Copyright The Hollywood Reporter
Universal’s turn-of-the-century The Mummy franchise is back from the dead. Brendan Fraser, who led the trio of movies made between 1999 and 2008, and Rachel Weisz, who starred in the first two, are in talks to star in a new Mummy sequel. Radio Silence is set to direct. The filmmaking team of Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett broke through with the clever and fun horror movie Ready or Not in 2019 and are known for helping revitalize the Scream franchise with a pair of movies in 2022 and 2023. Sean Daniel, who produced the original movies with his late partner James Jacks, is back as producer. Joining him are frequent Radio Silence collaborators William Sherak, James Vanderbilt and Paul Neinstein, who will produce via their Project X Entertainment banner. Project X was involved in Radio Silence movies such as Abigail, Scream 5 and Scream 6. Directed and co-written by Stephen Sommers, Mummy brought an Indiana Jones-flair to the classic Universal Monsters line, combining action-adventure and romance with horror in a period setting. The movie saw Fraser as treasure hunter who travels to Egypt in the 1920s with a spunky librarian, played by Weisz, only to accidentally awaken a supernaturally powerful high priest. The movie, which grossed over $422.5 million, launched a franchise that was one of Universal’s big and reliable titles in the early 2000s and made Fraser into a leading man and A-lister. There was also a prequel – The Scorpion King, featuring an early performance by Dwayne Johnson – and an animated series, not to mention a popular ride at Universal Studios Hollywood. Maria Bello replaced Weisz for the third entry, which also featured Luke Ford as the son of the two main characters. It is unclear who else could return. One source desscribes the project as not a reboot, but rather a sequel that would disregard the events of the third movie. David Coggeshall wrote the screenplay. Universal had no comment. Fraser’s career was revitalized with a starring return in The Whale, the 2022 drama directed by Darren Aronofsky (who also happens to be Weisz’s former fiancé and father of her first son). The role earned him an Oscar for best actor. It is around that time that Universal began preliminary talks with Fraser for a new Mummy. The actor will next be seen in Searchlight Pictures’ comedic drama Rental Family, which opens Nov. 21. He is repped by CAA, Linden Entertainment and Felker Toczek. Weisz in recent years starred in Amazon Prime Video’s gender-swapped TV version of Dead Ringers and co-starred in Marvel’s Black Widow. She is repped by CAA, Linden, and UK’s Independent Talent Group. Next up for Radio Silence is Ready of Not 2: Here I Come, which Searchlight will open in April 2026. The team has fans at Universal, which hired the filmmakers for the 2024 vampire horror movie Abigail. Radio Silence is repped by CAA and Brillstein Entertainment Partners.
