The megagrossing blockbuster franchise “The Mummy” will officially rise again.
Academy Award winners Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz will reunite to play characters Rick and Evelyn O’Connell in a fourth installment of the adventure series.
The upcoming film, which has yet to receive an official title, is slated for theatrical release on May 19, 2028, according to Deadline.
At the helm of the sequel will be Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, who previously worked together on “Ready or Not” as well as the fifth and sixth “Scream” films.
Fraser and Weisz first starred together in 1999’s “The Mummy” and were reported last fall to be returning to the franchise — fulfilling a dream Fraser has awaited for nearly two decades.
Of returning to the franchise, the actor told The Associated Press in November, “The one I wanted to make is forthcoming. And I’ve been waiting 20 years for this call. Sometimes it was loud, sometimes it was a faint telegraph. Now? It’s time to give the fans what they want.”
“The one I wanted to make was never made,” he said, adding, “I’m proud of the third one because I think it’s a good standalone movie.”
Both Fraser and Weisz reprised their roles for the 2001 sequel, “The Mummy Returns.” Fraser returned again in 2008 for “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor,” but Weisz did not — her role as Evelyn was played by Maria Bello.
Universal Pictures also revived the franchise in 2017 with a rebooted version of “The Mummy” starring Tom Cruise — which did not resonate strongly with audiences.
“It is hard to make that movie,” Fraser told Variety in 2022, explaining why Cruise’s version of the film failed to connect to viewers. “The ingredient that we had going for our ‘Mummy,’ which I didn’t see in the new one, was fun. That was what was lacking in that incarnation. It was too much of a straight-ahead horror movie. ‘The Mummy’ should be a thrill ride, but not terrifying and scary.”
While Fraser emphasized the importance of maintaining a fun tone in the films, “The Mummy” franchise has also proved to be enormously profitable — generating over $1.4 billion at the global box office in earnings across previous installments in the franchise.