With Tom Cruise comes a particular set of expectations. For years, the Hollywood veteran has pushed the envelope by performing his own stunts, and would regularly outdo himself with each new installment in Paramount’s prized Mission: Impossible franchise – the most recent entry, for example, had Cruise clinging onto the side of an airborne A400M Airbus during takeoff.
The result? A rare sense of authenticity that simply can’t be recreated using VFX wizardry alone, even if it’s enough to have the film’s finance and insurance departments on a knife’s edge. From scaling Dubai’s famous Burj Khalifa to being submerged in water for minutes at a time, few Hollywood stars hold a candle to Tom Cruise’s fearless determination and drive, and we’ll be able to see that take center stage once again with the release of Universal and Alex Kurtzman’s The Mummy.
Pegged for launch on June 9th, the long-brewing redo is set to reanimate the titular deity as a former Egyptian cruelly robbed of her chance to rule the kingdom. Sentenced to a horrible death beneath the sun-scorched Pyramids, it’s only when Tom Cruise’s Nick Morton and his team uncover her mythical casket that Princess Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella) is set free, bringing with her a pent-up rage that has been bubbling beneath the surface for generations. That portends all kinds of dark and dangerous calamities for Cruise and Co. – namely Russell Crowe’s Dr. Jekyll and Annabelle Wallis’ Jenny Halsey – who face a race against time if they’re to cancel the impending apocalypse.
Universal and Alex Kurtzman are expected to summon The Mummy into theaters on June 9th, exactly one week after Wonder Woman lights up the silver screen. The only question left now is, who triumphs at the worldwide box office: Princess Ahmanet? Or Diana Prince of Themyscira.
