The Mummy is going to be the first piece in a very large, important puzzle for Universal. The studio is planning on creating an entire cinematic universe that will center on their classic movie monsters, so this action thriller has to work. A featurette has hit the web, showcasing some new footage from The Mummy and giving us a whole lot of Sofia Boutella's twisted take on the iconic monster. We also get a brief teaser trailer, showcasing more never-before-seen footage.
The first video comes courtesy of SyFy Wire and showcases a whole bunch of behind-the-scenes footage from The Mummy. There are also interviews with people who worked on the movie, including director Alex Kurtzman and Tom Cruise, who is playing the lead character, alongside Sofia Boutella as the titular monster. The trailers have done a good job letting us know what The Mummy is going to look and feel like, but it has definitely seemed more action than horror. But a lot of what we see in this featurette has a bit more of a horror feel to it, which makes it seem like the movie will be a nice blend of the two.
The Mummy is going to feature a female mummy, which is going to provide a very different take on the monster than is typically seen. This featurette gives a little more background on that character in the movie; an ancient being named Ahmanet who is in line to become a Pharaoh but, let's just say things don't work out quite as she has planned. There is still a little mystery surrounding Tom Cruise's character in the movie. He somehow manages to survive a brutal plane crash, as evidenced by the trailers. So is he somehow immortal? Is he someone else entirely, like Van Helsing? That is a theory that has been posed online, but we will have to see what ultimately becomes of it when the movie is released this summer.
Universal is hoping to use The Mummy to launch an entire monster movie universe. They currently have other movies in various stages of development, such as The Creature From the Black Lagoon, The Bride of Frankenstein and a Van Helsing movie, among others. Russell Crowe is playing Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde in The Mummy and he is expected to serve as a bit of connective tissue for these popcorn outings, sort of like Samuel L. Jackson does as Nick Fury in the Marvel adventures. If The Mummy can rake it in at the box office, Universal will probably move ahead aggressively on several of these projects. If the movie underperforms, things may cool a bit.
In addition to the featurette, Universal has also released a brief new Twitter teaser, which has just a tiny bit of new footage in it as well. So if you're looking forward to this movie, there is a lot for you to dig into here. The cast for The Mummy includes Tom Cruise, Sofia Boutella, Annabelle Wallis, Jake Johnson, Courtney B. Vance and Russell Crowe. The movie is being directed by Alex Kurtzman with a script co-written by Jon Spaihts and Christopher McQuarrie. The Mummy is set to hit theaters on June 9. Be sure to check out the brand new featurette for yourself below.