Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz have a date with The Mummy.
After months of negotiations, Universal has closed deals for the pair to star in a new installment of the studio’s turn-of-the-century action horror comedy. The film is being directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, also known as Radio Silence.
And with deals finally closed, Universal has also set a release date for the feature, announcing Tuesday a May 19, 2028 wide opening.
Plot details are being kept under wraps, but it is known that the actors will return to their roles of Rick and Evelyn O’Connell. Fraser led the trio of movies made between 1999 and 2008 while Weisz starred in the first two.
David Coggeshall (The Family Plan, Orphan: First Kill) wrote the screenplay for the film.
Sean Daniel, who produced the original movies with his late partner James Jacks, is back as producer. William Sherak, James Vanderbilt and Paul Neinstein will produce through Project X Entertainment. The trio are frequent collaborators of Radio Silence, and worked with the filmmakers on the two recent Scream movies, which revitalized the franchise for the 2020s, and vampire horror movie Abigail for Universal.
Fraser, Hivemind’s Jason F. Brown and Denis Stewart will executive produce the new feature.
Executive vp of production development Jay Polidoro and director of production development Jacqueline Garell are overseeing the project for the studio.
Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz
Chad Griffith; Brigitte Lacombe
Directed and co-written by Stephen Sommers, Mummy brought an Indiana Jones flair to the classic Universal Monsters line, combining action-adventure and romance with horror in a period setting. The movie, released in May 1999, saw Fraser as treasure hunter who travels to Egypt in the 1920s with a spunky librarian, played by Weisz, only to accidentally awaken a supernaturally powerful high priest.
The movie, which grossed over $422.5 million, launched a franchise that was one of Universal’s big and reliable titles in the early 2000s and made Fraser into a leading man and A-lister. There was also a prequel — The Scorpion King, featuring an early performance by Dwayne Johnson — and an animated series, not to mention a popular ride at Universal Studios Hollywood.
Mummy showed the studio the enduring appeal of its monster movie legacy. In total, the franchise has grossed over $1.8 billion theatrically — and opened the door to develop new movies and takes on the characters, even if many failed (Van Helsing, anyone?) or never made it to fruition at all (Creature from the Black Lagoon, forever stuck in development swampland).