Featured Image Credit: Everett Collection Inc / UPI / Alamy
Topics: Film and TV, Tom Cruise
Katherine Sidnell
Topics: Film and TV, Tom Cruise
With the Brenaissance in full swing and an Oscar nomination to his name, Brendan Fraser is keen to revisit The Mummy franchise - and wants to do so with fellow Oscar nominee Michelle Yeoh.
The pair starred together in the third film in the Mummy franchise, Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, and Fraser has said it would be ‘fun’ to reunite with the Everything, Everywhere All At Once actor for a sequel.
Given that both Fraser and Yeoh have been nominated for multiple awards this year, the hype around a possible fourth Mummy has never been greater.
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As Fraser’s career hits at an all-time high, The Whale actor has even said that he’s never been in a better position for the project.
Asked about making the movie alongside Yeoh, he told the Awardist Podcast: ”Sounds like fun. I’m always looking for a job. If anyone’s got the right conceit.
"I think I’ve never been as famous, and never been as unsalaried at the moment as I am right now. So spread the word.”
However, he has said that the concept has to be ‘right’ for a fourth film to be green-lit.
Yeoh starred as Zi Yuan in Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, an ancient sorceress who helps Fraser's Rick O'Connell fight the evil resurrected Dragon Emperor (Jet Li).
The film was the lowest performing instalment of The Mummy saga at the box office, with plans for The Mummy 4 scrapped in favour of an ill-fated 2017 reboot, featuring Tom Cruise.
It was so bad that Universal Studio’s highly anticipated Dark Universe was left for dead, with multiple creature features buried before they even reached the box office.
Though Fraser’s final film did better with fans, it too struggled due to the absence of actress Rachel Weisz – who had moved on to more serious projects.
Speaking about a possible fourth film, Fraser told Variety: "I don’t know how it would work but I’d be open to it if someone came up with the right concept."
He even discussed Cruise’s ill-fated flick, adding: "It is hard to make that movie.”
However, Fraser did reveal what had been missing from the 2017's The Mummy: “The ingredient that we had going for our Mummy, which I didn’t see in that film, was fun."
He added: "That was what was lacking in that incarnation. It was too much of a straight-ahead horror movie."
Fans of the franchise agreed, even with the 2017 film's many reference to the original trilogy – with Annabelle Wallis even knocking out a guard with the fabled Book of the Dead.
Fraser continued: "The Mummy should be a thrill ride, but not terrifying and scary. I know how difficult it is to pull it off. I tried to do it three times."
Whilst Universal may be hesitant to dust off The Mummy just yet, a possible fourth film has been in the works for some time.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Universal had planned a film in which the O’Connells battle against Aztec mummies.
The studio had been keen to cast Antonio Banderas as the villain, but chose to create their own cinematic universe in a bid to rival Marvel.
Now that the Dark Universe has been buried indefinitely, here’s hoping Fraser and Yeoh can finally recreate movie magic together.