The actor, who played Rick O'Connell in three The Mummy movies between 1999 and 2008, offered an explanation for the big-budget reboot's box office failure, attributing it to a lack of enjoyment. He admitted to Variety that "doing that movie is hard." "Fun was a component we had going for our Mummy that I didn't see in that movie. That was the thing that was missing in that form. It was an overly straightforward horror film. The Mummy should be exciting, but not horrifying or frightening." He continued, "I am aware of how challenging it is to execute. Three times, I made an attempt."
Universal started production on a fourth movie after The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor debuted in 2008; however, the project was later shelved in 2012 in favour of a franchise reboot. Tom Cruise played a soldier of fortune in the ensuing movie, The Mummy, which starred Sofia Boutella as the captured Egyptian princess Ahmanet and was released in 2017. The movie, an action-packed reboot of the Universal Monsters series, was created as the first entry in the Dark Universe series. The Dark Universe, however, was abandoned by Universal in favour of producing stand-alone horror movies like 2020's The Invisible Man due to the movie's dismal box office performance.
The Mummy Aided in Starting Actor Dwayne Johnson's Career
The Mummy Returns' undead nemesis Mathayus of Akkad/Scorpion King, who was portrayed by Dwayne Johnson in the 2001 movie, is one of the undead antagonists from Fraser's Mummy trilogy. With the release of his most recent movie, the DC superhero epic Black Adam, in theatres in October, Johnson has grown to become one of Hollywood's biggest stars. The actor recently thanked Fraser on Twitter for his assistance while The Mummy Returns, his acting debut, was being filmed.
With his leading role in Darren Aronofsky's The Whale, in which he plays a 600-pound middle-aged man trying to get back in touch with his estranged daughter, played by Sadie Sink of Stranger Things, Fraser is presently receiving some of the best reviews of his career. The psychological thriller movie garnered a six-minute standing ovation at its global debut at the 79th Venice International Film Festival in September, which stunned Fraser and moved him to tears.
