The upcoming supernatural horror, helmed by the Evil Dead Rise director, is a reimagining of Universal’s classic The Mummy franchise, one of the longest-running and most popular horror franchises in cinema. Set for an April 17 release by New Line Cinema, the movie will be written and directed by Cronin, with horror juggernauts James Wan and Jason Blum on board as producers.
Oscar winner Fraser shot to global fame in the leading role of treasure hunter Rick O’Connell in Stephen Sommers’ The Mummy in 1999. It was the first Mummy movie since the last Hammer series installment, 1971’s Blood From the Mummy’s Tomb. The Mummy was a box office hit, relaunching The Mummy franchise, and Fraser reprised his role in two subsequent sequels, which were also financial successes.
Now, surrounding speculation Fraser could appear in Lee Cronin’s The Mummy, Blumhouse has put out a short tweet via its official X account, definitively ruling out an appearance from the Scrubs actor. The post read: “BRENDAN FRASER IS NOT IN LEE CRONIN’S THE MUMMY” after much speculation on the actor’s involvement in the revival.
The tweet seems fairly definitive, but this could be a smokescreen to disguise a potential Fraser cameo. However, given the tone of Lee Cronin’s The Mummy, a flat-out supernatural horror, versus the more playful Fraser franchise, which straddles action, adventure, and comedy, it feels unlikely Rick O’Connell will make an appearance.
It is likely Blumhouse will seek to separate its movie from the successful 90s/00s franchise, and keep things focused on horror. While there is every chance Cronin’s movie could be a success, and might spawn a franchise, provided it is kept separate from the more family-friendly popcorn-fare of the previous iterations, there is no reason both franchises can’t exist.
As for the fate of Rick O’Connell, whilst there may be no room for him in Lee Cronin’s The Mummy, there is reason for optimism, as The Mummy 4 with Fraser returning looks like it could be a very real possibility. The movie is reportedly in pre-production, with Scream 5‘s writer-director team Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett at the helm, and both Fraser and co-star Rachel Weisz have reportedly signed on.