ROTTEN TOMATOES: "Mummy 3" Plot and Casting News

"Mummy 3" Plot and Casting News

by Scott Weinberg | February 20, 2007

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While we waited and wondered if Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz would be returning to star in Rob Cohen's "The Mummy 3" -- someone out there was writing a screenplay about their kid! Yep, that goofy little tot from "The Mummy Returns" has grown up, and it looks like he just landed his very own sequel.

According to IGN Movies, the third "Mummy" movie will focus on the son of the Fraser and Weisz characters -- which means Universal doesn't have to pay the big names and can throw more money into the CGI budget. "Smallville" creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar penned the latest script, and a few of the audition pages leaked out, which is how we know some sketchy plot details.

In related news, director Rob Cohen recently announced that both Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh would be appearing in his "Mummy" entry. The new hero hasn't been chosen yet, but apparently the kid's supposed to be in his early twenties.

I got a bad feeling about this....

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Celeb:	Brendan Fraser
	Jet Li
	Michelle Yeoh
	Rachel Weisz
	Rob Cohen
	Alfred Gough
	Miles Millar
Movie:	The Mummy Returns
	Smallville - Season 1

(1-20 of 39 posts) | Reply

Defmonkey writes:
on Feb 20 2007 05:29 AM

[b]So Wait...[/b]
They are gonna drop Fraser and Weisz. And just keep the kid to focus on his story?

I'm sorry if this sounds bad, but those 2 movies were sold on those 2. Sure have the movie focus on the kid, but have the 2 male and female leads in it. Thats what puts asses in the seats in theaters.

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kenny356 writes:
on Feb 20 2007 06:22 AM

um, I would rather they kill the kid off in the first five minutes, since he was my least favorite part of the mummy 2.

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arpeggio191 writes:
on Feb 20 2007 06:53 AM

In reply to this comment (#856179)
good call.

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ninjaandy writes:
on Feb 20 2007 07:17 AM

So . . . he's dropping the "big names" but adding Yeoh and Li?

Weisz as a big name I can understand, but Fraser? I mean he's OK and all, but dropping him and Weisz to save money and then hiring two other name actors isn't really a smart bet.

My guess is that Weisz and Fraser simply aren't interested.

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robby85 writes:
on Feb 20 2007 07:27 AM

[b]The Mummy 3[/b]
You're not alone scott. I've got a bad feeling about that movie too. LOL. I'm not a huge fan of the franchise, The Mummy was ok and The Mummy Returns was terrible. From the look of things, it seems like this one will be headed straight to DVD(or just become a big budgeted box office flop), personally, either is fine with me.

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kenny356 writes:
on Feb 20 2007 07:46 AM

there is no way this would head straight to dvd since the first too and the scorpion king did well at the box office. But if Fraser and Weisz are put into limited roles, I don't see this making the impact at the box office the others did.

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Shatter24 writes:
on Feb 20 2007 08:45 AM

[b]Similar to the old Mummy movies[/b]
The old Universal Mummy pics rarely kept any of the same characters from movie to movie (five in total). Of course, that made some of those entries just plain awful, but it didn't stop the studio from making them.

I think it would be an error not to have the original cast in the movie. Also, jumping from a little boy to an adult is it bit jarring for continuity sake. What decade does that put us in, the late '50s? I don't think the films would work as well in the recent past.

Instead, the movie should have a teenage boy, with his Mom and Dad. Show the growing pains, he can go off on his own by the end of the film, then do this one. Does anyone have respect for the material over at Universal?

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bigbrother writes:
on Feb 20 2007 10:08 AM

The kids 21 now? Why don't we just make it official and title the movie The Crappy Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, This time with 90% more mummies. Without Fraser, Weisz and the Uncle this movie is doomed to be Alex Rider: Tombraider.

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lrm8 writes:
on Feb 20 2007 11:45 AM

i agree with bigbrother, sounds like a cheap money grabbing indiana jones lookalike... plus, rob cohen, the genius behind Stealth and XXX 2 (i kind of liked XXX in its trashy eastern european, ridiculous way), sucks ass

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kickasskick writes:
on Feb 20 2007 11:47 AM

I don't like Li doing this, his recent movies were great (Unleashed IMDB rating 7.2; Hero rating 8.1; Fearless 7.7), even his movies were foreign subtitled movies and opened in one thousands something locations, they still managed to have over 10m gross, not great but definitely decent. morever his movies demands much more from him than some hollywood stars in some cgi movies. I don't see him any less than Fraser, I don't recall Fraser's indie movies which the one and only one appeal was the actor opened more than 10m. I am not putting down Fraser, but the last mummy movie was horrible not because of him but the CGI, maybe Fraser is demanding 20m. for now stops putting down Li it is not like he is demanding to do the movie. He deserves more respect but hollywood is racist, what can we say?

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unbreakable_samurai writes:
on Feb 20 2007 12:01 PM

A different director plus no Fraser and Weisz this is starting to sound like crap and I really liked the first two.

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kickasskick writes:
on Feb 20 2007 12:34 PM

the concept of Teracotta army comes alive is a great visual spectacular but I dont want Li to do it because there will be too much CGI.

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Chooeubhaechaeus writes:
on Feb 20 2007 12:45 PM

Not good. It's gonna suck without Weitz and Frasier.

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bigbrother writes:
on Feb 20 2007 02:02 PM

In reply to this comment (#856188)
Hollywood is racist? I think your argument has come about a decade too late. Have you seen the Oscars recently. Ask Denzel, Halle, Jamie, Cuba, Morgan, Terrence and all their little gold friends how racist Hollywood is. What a ridiculous statement. Claims like that are why real racism gets ignored sometimes and if your point was Asian people two words...Ang Lee. The reason Jet Li isn't in a ton of movies is because he has extremely limited range as an actor and you don't often win awards for martial arts films.

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bigbrother writes:
on Feb 20 2007 02:07 PM

In reply to this comment (#856188)
As far as Brendan Fraser goes, you may have a point however I think Gods and Monsters and Crash did pretty well for themselves and other than those two I can't recall any indie films Fraser has chosen to be in. I don't think it's a bad thing and I'm certainly not going to condemn him for wanting to be in movies millions of people enjoy instead of arthouse movies that only appeal to a select crowd. The guys likeable and does well for himself. More power to him.

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SolidChamp writes:
on Feb 20 2007 07:44 PM

I'm not sure who's the lesser of two evils here, Rob Cohen or Stephen Sommers. I'm going to have to say Stephen Sommers seeings how The Mummy Returns was a piece of crap, and Van Helsing was an even bigger piece of crap. The Mummy was an enjoyable piece of popcorn cinema, but it hasn't aged well. Now they want to make a third film using a hack director, and a storyline that focuses on that annoying freakin' kid from the second film? WTF? Just like the idea of doing a third "Fockers" film...I'd sooner have my balls electrocuted than go see either film.

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zooman writes:
on Feb 20 2007 10:10 PM

The Mummy is Stephen Sommers thing. Its a simple popcorn movie done decently. It is fun, has very likable characters, is funny, and a bit thrilling. Mummy Returns was a good sequel if not as good as the first one. Even with time they are enjoyable. I still think Sommers did a good job creating these characters, writing the stories and directing it. I didn't quite like Van Helsing which like the second mummy, relied too much on effects and didnt even have the comedy of the mummies. The only movie I hated was Scorpion King in which Sommers wasnt involved. So yeah, this doesnt look good. They are taking hte creator, writer and director of the two first decent and successful movies for another one, and add some writers that have mostly written repetitive boring stories for tv. To make things worse, they are not gonna use the characters that held both movies together? pretty sad, but miracles do happen..

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blogdiger writes:
on Feb 20 2007 10:25 PM

Hollywood is racist all Jet Li classics are made in Hong Kong, even Luc Besson says the same and only in European movies can he make movies he likes and expands himself. Jet just wins best actor in HK Film Awards, and movies like Unleashed which he co-produced with Luc gets much praise in acting. And how is martial arts actor any less than non martial arts actor? He fractures almost every bones in the body in 20+ years of film making and don't whine a word. Moreover Jet is a martial arts legend and anyone with certain appreciative ability knows that he raises fighting to an arts form. I would like to see Brendan Fraser continues in the new Mummy, but he is adding nothing to the series, like he was adding nothing to Mummy2 because Stephen Sommers had ruined it like he ruined Van Helsing and even Van Helsing is a better movie. I am not saying Brendan Fraser is bad, but movies like Monkeybone, Looney Tunes, Bedazzled are beyond bad. Also you don't know what kind of paycheck he is demanding from studio and for a series which the main appeal is the roller coaster ride and CG effect, it certainly does not deserve a 20m paycheck for any actor.

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MMacKK writes:
on Feb 21 2007 02:25 AM

[b]Ok... Slow Down.[/b]
IGN reported this 5 days ago... andd mentioned the similar story, but that Rick and Jonathon are still in the script, andd presumably Evey. So, why does this mean that Fraser is out?

I'd say someone check with your sources, because somethings crossed.

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bigbrother writes:
on Feb 21 2007 03:06 AM

In reply to this comment (#856196)
So the whole of Hollywood is racist because they haven't embraced Jet Li? Again I say that's ridiculous. The movies you obviously consider Jet Li "Classics" are films Hong Kong specializes in. Hollywood doesn't make those movies because Hong Kong does them better. Hollywood has still put Jet Li in several movies, but to the American movie fan they don't want to see Jet Li as Batman or Mr. Darcey from Pride and Prejudice. He doesn't have the dramatic range to do those roles and become an award winning or huge star. No argument he does martial arts well, but the ability to throw a punch does not equate to acting talent. If personal injury is all it takes to win awards then the cast of Jackass should win every award every year. The movies you mentioned don't reflect well on Fraser, but every actor...EVERY ACTOR has bad movies. God help us if we judged Sean Connery solely on the Avengers.

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