I tried to do it three times.”
Brendan Fraser Is Right About Tom Cruise's Mummy Movie
Promoted more as an action-horror movie, Cruise's reboot ultimately felt like it had very little in common with any of Fraser's Mummy movies. While removing the sillier tone was certainly an intentional creative choice, the decision only made the film's heavy-handed universe-building and subsequent story problems even more apparent. As Fraser suggests, the original Mummy movies felt more like light-hearted adventures with scary moments, which helped to make them easily watchable and more family-oriented fun.
If it hadn't been solely responsible for setting up Universal's entire Dark Universe, Cruise's The Mummy likely would have been more effective. Even with its more serious, horror-oriented tone, the film does feature some impressive stunts and action sequences, and it potentially could have carved out its own successful space in the franchise that was separate from Fraser’s lighter and less scary Mummy movies. While 2017's reboot isn't all bad, it certainly left much to be desired, and Fraser's comment affirms that, in his mind, fun is the biggest ingredient when it comes to crafting a successful Mummy movie.
Source: Variety