THE MUMMY 4 Directors Tease a “Beautiful, Scary and Sweeping” Film as Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz Return
The Mummy 4 is officially moving forward at Universal Pictures, and directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett are promising a sequel that honors the legacy of the franchise while delivering something epic, Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz are returning to play Rick and Evelyn O’Connell.
While out promoting Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett opened up about landing one of Universal’s most beloved adventure franchises. According to the duo, longtime producer William Sherrick is the reason they’re steering this ship.
The filmmakers were in the middle of shooting their vampire thriller Abigail when Sherrick floated the idea of getting them on board the next Mummy movie. Their reaction?
“That’d be f*cking crazy. There’s no way William’s gonna pull it off.”
And yet, here we are. Gillett explained how surreal the process felt as things started to fall into place:
“Cut to, we’re finishing Abigail, and we’re meeting with Dave Coggeshall, the writer, and we’re designing a pitch,” Gillett said. “We have been in this line of work long enough to know that nothing is real until it’s very, very real.
“It’s all speculative, and it feels great to give energy to really wonderful ideas, but we have learned to keep those opportunities a little bit at arm’s length because it’s just easy to have your heart broken.”
That caution paid off, because screenwriter Dave Coggeshall apparently delivered something worth getting excited about. Bettinelli-Olpin shared that the script has “all of the heart and the character that you could hope for,” and Gillett made it clear that the returning stars wouldn’t sign on unless it delivered.
“I don’t think Brendan and Rachel are getting involved unless they love that script, and what they read, I think they really liked. And it’s a good script. It’s gonna be fun to make.”
That’s a reassuring sign for fans who have been waiting nearly two decades to see Rick and Evelyn reunited on the big screen.
Fraser and Weisz first teamed up in The Mummy in 1999, followed by The Mummy Returns in 2001. Weisz did not return for 2008’s The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, where Maria Bello stepped into the role of Evelyn. So what does Weisz’s return mean for the continuity of that third film?
“Well, Rachel is in this one,” Bettinelli-Olpin said, with Gillett adding: “That should answer the question for you.”
Fraser has been open about wanting another shot at the franchise for years. He previously reflected on the long road back to this moment:
“The third one was a model of … how can I say this to the AP reporter? NBC had the rights to broadcast the Olympics that year,” Fraser said at the time. “So they put two together and we went to China. Working in Shanghai, an incredible experience.
“I’m proud of the third one because I think it’s a good standalone movie. We picked up and did what we do with a different crew on deck and gave it our best shot. But 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.”
After twenty years of waiting, it sounds like Fraser is finally getting the sequel he’s always hoped to make.
Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett, who previously revitalized the horror genre with Scream in 2022 and Scream 6 in 2023, described The Mummy 4 as “really, really beautiful and scary and sweeping, and it’s awesome.”
That combination of large scale adventure and genuine horror feels right in line with what made the original films such a blast.
Universal Pictures has slated The Mummy 4 for a wide theatrical release on May 19, 2028. That may feel far off, but if this creative team delivers on their promise, the wait could be worth it.