Yet another reboot of The Mummy franchise is apparently in the works at Universal. The studio’s Dark Universe has to be one of the most notorious Hollywood flops from the past decade, as Universal’s big plans for a Marvel-esque shared universe built around classic horror properties fell flat on its face after 2017’s The Mummy remake tanked hard, despite Tom Cruise’s involvement.
To everyone else, the obvious lesson to be learned from this was that audiences remained loyal to the beloved Brendan Fraser movies from the 90s/00s. But it seems that Universal hasn’t realized this themselves, as word has it a new attempt to relaunch The Mummy series is in development. While this is far from confirmed at this point, there are a few different sources pointing to such a project being in the works.
First, Reddit scooper u/LongJonSilver claimed on the r/LeaksandRumors subreddit that Universal was cooking up a new live-action Mummy project. As corroborated by The Midgard Times, this one would further explore the origin story of iconic undead villain Imhotep. What’s more, concept artist Jean-David Solon, who has worked on such movies as Doctor Strange and Star Wars: The Last Jedi, has also shared some artwork for a project titled Imhotep on his Artstation page, which confirms that the movie would have an Ancient Egyptian setting.
The cursed high priest was memorably played by Arnold Vosloo in the first two entries in the Fraser franchise, though the character was actually originated by Boris Karloff in the 1932 film. The 2017 version tossed him aside and instead introduced female mummy Ahmanet, as played by Sofia Boutella. But it looks like Universal might be about to resurrect Imhotep once more.
With ’99’s The Mummy and The Mummy Returns already revealing enough about Imhotep’s backstory, and with previous villain origins flick Dracula Undead being pretty lackluster, this prequel idea doesn’t inspire the most confidence. Still, if it can at least squeeze in a cameo from Brendan Fraser, that’ll be something.
