When it comes to the big mummy movies of the past, "adventure" has been a key part of the equation – especially when it comes to more modern titles. The blockbusters starring Brendan Fraser and Tom Cruise certainly have their freaky moments, but there was clearly more of an emphasis put on action than terror by the productions. That is most definitely not the case with the latest Mummy film, though. While audiences may have a certain idea of what to expect from a work with the titular monster, director Lee Cronin's principal reason for taking on the upcoming horror movie was taking the classic cinematic idea and crafting something that would properly capitalize on its scariness.
Cronin spoke about his vision for The Mummy during an on-set interview with SFX Magazine on CinemaBlend (the new issue now on sale!), and he admitted that he never really thought much about telling a story with linen-wrapped corpses until he was approached about making his follow up to 2023's Evil Dead Rise. He was approached and given an idea to chew on, and that idea has blossomed into his third feature as a director. He explained,
Something that’s wrapped up points to a secret – I think that’s what drew me in – and points to a mystery as well. Somebody came to me and said, ‘What would you think about making a mummy movie?’ Truthfully, I was like, ‘I don’t think a lot about it.’ Then when someone said to me, ‘When was there a really, really terrifying one?’ that started to tickle me a little bit. I’m always interested in telling stories about the dark side of family and then I started to find a lore and route in to it all. Then I found this missing kid story, which seemed like a really interesting pathway.
While most past Mummy movies have centered on adventurers who make a mistake going into the wrong tomb, Lee Cronin's The Mummy has unique set up that begins when a family vacation in Cairo takes a horrible turn. Jack Reynor and Laia Costa play a pair of parents who experience a true nightmare when one of their two children, Katie (Natalie Grace), goes missing. Eight years later, Katie is miraculously found alive in a sarcophagus and returned to her loving family… but as you can probably guess, she's been through a few changes since she's been gone.
Article continues belowYou can get a preview of the unholy reunion via the trailer for Lee Cronin's The Mummy below:
Katie is at the center of madness that unleashes once she is returned to her family, and while audiences will have to wait to see the movie to find out exactly what's going on, Lee Cronin makes it sound like he had a blast taking what audiences already know about cinematic mummies and changing things up to be a new experience. The scale of the production doesn't match the aforementioned Brendan Fraser and Tom Cruise titles, but it has its own scope and own ideas about how to approach something that feels very familiar in the horror genre. Said Cronin,
I wanted to create a new mythology as well. So it offered me a lot of things where I could get really, really creative. But the whole point being, why should the story about a mummy be limited to tourists in Cairo? We’re not making it for a crazy amount of money, but it is a mini epic, and it takes place in different countries, and it’s got a huge visual spectrum, both from putting a child to bed in a room, that basic thing we all do, down to being inside a pyramid, or finding something mysterious and dangerous in the desert.
What mysterious dangers can we expect? Lips are sealed at the moment, but we are now just weeks away from getting all of the answers, as Lee Cronin's The Mummy will be arriving in theaters everywhere on April 17.
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