The Mummy (1999) director Stephen Sommers looks back on his masterpiece starring Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz on its 25th anniversary. One of the most popular and enduring action-adventure films of all time, The Mummy proved to have stood the test of time.
When it received a reboot in 2017 starring Tom Cruise, it seemed like all the magic and wonder vanished after it flopped critically. The movie was planned to be a part of Universal Picture’s Dark Universe, but due to the backlash it earned, the franchise was canceled altogether.
Stephen Sommers Was Upset No One Told Him About The Mummy Reboot
While speaking with The Hollywood Reporter in celebration of The Mummy’s 25th anniversary, director Stephen Sommers recalled with bitterness how Tom Cruise and his team failed to inform him about the reboot.
“I was kind of insulted because the writers and director [Alex Kurtzman] of that Tom Cruise one, no one ever contacted me. I contact people if I was going to take over somebody’s thing. The third one, which Rob [Cohen] directed, it’s kind of my baby. I didn’t want to step on his toes, so I helped produce it.”
Sommers was in no way involved in the 2017 reboot of The Mummy, which also starred Russell Crowe, Annabelle Wallis, and Sofia Boutella. “I had nothing to do with the Tom Cruise one.” He claimed that no one even remembered to contact him before proceeding with the project.
Regardless, he did not mope around and cry when he discovered about the reboot. “I was doing other things, and it’s not like I sat crying.” For Sommers, he thinks it’s just “common courtesy” to make a call first before taking someone else’s work.
Since Brendan Fraser mentioned that he’s up to reprise his role, Sommers said he has no idea what’s going on within Universal Pictures. The people at the studio were no longer familiar to him, though he remarked that “I would work with all of those actors again.”
The Mummy Reboot Director Admitted Feeling Hurt With The Movie’s Failure
Alex Kurtzman, the helmer of the rebooted The Mummy film, admitted that he made a mistake when he took on the project. The movie was not what he envisioned it would turn out, and it was truly a hard lesson learned for him. He confessed via The Hollywood Reporter:
“The Mummy wasn’t what I wanted it to be. I’m no longer involved in that and have no idea what’s going on with it. I look back on it now [and] what felt painful at the time ended up being an incredible blessing for me.”
The Mummy was supposed to launch a new cinematic franchise called Dark Universe, but due to its underperformance, plans for the shared universe were shelved indefinitely.
The reboot may have relied on the fame of the franchise, but it surely lacked all the elements that made the original films special.
The Mummy (1999) is available on Netflix and Amazon Prime.
