Can anyone explain to me why The Mummy, a B-list franchise from the turn of the century, is getting a reboot? In particular, a reboot with Tom Cruise, who is definitely an A-list actor?
When I first heard that The Mummy was getting rebooted with Tom Cruise I assumed it was some fan-made trailer. Obviously I don’t know the entertainment industry logic here, but I think understanding that logic might give us a window into the economic and social history of this industrial sector in our age.
Cinematic Shared Universe! Universal Pictures wants to revive the “Universal Monsters” tentpole, so they can have a giant shared franchise of big-budget blockbusters like the Marvel Cinematic Universe. They’ve already done the “Dracula” film, now they’re doing the “Mummy” film and overtly tying it into future movies (with Russell Crowe as Jekyll/Hyde).
There also seems to be so much money flowing into any sort of video content these days. Everything that can get a reboot or sequel is getting one, especially since some of them have been very successful.
tbf, Mummy movies have been being made for the better part of a century.
“the turn of the century”
A phrase I hate. Many people still use it to refer to 1890-1910 C.E. and some are using it to mean 1990-2010 C.E. Which is it? Note the dates on the list below.
From the Wikipedia disambiguation page:
Theater, movies, television and radio:
Mummies Alive!, a 1997 animated series by DIC Entertainment
The Mummy (1911 film), a 1911 American movie made by the Thanhouser Company
The Mummy (1932 film), a 1932 American movie starring Boris Karloff as Imhotep/Ardath Bey
The Mummy (1959 film), a 1959 British movie starring Christopher Lee as Kharis.
The Night of Counting the Years, a 1969 Egyptian movie by Shadi Abdel Salam known in Arabic as المومياء Al-Mūmīa’ (The Mummy) *
Tale of the Mummy, a 1998 British-American horror film
The Mummy (franchise), overview of the movies:
The Mummy (1999 film), first Universal Pictures remake of their earlier 1932 film, starring Brendan Fraser and Arnold Vosloo as Imhotep. Followed by two sequels.
The Mummy: The Animated Series, WB series that ran 2001–2003
The Mummy (2017 film), second remake of the 1932 film, and “reboot” of the 1999 version, starring Tom Cruise in the lead
The Mummy (1999 radio), a drama produced by Radio Tales for National Public Radio
Mummy (2016 film) An Indian Kannada language film
Overseas markets generate the majority of revenue. Complex original content doesn’t have as much pull.
Something like “The Nice Guys” won’t pull in Mexican or Chinese theatre goers.
I seriously question the conjecture that Tom Cruise remains an “A-list” actor. His more recent Jack Reacher revenge shoot-em-up thriller certainly is not a blockbuster and the production values/budget and box office gross of the sequel is way down from the first one. The Hollywood establishment is also pretty creeped out by his Scientology and he is less prominent nowadays at red carpet events and awards shows. He’s down at the action-hero The Rock, Mila Jovavich and Dolph Lundgren level at this point.
Audiences from outside the US want small variations of american films that they already know, but only with more explosions, and they pay well for them. Tom Cruise is ideal for a mummy film: he is old and expressionless, older than we use to think, and well known in science fiction and fantasy roles for decades. The public will consider it a guarantee, some sort of nostalgic appeal. It will remind them of the good old days before the Internet and shoot ’em up computer games.
BTW I believed that Dwayne Johnson “The Rock” was some sort of rising star now.