Tom Cruise’s The Mummy (2017) was going to be the first project in the now-canceled Dark Universe. The monster universe was going to bring on classic characters like Frankenstein’s monster, Wolfman, Dracula, Bride of Frankenstein, and more. But ultimately nothing came of it. After all, made on a budget of anywhere from $125 million to $195 million, the film grossed only $410 million.
While it might seem that the movie did well for itself, it was speculated that the film actually lost about $95 million due to its high marketing cost. As such, one has to wonder if even adding a little post-credits scene at the end of the film would have helped create more hype around the planned universe. But the director refused to do that because of a weird hang-up.
Why Did The Director Of Tom Cruise’s The Mummy Refuse To Add A Post-Credits Scene?
Post-credit scenes to set up other future projects seem to be the new norm nowadays. The MCU is known for popularizing its usage and the idea of a Marvel film without a post-credits scene seems unimaginable. So Marvel and post-credits scenes have become interlinked in the minds of the general audience.
Director of 2017’s The Mummy, Alex Kurtzman too cited the same reason for not adding in a post-credits scene that would probably have piqued people’s interest in the Dark Universe. In an interview with IGN, he said:
“No, no, that’s Marvel’s domain. So render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s. Maybe it’ll feel more appropriate down the line, as the universe builds itself. I don’t think [anyone] wanted to be accused of ripping off what they did so well.”
Nowadays, franchises like DC also use post-credits scenes to build interest for their next projects and no one calls them a cheat for doing so just because Marvel popularized it. However, tagging in an extra scene at the end of Tom Cruise’s film probably wouldn’t have helped it much since as per the director there were more problems with the Dark Universe.
Director Of The Mummy Explains Why The Dark Universe Was Doomed From The Start
In a recent interview with Slash Films, Alex Kurtzman explained why The Mummy and the Dark Universe was bound to fail. He revealed that no one could decide on the tone or world-building of the franchise. So it was like having too many cooks who didn’t agree on the recipe. He said:
“I think sometimes where movies go wrong is where they’re trying to do too much. The Dark Universe thing could’ve worked there. There’s compelling … who wouldn’t want to see Angelina Jolie play Bride of Frankenstein or Javier Bardem play Frankenstein’s Monster? That would be really cool. I think, when you try to also do all these other things and you haven’t established what the tone is, what the world is, I think that’s where things go wrong.”
The Dark Universe had a lot of potential and there’s still a lot of interest in those monsters. Having a connected franchise full of classic characters like Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, and more would be a dream come true for many fans. However, instead of jumping on the cinematic universe bandwagon, it’s important to first make a good film that people and critics will love. It remains to be seen if the Dark Universe will get rebooted again in the future or not.
The Mummy is available on Amazon Prime Video.
