Over seven years after the last reboot attempt of “The Mummy” franchise fell short, Blumhouse has revealed that they’re developing a new installment. The horror franchise dates back to 1932 and was part of the Universal Classic Monsters collection. Boris Karloff initially portrayed the mummy, with others like Tom Tyler, Lon Chaney Jr., and Eddie Parker taking on the role in subsequent iterations. In more recent years, there have been two rebooted versions, starting with the Brendan Fraser-led films by Stephen Sommers, which also spawned “The Scorpion King” spinoffs, followed by Tom Cruise’s ill-fated 2017 reboot.
The official Blumhouse Twitter page has announced that a new “The Mummy” movie is in the works, helmed by writer/director Lee Cronin, who recently achieved acclaim with “Evil Dead Rise”. The tweet showed a script page with the title initially scratched out, displaying Cronin’s credit as the writer of the “Original Screenplay” and listing both the studio and James Wan’s Atomic Monster in the bottom left corner. The scratched-out title was then removed to reveal “Lee Cronin’s The Mummy”, and the caption confirmed that the movie will be released in 2026, with the specific date now set as April 17.
In a statement released by the studio, Cronin expressed his excitement about taking on this new version of the iconic horror franchise, promising that his “The Mummy” movie will be distinct from any previous incarnations. He said, “This will be unlike any Mummy movie you ever laid eyeballs on before. I’m digging deep into the earth to raise something very ancient and very frightening.”
What this means for “The Mummy” franchise is that Cronin and Blumhouse’s recent successes could potentially bode well. Cronin isn’t the first filmmaker to try to modernize “The Mummy” for contemporary audiences, but he’ll be the first to follow up on Cruise’s critically lambasted 2017 movie. That movie, which Blumhouse wasn’t involved in, was meant to launch an interconnected franchise called the Dark Universe, which was also supposed to include a new “Invisible Man” led by Johnny Depp and “Bride of Frankenstein” starring Javier Bardem. However, due to reportedly losing over $95 million and receiving widespread negative reviews from critics, the Dark Universe was scrapped.
While some have advocated for Fraser to return for “The Mummy 4”, Blumhouse and Cronin’s track records could be positive indicators for this new reboot. A few years after Cruise’s failure, Blumhouse teamed with Leigh Whannell, co-creator of “Saw” and “Insidious”, to write and direct a new “Invisible Man” reboot, which was both a critical and commercial success. There have been talks of a sequel to the 2020 movie, and Blumhouse has also reunited with Whannell for a “Wolf Man” reboot, demonstrating the studio’s ongoing interest in the Universal Classic Monsters library.
Cronin also made a name for himself in franchise filmmaking with “Evil Dead Rise”, the second spinoff movie in the horror series after the 2013 rebootquel. Originally slated for a streaming-only premiere, the 2023 film became the highest-grossing “Evil Dead” movie to date and received the third-best reviews in the series, behind Sam Raimi’s original two installments. Its success has secured the franchise’s future, with two other spinoffs currently in the works, starting with “Evil Dead Burn” by Sébastien Vaniček, set for a 2026 release.
Cronin’s “The Mummy” reboot could provide the fresh direction the franchise desperately needs. While Cruise’s movie was ambitious, Cronin’s background might serve the franchise better this time around. Even within the over-the-top world of “The Evil Dead”, Cronin maintained the grounded feel of his debut, “The Hole in the Ground”, in “Rise”. Given that Blumhouse has approached its updates of the Universal Classic Monsters library in a similar manner, it seems the combination of Cronin and Blumhouse has the potential to rejuvenate “The Mummy” franchise.
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