Movies
Brendan Fraser Gives His Take On Why Tom Cruise's Mummy Movie Failed
By Justin Drea
Oct 12, 2022 9:17 PM
Vittorio Zunino Celotto
When it comes to movies about mummies, there is no one more equipped to commentate than one, Brendan Fraser. In 1999, Brendan Fraser starred in The Mummy as adventurer Rick O’Connell who is hired by Egyptologist Evelyn to help her find an ancient city but in the process, they accidentally awaken an ancient evil. The movie did only okay with critics but was a massive commercial success and was followed by a sequel in 2001 called The Mummy Returns, which was an equally big if not bigger commercial success. Both of those movies are fondly remembered to this day and mark one of the biggest successes of Brendan Fraser’s career. Brendan even returned for a third film in the series called The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor in 2008 which was once again, just alright with critics but did a good job at the box office.
After Brendan stepped away from the world of acting for a while, there was an attempt to reboot the Mummy franchise in 2017 which starred Tom Cruise as mercenary Nick Morton. The plot followed Nick as he accidentally awakens Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella), an ancient Egyptian princess who is nothing but bad news for the world. Despite the star power of Tom Cruise, the film was a commercial and critical flop.
In a recent interview with Variety, Brendan has given his take on why he thinks the Tom Cruise movie failed so horribly. According to Fraser, the film simply took a much too serious approach and left out the crucial fun element which was part of the success of his Mummy movies.
Here is his full quote:
“It is hard to make that movie. The ingredient that we had going for our Mummy, which I didn’t see in that film, was fun. That was what was lacking in that incarnation. It was too much of a straight-ahead horror movie. The Mummy should be a thrill ride, but not terrifying and scary. I know how difficult it is to pull it off. I tried to do it three times.”
With Brendan Fraser making his return to filming, should fans expect another Mummy installment? With all the nostalgia releases so popular these days, its perfectly possible