Tom Cruise in Talks for the Mummy Reboot
Someone looking for their mummy is Tom Cruise whose star wattage is harnessed to bring life back to Universal’s plans for a shared cinematic monsterverse!
The Mummy reboot, which could see Cruise take the lead, has been under wraps (get it), writer Jon Spaihts has been at work on a script that finds the Mummy’s curse once again stalking the streets, this time in the present day. And while there’s no word on what role Cruise is eyeing, according to Variety, he’s interested in helping to shape the film, but probably won’t produce the way he does the Mission: Impossible movies.
That would mean working with Alex Kurtzman and Fast & Furious regular writer Chris Morgan, who are overseeing this knitting together of the various body parts of Universal creature feature staples such as The Mummy, Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster and the Wolfman into a series of movies that blend characters in much the same way some company called Marvel have been doing.
Cruise could conceivably be a lynchpin for the series with another potential star, Angelina Jolie already in place thanks to behind the scenes wrangling which culminated in her agreeing to play the Bride of Frankenstein in exchange for Universal funding By the Sea, which sunk at the box office.
It’s a gamble for Universal, so you can see why they’d want some big name stars to attach potential audiences – already arguably growing weary with cross-movie franchises – to the monsterverse.
The new Mummy is eyeing a March 2017 release.