On the eve of release, The Hollywood Reporter has conjured up a last-minute forecast for The Mummy, and if you were in any way hoping for another box office success story for the Tom Cruise-fronted, look away now.
Two days ago, it was revealed that industry polling service NRG had downgraded its estimation from $40m to $35 million, but this latest status report from THR suggests that The Mummy‘s domestic total could stoop further still. Set to loom over 4,000 theaters across North America, Alex Kurtzman’s critically-panned franchise-starter is about to face stiff competition from Wonder Woman (more on that later), and the current 22 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes only exacerbates an already worrisome predicament for Universal brass. Remember, The Mummy is designed to launch the studio’s Dark Universe, an interconnected body of like-minded films that will house such terrifying creatures as The Invisible Man, Bride of Frankenstein, and many more. At least, that’s the idea.
Tethered with a budget of $125 million, many considered The Mummy to be a creative risk from the outset, and in his in-depth review, our own Matt Donato ruled that Kurtzman’s fantastical redo is so concerned with constructing the Dark Universe that it undermines the story of Sofia Boutella’s unruly deity: “The Mummy is a product of uninspired storytelling and a distracting focus on franchise world-building, rarely stopping to service the origin at hand.”
But all is seemingly not lost for Universal’s horror reboot, as analysts now claim that Tom Cruise’s enduring star power overseas will push the film toward an international haul of $125m-$135m which, coupled with the domestic opening of $35 million, would ensure The Mummy clears its net production cost during its first weekend on the market. Stay tuned for more on that one.
For Wonder Woman, it couldn’t be more different. Patty Jenkins’ success story now looks set to lasso every shred of competition this weekend with a haul of $50 million on home turf, which would put the DC standalone pic well on its way to landing $500 million worldwide.
For better or worse, The Mummy will be summoned into theatres on June 9th, when Cruise will be flanked by Sofia Boutella, Russell Crowe, Annabelle Wallis, Jake Johnson and Courtney B. Vance.
