It’s happening. For real this time.
Universal Pictures just made it official: Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz are returning as Rick and Evelyn O’Connell for The Mummy 4, hitting theaters May 19, 2028. Nearly three decades after the 1999 original turned Fraser into an action icon and made us all fall in love with adventure-horror hybrids, the franchise is rising from the sand. And this time, they’re doing it right.
The Dream Team is Back
Fraser and Weisz have closed their deals. Both are officially on board to reprise the roles that made The Mummy a cultural phenomenon. For fans who’ve been begging for this reunion since 2001’s The Mummy Returns, this is everything.
Radio Silence duo Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett are directing from a script by David Coggeshall. If those names sound familiar, it’s because Radio Silence has spent the last few years becoming genre royalty. Ready or Not, Scream (2022), Scream VI, and Abigail all came from these guys. They know how to balance horror, humor, and heart, which is exactly what made the original Mummy films work.
Their upcoming sequel Ready or Not 2: Here I Come drops March 20, and they’re already attached to an Art Bell biopic. The Mummy 4 will easily be their biggest budget swing yet, and the fact that Universal is trusting them with this franchise says everything about their track record.
Pretending The Mummy 3 Never Happened
Here’s where things get interesting.
Multiple sources confirm that The Mummy 4 will completely disregard the events of 2008’s The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. They’re not soft-rebooting it. They’re not retconning it. They’re straight-up pretending it doesn’t exist.
And honestly? That’s the right call.
Tomb of the Dragon Emperor had a $175 million budget and barely turned a profit. Weisz didn’t return, Maria Bello replaced her as Evelyn, and the magic of the first two films was nowhere to be found. Director Stephen Sommers bailed. The franchise moved from Egypt to China because NBC had Olympics broadcasting rights that year (yes, really—Fraser confirmed this himself).
Fraser told Variety back in November that this new film is “the one I wanted to make” that “was never made.” Translation: The Mummy 3 wasn’t it.
So Universal is hitting the reset button and going back to what actually worked: Fraser, Weisz, Egyptian curses, adventure-horror vibes, and that perfect blend of thrills, romance, and monsters that made the 1999 film a $416 million worldwide hit.
What the Directors Are Promising
Tyler Gillett told Empire Magazine exactly what fans want to hear about their approach:
“Having stepped into Scream, our radar for jumping into another franchise is that it has to feel special. And [David Coggeshall’s] script really does that. It is very beautiful and sweeping and scary and fun.”
Beautiful. Sweeping. Scary. Fun.
That’s the exact formula the 1999 film perfected. Indiana Jones-style adventure with horror undertones, set in a lush period world where one wrong move unleashes ancient evil. Sommers’ original film worked because it never took itself too seriously but also never became parody. It walked that tightrope between genuine scares and swashbuckling fun.
Fraser himself has been vocal about what went wrong with the 2017 Tom Cruise reboot. He told Variety the key ingredient missing from that version was fun.
“It was too much of a straight-ahead horror movie,” Fraser said. “The Mummy should be a thrill ride, but not terrifying and scary.”
Radio Silence clearly gets that. Their work on Ready or Not proved they can do horror with a wink. Scream showed they understand legacy franchises and fan expectations. Abigail demonstrated they can handle Universal monsters with style.
Why This Matters Now
Brendan Fraser is in the middle of a career renaissance. He won an Oscar for The Whale in 2023 and has been steadily piling up projects ever since. The internet loves him. Gen Z discovered his old films and turned him into a meme king. Nostalgia for late ’90s/early 2000s blockbusters is at an all-time high.
Meanwhile, Rachel Weisz has been doing prestige work, The Favourite, Dead Ringers. But the fact that she’s coming back for this speaks volumes. She didn’t need to return. She skipped The Mummy 3 entirely. Her involvement suggests the script and vision are actually worth her time.
And let’s be real: fans have been demanding this reunion for years. The Mummy (1999) wasn’t just a box office hit, it became a generational touchstone. People quote it constantly. The romance between Rick and Evelyn is iconic. The action holds up. The creature design is still terrifying.
When Universal tried to resurrect the franchise with Tom Cruise’s 2017 reboot as part of their failed “Dark Universe,” it bombed hard. Critics hated it. Audiences didn’t show up. The entire shared universe concept collapsed instantly.
Why? Because they forgot what made The Mummy work in the first place: fun, chemistry, adventure, and just enough horror to keep things interesting without becoming a grim slog.
The Production Team
Producer Sean Daniel is back. He’s been with the franchise since 1999, producing every installment including The Mummy Returns, The Scorpion King, Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, and yes, even the 2017 disaster. His involvement ensures institutional knowledge and continuity.
William Sherak, James Vanderbilt, and Paul Neinstein are producing through Project X Entertainment. Fraser will executive produce alongside Hivemind’s Jason F. Brown and Denis Stewart.
Plot details are currently locked tighter than Imhotep’s sarcophagus, but that’s probably smart. Let the hype build naturally without spoiling what could be a genuinely surprising story.
The Bottom Line
Yes, we’re getting another legacy sequel. Yes, Hollywood is strip-mining nostalgia again. Yes, you’ve seen this playbook before.
But here’s the thing: when the original stars actually want to come back, when the directors understand what made the franchise special, and when the studio is willing to admit past mistakes and course-correct, sometimes these things actually work.
Fraser wanted to make this movie. Weisz came back after skipping the third film. Radio Silence signed on because the script felt “special.” Universal is pretending The Mummy 3 never happened and going back to what worked.
That’s the recipe for something potentially great. Or, at least way better than another soulless reboot with zero connection to what fans actually loved.
Will it live up to the 1999 original? Probably not. That film came out at the perfect cultural moment and caught lightning in a bottle.
But can it be fun, scary, romantic, and adventurous in the way those first two films were? Can it give us Rick and Evelyn’s story in a way that feels earned and respectful rather than cynical?
Based on everyone involved and what they’re saying publicly, there’s reason to be cautiously optimistic.
Now we just have to wait two years to find out if they can pull it off.
May 19, 2028. Mark your calendars. The mummy is rising again. And this time, it might actually be worth the wait.
Production begins soon. Expect casting news for supporting roles and additional plot details in the coming months.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=videoseries