After making audiences collectively cross their legs at the sight of a cheese grater in 2023’s Evil Dead Rise, director Lee Cronin is trading blood-soaked urban high-rises for cursed desert sand. Having turned demonic family trauma into a whopping $147 million box-office profit, Universal has officially handed Cronin the keys to the tomb. His brutal new vision, The Mummy, is currently gearing up to invade living rooms on July 3 with its streaming debut on HBO.
This Isn’t Your Dad’s 1990s Adventure.
If you’re expecting a charming, wisecracking Brendan Fraser to save the day with a smirk and a shotgun, you are looking in the wrong sarcophagus. Announced in late 2024 as a complete, unapologetic reimagining of the classic monster, Cronin’s take trades high stakes and humor for claustrophobic, haunting terror.
According to Cronin, this version is:
“Unlike any Mummy movie you’ve ever laid eyeballs on.”
Given his track record, that usually means those eyeballs are lucky to stay inside their sockets. This film strips away the action-adventure glossy paint and drags the character back to its true roots: a terrifying, unstoppable, ancient force of nature.
The Cast of Casualties
The story centers on a family that really should have just settled for a trip to Disney World. Instead, they find themselves in the middle of a historic nightmare. The cast of this keep-you-up-all-night movie includes Jack Reynor and Laia Costa. Natalie Grace plays Katie, their missing daughter and the catalyst for the chaos. Shylo Molina and Billie Roy join them.
To ensure the atmosphere remains suitably suffocating, Cronin has reunited the behind-the-scenes Evil Dead Rise dream team. If you enjoyed the visceral, relentless tension of his last film, you’re in safe (albeit bloody) hands.
A Legacy in Bandages
The Mummy has been a Universal Pictures staple since Boris Karloff first donned the linen back in 1932. The franchise historically devolved into goofy Abbott and Costello crossovers by the mid-1950s. Then we fell in love with Frazier. However, know this: Cronin is digging past the camp to unearth something genuinely nightmarish.
Expect zero slapstick, unreasonable amounts of dirt, and absolutely no escape.
The Director’s Warning: “I’m digging deep into the earth to raise something very ancient and very frightening,” says Cronin.
The Translation?
The bandages are coming off, and whatever is underneath is a whole lot worse than a dusty old royal. Lock your doors, grab your remote, and get ready to unwrap the terror of The Mummy this July!
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