Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz are reportedly in talks to reunite for a new instalment of The Mummy.
The film is in development at Universal Pictures with Matt Bettinelli‑Olpin and Tyler Gillett directing and David Coggeshall writing the screenplay, according to The Wrap.
Bettinelli‑Olpin and Gillett are known for Ready or Not and the recent Scream films.
Franchise veterans Sean Daniel, William Sherak, James Vanderbilt, and Paul Neinstein are attached as producers.
Released in 1999, The Mummy was a remake of Universal’s 1930s horror property as an action-adventure series centred on Rick O’Connell, an American explorer played by Fraser, and Evelyn Carnahan, a British Egyptologist played by Weisz.
Set largely in 1920s Egypt, the films follow the pair as they battle resurrected ancient forces.
The film also stars John Hannah as Evelyn’s brother Jonathan, Arnold Vosloo as the resurrected high-priest Imhotep, and Oded Fehr as Ardeth Bay of the Medjai.
The Mummy went on to sell seven million VHS copies and one million DVDs, becoming that year’s best-selling live-action VHS title and generating more than $1bn (£767m) in home-video revenue for Universal, according to World of Reel.
Weisz and Fraser returned for the 2001 sequel The Mummy Returns, which also marked Dwayne Johnson’s film debut as the Scorpion King, a role that was later spun off into a 2002 prequel feature led by him.
The spinoff, The Scorpion King, went on to gross over $180m (£138m) worldwide and helped propel Johnson’s Hollywood career.
In a 2008 follow-up, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, the role of Evelyn was recast with Maria Bello and the lead couple’s grown son Alex O’Connell was played by Luke Ford, taking over from Freddie Boath, who had portrayed the younger version in the 2001 sequel.
The Independent has reached out to representatives for Fraser, Weisz, and Universal for comment.
One source familiar with the matter told The Hollywood Reporter that the new project wasn’t a reboot but a sequel that would disregard the events of the 2008 film, effectively picking up after The Mummy Returns.
If confirmed, it would mark Fraser’s first appearance in the franchise in 17 years and Weisz’s first in 24.
The three films in the original series grossed more than $1.25bn (£959m) worldwide. Their popularity extended beyond cinemas, with the franchise inspiring Universal theme-park attractions in Hollywood, Orlando, and Singapore, cementing its cultural legacy in the late 1990s and 2000s.
Universal last attempted to revive the property in 2017 with a new version of The Mummy starring Tom Cruise, intended to launch a shared “Dark Universe” of interconnected monster films.
Although it made more than $409m (£314m) globally, the film was critically panned and the wider franchise plan was abandoned.
The news comes as Fraser is in the midst of a career comeback after winning an Oscar in 2023 for The Whale.
After an omnipresent run in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Fraser spent years dealing with personal issues, including a divorce, his mother’s death, ailments, and an alleged assault by the then president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. That alleged incident led Fraser to boycott the 2023 Golden Globes despite having been nominated in the Best Actor category.
Fraser broke out in the early 1990s with the comedy Encino Man and the drama School Ties, before going on to become a household name for George of the Jungle and The Mummy trilogy.
Weisz has seen a steadier career trajectory since her breakthrough in the late 1990s, winning an Oscar in 2006 for The Constant Gardener and earning a second nomination for The Favourite in 2019.
In recent years, she has also expanded into prestige television, most notably starring in and executive-producing the critically acclaimed Amazon series Dead Ringers.
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