Next year, The Mummy 4 marks the return of Universal‘s beloved action-adventure franchise. After a long hiatus, The Mummy 4 must reestablish the franchise’s core themes to avoid the failures of the Dark Universe‘s Mummy starring Tom Cruise.
The Mummy 4, officially titled The Mummy: Book of the Dead, welcomes back Brendan Fraser as Rick O’Connell and Rachel Weisz as Evelyn Carnahan-O’Connell. The film will ignore the events of the third film, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, and serve as a sequel to the first two entries.
Speaking of ignoring, The Mummy 4 will certainly disregard 2017’s The Mummy, Universal’s failed reboot starring Cruise. That shouldn’t be a problem for The Mummy 4, as long as it remembers what made those first two films successful.
The Mummy 4 must restore the original themes and tones of the original franchiseCruise’s Mummy movie made two fatal mistakes. The first is that it differed in tone from Fraser’s movies. 2017’s The Mummy heavily leaned into action and horror as a Universal Monster movie within the Dark Universe. Fraser’s movies were funny and exciting. Cruise’s Mummy was darker and grittier, a decision fans and critics rejected.
The second mistake of 2017’s The Mummy is its focus on the Dark Universe. Instead of creating a standalone adventure, Cruise’s Mummy focused on setting up future Dark Universe installments. For example, the movie introduced Russell Crowe as Dr. Henry Jekyll/Edward Hyde. As we now know, the Dark Universe died after The Mummy’s failure.
If The Mummy 4 avoids those two mistakes of the Dark Universe, it will increase its chances of success. As for tangible things to do, The Mummy 4 needs to channel the spirit of the first two movies. It’s a swashbuckling adventure packed with action, comedy, and romance. The film should reestablish why Rick, Evelyn, and the other characters became such beloved figures.
Can there be scary moments? Of course, but The Mummy 4 should not be a horror movie. It’s a fun adventure movie with likable characters, exotic set pieces, and riveting action sequences. The Mummy movies should also embrace their campy nature again. The movie must not worry about a potential The Mummy 5. Focus on making The Mummy 4 great before planning for a sequel.
Universal may have another hit on its hands if The Mummy 4 replicates the tone of the first two movies.
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