Movies that were supposed to launch franchises (but didn’t): The Mummy

https://lebeauleblog.com/2018/06/10/movies-that-were-supposed-to-launch-franchises-but-didnt-the-mummy/

With so much riding on The Mummy, the studio didn’t want to take any chances. So they turned to one of the most bankable stars in the world, Tom Cruise. Like Johnny Depp, Cruise enjoys a worldwide following that can usually be counted on to salvage his would-be flops with healthy international ticket sales. (Spoiler Alert: That’s what happens here.) Cruise knew Kurtzman from the Mission: Impossible franchise since Kurtzman had co-written the third movie for J.J. Abrams. Universal was uncertain about trusting a novice director like Kurtzman with their shared universe, but they trusted Cruise to deliver.

As part of the deal, Cruise was given pretty much complete creative control. Clearly, Kurtzman was in no position to challenge Cruise even if he wanted to. Universal would have been all too happy to replace him as director if Cruise gave them the go ahead to do so. Instead, Kurtzman functioned as director in name only with Cruise calling the shots. The first order of business was a rewrite that would increase Cruise’s time on camera. In the original script, Cruise’s character and the mummy were essentially co-leads. But Cruise brought on Christopher McQuarrie and Dylan Kussman, writers with whom he had established relationships, to beef up his part.

McQuarrie had written and directed Cruise’s previous hit, the fifth Mission: Impossible movie and they will reunite later this year for the sixth movie in that series. So perhaps its no surprise that the movie they set out to make felt more like the typical Tom Cruise action vehicle than an updated B-movie. When audiences saw the trailer for The Mummy, it was virtually indistinguishable from the trailer for Cruise’s latest Jack Reacher movie. Fans jokingly dubbed it Mummy: Impossible for obvious reasons.

he studio tried to scrub the leaked trailer from the internet, but couldn’t put the genie back in the bottle. The first impression many fans had of Universal’s would be shared universe was Cruise screaming like a girl.

Cruise had inserted himself into every step of the movie’s development. During post production, he hired his own editors and took and active role in shaping the final cut. At the actor’s insistence, The Mummy was released at the peak of the summer movie season. Released one week after Wonder Woman, The Mummy had to settle for second place at the box office. The reviews couldn’t have helped. Critics complained that The Mummy was a mishmash of horror cliches and the standard Tom Cruise action movie. In its second weekend, The Mummy slipped to fourth place as Cars 3 took the top spot. It ended up grossing a paltry $80 million dollars on an estimated budget of $125 million (some estimates go as high as $190 million not including the $100 million dollars spent on marketing).

Fortunately for Tom Cruise, international audiences still flock to these kinds of movies. The Mummy made over $300 million dollars overseas for a worldwide take of just over $400 million dollars. That prevented the movie from being a complete disaster, but it wasn’t enough to save the Dark Universe. A few months after The Mummy’s theatrical release, Universal “postponed” the Bride of Frankenstein remake. Then they quietly pulled the plug. The exact status of Universal’s shared universe remains a mystery. The studio has pulled all of the movies they announced from their schedules, but they haven’t officially canceled the project. There are rumors that the studio hasn’t completely abandoned the idea of a monster-themed mega franchise. Odds are good that Universal will make more monster movies in the future, but I would bet against Tom Cruise appearing in any of them.