The latest Tom Cruise blockbuster might be a hit across the globe, but stateside it has significantly underperformed.
Fans and critics alike panned the reboot of The Mummy, a part of the new Dark Universe of films. While Cruise himself can normally be counted on to fill a few seats at the theaters, this film in particular had one common criticism from people even when it was first announced — where is Brendan Fraser?
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Fraser starred as Rick O’Connell in the trilogy of Mummy movies from the late ’90s and early aughts, a series that was well received and made a lot of money until the third entry in the franchise went off the rails. Despite that, some fans still look back fondly on the series as a whole, taking issue with the grim-‘n-gritty reboot setting up Universal’s shared universe of monster movies.
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Director Alex Kurtzman spoke to Entertainment Tonight about the new film and why they decided not to include Fraser’s character in any capacity, even as a cameo.
“We never really talked actively about bringing Brendan Fraser in, because he lived in a very different time period than the modern day and so he would be potentially not even alive,” Kurtzman said. “Unless he himself were a monster, it didn’t seem like he would make a whole lot of sense. And if he were a monster, then we would have had a lot of explaining to do about why he was there.”
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The movie did have an easter egg for the Fraser-starring trilogy in which a fight scene utilizes the Book of Amun-Ra.
Fraser also spoke fondly of his time in that franchise, thanking fans for their response and support over the years.
It remains to be seen how this film’s success will affect the future of the Dark Universe films, if at all, but the more fans clamor for Fraser’s return, maybe Kurtzman and the other producers might be more open to including him in some capacity in the future. A Mummy prequel that ties in the Cruise version with the Fraser version, perhaps?
The Mummy is in theaters now.
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Thought safely entombed in a crypt deep beneath the unforgiving desert, an ancient queen (Sofia Boutella) whose destiny was unjustly taken from her is awakened in our current day, bringing with her malevolence grown over millennia and terrors that defy human comprehension.
From the sweeping sands of the Middle East through hidden labyrinths under modern-day London, The Mummy brings a surprising intensity and balance of wonder and thrills in an imaginative new take that ushers in a new world of gods and monsters.
The cast features Tom Cruise (Jack Reacher, Top Gun), Russell Crowe (The Nice Guys, Gladiator), and Sofia Boutella (Kingsman: The Secret Service, Star Trek Beyond), as well as Courtney B. Vance (The People Vs. O.J. Simpson), Annabelle Wallis (Annabelle, Peaky Blinders), Marwan Kenzari (Ben-Hur), and Jake Johnson (New Girl, Jurassic World).
Alex Kurtzman, the screenwriter and producer behind Star Trek Into Darkness and The Amazing Spider-Man 2, is on board to make his directorial debut, working off of a script penned by Jon Spaihts (Prometheus, Doctor Strange).
Photo Credit: Universal Pictures
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Side by side: Brendan Fraser (left) and Dwight D. Eisenhower (right)
