Lee Cronin’s The Mummy is coming to cinemas this week, but does Brendan Fraser return to the franchise in the film? Find out below.
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The supernatural horror film comes from Irish filmmaker Cronin, who is known for his previous movies The Hole In The Ground (2019) and Evil Dead Rise (2023).
It is released into cinemas on Friday (April 17) as a co-production from New Line Cinema, Atomic Monster and Blumhouse Productions, and it is intended as a reimagining of The Mummy franchise, which began with the 1932 classic starring Boris Karloff.
In the film, the young daughter of a journalist disappears into the desert without a trace. Eight years later, the broken family is shocked when she is returned to them, but what should be a joyful reunion turns into a living nightmare.
Check out the trailer here:
Blumhouse’s venture into The Mummy universe follows on from the studio creating modernised interpretations of other classic horror movies. Director Leigh Wannell reimagined The Invisible Man as a tense cat-and-mouse thriller in 2020, while last year they released Wolf Man, reframed it as a family drama.
Is Brendan Fraser in ‘Lee Cronin’s The Mummy’?
Fraser is remembered for starring in the 1999 Hollywood blockbuster remake of The Mummy, alongside Rachel Weisz, and its sequel The Mummy Returns (2001). He also returned without Weisz for a less successful third film, The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor, in 2008.
He is not, however, involved at all in Cronin’s new film, which is an entirely separate reinvention of the franchise from a different production house. Instead, Lee Cronin’s The Mummy will star Jack Reynor (Midsommar, Sing Street) and Laia Costa (Victoria, Only You). This film is the first Mummy movie not to be produced by either Universal or Hammer.
What has caused confusion about Fraser’s involvement is that he is, in fact, working on a different new film in this franchise. As confirmed late last year, both Fraser and Weisz are returning for a fourth instalment of their series of films, to be directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (Scream 6, Ready Or Not).
The Mummy 4 is scheduled to be released on May 19, 2028, and Fraser has promised that it will “give the fans what they want” from the franchise.
So while Brendan Fraser is not a part of Lee Cronin’s The Mummy, which arrives in cinemas this week, he will be reprising his role as Rick O’Connell in two years’ time in an entirely separate project.
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