Universal Pictures’ The Mummy franchise was a fan favorite when it starred Brendan Fraser as the leading man Rick O’Connell. The first two films in the trilogy were directed by Stephen Sommers, also starred Rachel Weisz and John Hannah, and were box office successes. However, the reboot starring Tom Cruise was a gigantic failure critically and commercially.
While Cruise’s film ended what Universal planned as a series of monster films with a shared universe, a recent fan-made trailer seemed to have followed it up with a new cast. The new trailer is titled The Mummy: Resurrection and sees Keanu Reeves take over the franchise to battle a new evil spirit buried in an Egyptian tomb.
Keanu Reeves Takes Over The Mummy Franchise In A New Fan-Made Trailer
The popular early 2000s adventure franchise The Mummy was a fan favorite. Actors such as Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz brought heart to the franchise that were based on Egyptian myths and history. The franchise consisted of three films and a spinoff film starring Dwayne Johnson called The Scorpion King.
After the release of The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, plans for a four-quel reportedly fell through as Universal Pictures wanted to reboot the franchise. The new film The Mummy, starring Tom Cruise and Russell Crowe was intended to be the beginning of a shared universe called the Dark Universe and was expected to crossover with other films.
However, the failure of Tom Cruise’s The Mummy led to plans being changed for the Dark Universe, and the franchise was canceled (via Variety). While the Dark Universe is currently not in development, a fan-made trailer of the next film in the franchise The Mummy: Resurrection has been making the rounds on social media.
Made by KH Studio, the fan-made trailer shows Keanu Reeves headlining the film and exploring ‘life after death’. “There’s an ancient evil somewhere in this tomb,” he says in a voice over the footage of a team climbing down to an excavated tomb under the pyramids. The trailer includes footage from The Mummy films as well as scenes from Reeves’ John Wick franchise to form a cohesive storyline.
Will Brendan Fraser Return For The Mummy 4?
Though the fan-made trailer for The Mummy: Resurrection shows Keanu Reeves joining the franchise, there have been no confirmations regarding the future of the franchise. However, with Brendan Fraser’s renaissance, there might be some cogs moving in the system to bring back the OG Rick O’Connell to the franchise.
While there have been no new updates regarding a four-quel, Brendan Fraser had expressed interest in the franchise, in case anyone figured out the right conceit. He told Variety,
“I don’t know how it would work. But I’d be open to it if someone came up with the right conceit.”
Brendan Fraser also mentioned that he felt that The Mummy reboot with Tom Cruise did not work with the audience because it was not as fun as the films directed by Stephen Sommers. He mentioned that the reboot took a more traditional horror approach as opposed to a thrilling adventure and hence, did not work for the fans of the franchise.
Tom Cruise’s The Mummy was reportedly made at a budget of $195 million, earning only $410 million at the box office. The film’s underwhelming box office and critical response led to Universal’s Dark Universe being canceled. The universe had already cast stalwarts such as Johnny Depp and Javier Bardem in leading roles in other films (via Variety).
