Rachel Weisz & Brendan Fraser Are Back as Fourth “Mummy” Movie Rises From the Crypt
In case you missed the news, Rachel Weisz and Brendan Fraser are reteaming for a fourth Mummy adventure, from Scream duo Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (they go by the moniker Radio Silence).
Fraser and Weisz were the two biggest stars in the big reboot of The Mummy back in 1999 and went on to become a smash. The epic, directed by Stephen Sommers, followed Fraser’s Rick O’Connell, a roguish American adventurer and former member of the French Foreign Legion, and Weisz as Evelyn Carnahan, an English Egyptologist working at the Cairo Museum of Antiquities. The pair accidentally awakens a mummy after Evelyn reads from the Book of the Dead, an ancient text that unleashes the high priest Imhotep from his 3,000-year nap. Once roused, Imhotep goes on the most destructive lovesick search of all time, determined to find the reincarnation of his long-lost love, no matter the body count.
The movie spawned sequels—2001’s The Mummy Returns, also directed by Sommers and featuring the return of Fraser and Weisz, now married and with a young son. In the sequel, Weisz’s Evelyn discovers that she’s the reincarnation of an Egyptian princess and dies, but is eventually revived by Rick. After that came 2008’s The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, directed by Rob Cohen, which, unlike the previous installment, did not feature Weisz. The franchise was resurrected afresh in 2017 by none other than Tom Cruise, but it didn’t catch on. It’s been sleeping in its crypt since then.
Fraser took time away from acting, but returned with a splash in 2022’s The Whale, which earned him an Oscar for Best Actor. Now, he’ll be returning to the role that made him a star.
Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett will be directing from a script by David Coggeshall, Deadline reports.
Featured image: Rick O’Connell (Brendan Fraser) must save Evelyn (Rachel Weisz) and the rest of the world from the 3,000-year-old curse in “The Mummy.” 1999 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.
