How About That Trailer? - The Mummy

Not counting the moderately successful, but critically panned Dracula Untold, we now have our first trailer for The Mummy. This is the kick-off film to Universal's "We Pay A Whole Bunch of Money To A-List Stars So They'll Be In Our Monster Movies" franchise. First up is Tom Cruise as Nick Morton, some kind of guy who gets involved in the unearthing of a mummy tomb, which turns out pretty bad for all involved.

1999 saw the release of The Mummy with Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz. It held onto a 1920s period aesthetic and allowed for a solid pulp adventure-horror-comedy. I don't know what is in for us with this film, but it is set in modern times and will have plenty of action. Of course, people tend to forget how humorous Tom Cruise action films tend to be, especially when writer Christopher McQuarrie is involved. Well, McQuarrie did have a hand with the script and hopefully he and director Alex Kurtzman have more than just a generic action movie with mummies up their sleeves.

There is certainly a large sense of scale here, as we are shown a variety of locations and various types of action. I'll be intrigued to see more of what Sofia Boutella has to offer as the mummy in question. It would seem that effort is being put to make her into the kind of threat we'd hope to come from whatever kind of immortal being this mummy is supposed to be. There's also the presence of Russell Crowe as Dr. Jeckyll, which could surely provide a fun angle to this story.

Regardless of how it plays out, this is the 15th Mummy movie produced by Universal Studios (not including the many other mummy-related movies from over the decades). I have no reason to be annoyed by the presence of a new take on this concept. Cruise is also generally good about the projects he picks. Let's see if this one works.

The Mummy arrives in theaters June 9, 2017.

Tom Cruise headlines a spectacular, all-new cinematic version of the legend that has fascinated cultures all over the world since the dawn of civilization: The Mummy.  

Thought safely entombed in a tomb deep beneath the unforgiving desert, an ancient princess (Sofia Boutella of Kingsman: The Secret Service and Star Trek Beyond) whose destiny was unjustly taken from her is awakened in our current day, bringing with her malevolence grown over millennia and terrors that defy human comprehension. 

From the sweeping sands of the Middle East through hidden labyrinths under modern-day London, The Mummy brings a surprising intensity and balance of wonder and thrills in an imaginative new take that ushers in a new world of gods and monsters.  

Cruise is joined by a cast including Annabelle Wallis (upcoming King Arthur, television’s Peaky Blinders), Jake Johnson (Jurassic World), Courtney B. Vance (TV’s American Crime Story: The People V. O.J. Simpson) and Oscar® winner Russell Crowe (Gladiator). 

The creative team on this action-adventure event is led by director/producer Alex Kurtzman and producer Chris Morgan, who have been instrumental in growing some of the most successful franchises of the past several years—with Kurtzman writing or producing entries in the Transformers, Star Trek and Mission: Impossible series, and Morgan being the narrative engineer of the Fast & Furious saga as it has experienced explosive growth from its third chapter on. Sean Daniel, who produced the most recent Mummy trilogy, produces alongside Kurtzman and Morgan. www.themummy.com