THE MUMMY Director Stephen Sommers Was "Insulted" We Was Never Contacted for Tom Cruise's Reboot
Stephen Sommers, the director of the horror adventure films The Mummy and The Mummy Returns was “insulted” by Tom Cruise’s reboot, and explained why in a recent interview.
During a recent interview with THR, the filmmaker was if the studio reached out to him before they moved forward with the reboot, and he said, “No.”
He went on to explain why he was insulted by that, saying: "Actually, I was kind of insulted because the writers and director [Alex Kurtzman] of that Tom Cruise one, no one ever contacted me. I contact people if I was going to take over somebody’s thing. The third one, which Rob [Cohen] directed, it’s kind of my baby."
He went on to say: "I didn’t want to step on his toes, so I helped produce it. But I had nothing to do with the Tom Cruise one. They never contacted me or called me. I was doing other things, and it’s not like I sat crying. I just think it’s common courtesy."
I mean, The Mummy isn’t really Sommers’s thing. Sure, he directed those two Mummy movies but Universal Picutes is the owner and they can do whatever the hell they want with it.
Also, Crusie’s The Mummy was a complete reboot and was in no way connected to what Sommers did, so why would he even need to be involved? Universal was clearly looking to do something different and fresh with the franchise, which didn’t work.
Sommers should be counting his blessings not being a part of that film! But, if Universal ever did decide to make another one of those Mummy movies with Brendan Fraser, then yeah, give Simmers a call!
When previously talking about potentially reprising his role as Rick O'Connell, the filmmaker said he hasn't been involved in any talks about a possible revival.
He said: "All the people at Universal are new after I left. I don’t really know them, and they haven’t got a hold of me, so I don’t know what’s in their heads.
He added: “At the same time, it would have to be something really special. Of course, I would work with all of those actors again."
Sommers also reflected on helping make Dwayne Johnson a star by casting him as The Scorpion King, saying: "He was great. I had never heard of the guy, but then they sent me some footage of him, and he was just perfect. I had to shoot so fast with him because he flew into Marrakesh on Wednesday, and he had to be in Detroit for a WWE thing on Saturday."
He continued: "But boy, was he a trooper. As soon as the studio saw the dailies, the president of Universal was calling me up and saying, ‘You got to write a movie for him.’ Somehow over the next week or so, I came up with this idea that became the Scorpion King movie."
There's currently no word on what Universal has planned for the future of The Mummy franchise.