The Mummy ($174,046,120)

Tom Cruise is in talks to star in Universal’s “The Mummy” reboot, helping to launch Universal’s new era of monster films, sources tell Variety.

The studio tapped Alex Kurtzman and Chris Morgan last summer to help develop a universe for Universal where its classic monster movie library is front and center. Kurtzman is also on board to direct and will produce alongside Morgan. Universal is not commenting on casting speculation regarding the project.

Jon Spaihts is penning the script. Plot details are vague other than it will be set in present day, unlike the previous three installments starring Brendan Fraser.

Cruise isn’t expected to produce, but he will play a major part in development. Characters from the monster universe films are expected to crop up in each other’s installments before culminating in an “Avengers”-style tie-in film.

Cruise is currently filming “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back.” Cruise was eyeing a reunion with Doug Liman on the space adventure “Luna Park,” but with Liman directing “Gambit” in the spring, Cruise’s schedule had an opening before he jumped into prep for “Mission: Impossible 6,” which shoots next August.

ForeverBlu wrote:A female mummy, hmmmm.

‘Mummy’ Reboot Casts Annabelle Wallis

Annabelle Wallis is in talks for the female lead in Universal’s “The Mummy,” starring Tom Cruise, sources tell Variety.

Wallis will play an archaeologist in the film. Sofia Boutella, meanwhile, is on board to play the iconic monster.
The film is set to bow on June 9, 2017.

The studio tapped Alex Kurtzman and Chris Morgan last summer to help develop a monster universe for Universal with rebooted versions of classic monster movies. Kurtzman is also on board to direct, and will produce alongside Morgan and Sean Daniel.

Jon Spaihts is penning the script. Plot details are vague other than the fact that the pic will be set in the present day, unlike the previous three installments starring Brendan Fraser.

Universal’s executive VP of production, Jon Mone, and VP of development, Jay Polidoro, will oversee the project for the studio.

Wallis is best known for her work in Steven Knight’s “Peaky Blinders.” She also starred in the 2014 horror pic “Annabelle” and the comedy “Brothers Grimsby.” Wallis will play Maid Maggie in Guy Ritchie’s upcoming King Arthur movie — set for release in 2017. She also recently wrapped Zack Whedon’s thriller “Come and Find Me” opposite Aaron Paul.

New Girl star Jake Johnson has joined The Mummy, the Universal Studios tentpole that is serving as the gateway into the studio’s cinematic monster universe.

The comedic actor, who was a scene-stealer in his first tentpole, Universal’s Jurassic World, is joining a roll call that includes Tom Cruise and Sofia Boutella, while Annabelle Wallis is in talks to also board the project.

The storyline is set in the modern day, with Cruise set to play a special forces soldier (or former soldier), sources tell The Hollywood Reporter. Wallis, one of the stars of British gangster show Peaky Blinders, is to be a scientist while Boutella, who had a breakout role in Kingsman: The Secret Service, is in talks to play the titular role.

In a role written specifically for him, Johnson will play a member of the military.

Universal may have found the next A-lister to join its monster movie universe.

Russell Crowe is in early talks to play a Dr. Jekyll-type role, with the character first making an appearance in “The Mummy” starring Tom Cruise, sources tell Variety.

While other actors — like Johnny Depp in “The Invisible Man” — will first appear in standalone projects, insiders say some of the classic characters will make cameos in “The Mummy” as a means of launching spinoff franchises.

The studio tapped Alex Kurtzman and Chris Morgan last summer to help develop a monster universe for Universal with rebooted versions of the studio’s classic monster movies. Kurtzman is also on board to direct, and will produce alongside Morgan and Sean Daniel.

Universal’s hope is that Crowe’s small role in “The Mummy” would lead to a possible stand-alone pic for the character, giving Crowe and the studio a new franchise for its monster universe.

“Tom Cruise headlines a spectacular, all-new cinematic version of the legend that has fascinated cultures all over the world since the dawn of civilization: The Mummy.

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.”

Cruise is joined by a cast including Annabelle Wallis (Annabell, King Arthur, Peaky Blinders), Jake Johnson (Jurassic World) and Courtney B. Vance (TV’s American Crime Story: The People V. O.J. Simpson).

The creative team on this action-adventure event is led by director/producer Alex Kurtzman and producer Chris Morgan, who have been instrumental in growing some of the most successful franchises of the past several years—with Kurtzman writing or producing entries in the Transformers, Star Trek and Mission: Impossible series, and Morgan being the narrative engineer of the Fast & Furious saga as it has experienced explosive growth from its third chapter on.  Sean Daniel, who produced the most recent Mummy trilogy, produces alongside Kurtzman and Morgan.

Unlike Brendan Fraser’s trilogy, Universal’s “The Mummy” reboot is better categorized as a horror pic than an action-adventure, according to Russell Crowe.

Crowe confirmed that he’s joined Tom Cruise in the upcoming remake.

“I’m gonna do it,” Crowe said about the film at a press junket at the Beverly Hilton promoting his action comedy “The Nice Guys,” according to Collider.

Crowe portrays Dr. Henry Jekyll, a Royal Society fellow, opposite Cruise, who plays a Navy Seal hunting terrorists. “New Girl” star Jake Johnson and “The People v. O.J. Simpson’s” Courtney B. Vance also recently boarded the movie.

When asked how the remake differs from Fraser’s films, Crowe said, “This one is kind of more designed to seriously scare the s— out of you.”

The Aussie actor added that he’s already been bouncing off ideas for the film with director Alex Kurtzman (“there were a few things I put up in the air and he picked up on them”).

“It’s very interesting, what they’re gonna do with that stuff. I’ve had a couple of chats about it with the director,” Crowe said before joking about his relationship with Cruise. “I’ve known Tom Cruise since 1992, or something like that. When he was married to an Australian, I was really good friends with him. But when he got divorced, I was part of the settlement package, and I went to Nicole [Kidman].”

The studio tapped Alex Kurtzman and Chris Morgan last summer to develop a monster universe with rebooted versions of its classic monster movies.

Universal hopes Crowe’s role in “The Mummy” will lead to a possible standalone film, potentially launching a new franchise.

WyldeMan wrote:Lots of Annabelle.

UltimateMarvel wrote:

WyldeMan wrote:Lots of Annabelle.

Annabelle kicks ass, she's keeping up with Tom Cruise running. The action in this trailer looks awesome, didn't feel that scary to me though despite what it says in the article above.

UltimateMarvel wrote:Tom Cruise hasn't made a bad movie in a while so I think this one will be good too.

Rusty Cunt wrote:Nah it's just me. I'm done with blockbusters. I don't understand how this shit is even watchable for most folks anymore. How does computer graphics destroying computer graphics attract people in the slightest.

Rusty Cunt wrote:I'll take a Collateral, Lions for Lambs, or even another should-have-been-a-Netflix-series Jack Reacher any day over this shit.

Rusty Cunt wrote:Nah it's just me. I'm done with blockbusters. I don't understand how this shit is even watchable for most folks anymore. How does computer graphics destroying computer graphics attract people in the slightest.

It's mind-numbingly disengaging.

I'm pretty sure it'll be proficient in it's execution and box office draw. Tom Cruise doesn't make bad movies, but he also doesn't make many exceptional movies - especially those that require a lot of special effects.

I'll take a Collateral, Lions for Lambs, or even another should-have-been-a-Netflix-series Jack Reacher any day over this shit.

His upcoming American Made sounds interesting. The Mummy does not.

ForeverBlu wrote:Collateral is Tom Cruise's best work to date.

JMO.

As for all the FRANTIC running, I keep telling you guys Tom is a frustrated Stuntman.

LOL!

ForeverBlu wrote:Maybe  he's running from Xenu?

WyldeMan wrote:

ForeverBlu wrote:Maybe  he's running from Xenu?

Don't you mean runs to Xenu? I imagine Tom on Oprah's couch every time he thinks about Xenu.

ForeverBlu wrote:

WyldeMan wrote:

ForeverBlu wrote:Maybe  he's running from Xenu?

Don't you mean runs to Xenu? I imagine Tom on Oprah's couch every time he thinks about Xenu.

On May 22, Universal Pictures unveiled its "Dark Universe," an umbrella under which its monster movies will be released. At least five films are on the way, including The Invisible Man (with Johnny Depp), Dr. Jekyll (Russell Crowe), Frankenstein's Monster (Javier Bardem) and Bride of Frankenstein (not yet cast). But the future of the universe hinges on the performance of June 9's The Mummy, a Tom Cruise-led reboot of a trilogy of films started in 1999. Early tracking suggests the Alex Kurtzman-directed film may debut in the low $40 million range in North America — a modest opening salvo for what is hoped to be a series that could someday rival DC and Marvel.

Behind the scenes, Universal execs are said to be especially concerned about Mummy, even though insiders say a $40 million bow (plus a strong overseas haul) would be enough to move forward with the universe as planned. Comcast, Universal's parent company, is giving the film its so-called Symphony marketing push in the U.S. in which multiplatform divisions work together to promote a single project. And the film is expected to do the majority of its business abroad, where Cruise continues to be a major draw. The Mummy will open day-and-date in more than 60 markets, including China.

"Every new universe has to start somewhere," says box-office analyst Paul Dergarabedian. "If you look at [Universal's] Fate of the Furious, 80 percent of its box office came from international. Tom Cruise is an international superstar, and he remains so."

Still, the film represents a considerable gamble for Universal given that recent reboot attempts of aging intellectual property haven't fared well (see Alien: Covenant, Smurfs: The Lost Village and King Arthur: Legend of the Sword). In addition, Kurtzman, one of Hollywood's top writers, has only one feature credit as a director — the 2012 drama People Like Us, which earned just $12.4 million worldwide. But these days it's not unusual to enlist a director with no tentpole experience for a big-budget movie (think Jurassic World's Colin Trevorrow, Pirates 5's Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg, and Wonder Woman's Patty Jenkins).

Sources say The Mummy cost about $125 million after a considerable U.K. rebate, and Cruise is said to have earned $13 million upfront with sizable backend participation. Cruise's character will recur in the universe. The studio wants Angelina Jolie for its Bill Condon-helmed Bride of Frankenstein, the next film in the franchise, and she won't come cheap (for a similar effort, Disney's live-action Maleficent, the actress received $20 million plus profit participation). But negotiations with Jolie have yet to begin, even though Bride is the only Dark Universe follow-up that has been dated — for Feb. 14, 2019. There are rumors that Dwayne Johnson could resurface in the "monsterverse" for a Wolfman reboot (he starred in 2002's Mummy spinoff The Scorpion King).

What makes Dark Universe intriguing is that — unlike with DC and Marvel — the budgets of the films will range dramatically and could even include low-budget forays. For instance, sources say Universal-based microbudget horror producer Jason Blum has expressed interest in tackling a low-budget monsterverse outing. Also, insiders are quick to point out that Universal doesn't have to buy the IP (as Disney did with Marvel and Lucasfilm) because the studio has the titles in its library, dating to Carl Laemmle Jr.'s reign at Universal when he oversaw a 1931 Dracula and Frankenstein, a 1932 The Mummy, a 1933 The Invisible Man and a 1935 Bride of Frankenstein. Still, despite their long association with the studio, most of the monsters exist in the public domain, so there's little to stop other studios from pursuing films based on the characters.

Regardless of size, the films will offer a connecting thread, hatched by Kurtzman and Fast & Furious franchise writer Chris Morgan, via a mysterious multi-national organization known as Prodigium. Led by Jekyll, Prodigium's mission is "to track, study and — when necessary — destroy evil embodied in the form of monsters in our world."

But the name Dark Universe could prove problematic for Universal. Warner Bros. already has plans for the title with a supernatural-themed Justice League movie and a series of announced comic books branded under the Dark Universe banner. Warners is mulling legal action, according to a studio source.

Either way, Universal has upped the ante significantly from its most recent monsterverse outings, including the previous Mummy trilogy starring Brendan Fraser and Scorpion King (those four films earned $1.415 billion worldwide). A 2004 Van Helsing toplined by Hugh Jackman took in $300 million globally. But 2010's The Wolfman with Benicio Del Toro and the 2014 Dracula Untold starring Luke Evans seemed to dampen hopes for a revival when their total hauls were just $140 million and $217 million, respectively.

This time around, the awareness is greater, though rival studios question why Universal opted for a Mummy poster without Cruise. Still, the film's first trailer has been viewed more than 179 million times, beginning with its broadcast debut in December on NBC Sunday Night Football; a second trailer had more than 134 million views.

"The first great movie character universe was a vision of Carl Laemmle Jr.'s," says Sean Daniel, who produced this Mummy and the last three. "So creating this Dark Universe brand and bringing back these characters makes sense. Done right, people will always love monster movies."

UltimateMarvel wrote:LOL! Rock is in everything these days. Only a rumor though so could be false.