MUMMY 2 stuff, director Stephen Sommers talks a bit about his ambitious sequel

Hey folks, Harry here with an update to the Moriarty review of the "MUMMY 2" script he read. Now, the reason I have that in quotations, is I have recently been in contact with screenwriter/director of THE MUMMY as well as the forthcoming MUMMY 2, Stephen Sommers.

It seems that the version of THE MUMMY 2 draft that the evil one got his loathsome hands upon was the:

"Right-out-of-the-printer, warts-and-all, working pitch of the MUMMY sequel."

You see, according to Stephen, he sucks at the verbal pitch meeting, so he took 4 weeks to jam out what he calls his written pitch. It seems that his producers (Jim Jacks and Sean Daniels) and he have been trying to work out schedule issues, but it just sort of came together very quickly. From this initial flux of ideas they got the 'go-ahead' and then sat down to pound out his first full draft.

"The draft that resulted had less to do with screenwriting than it did in providing a road map for production estimators, location scouts, visual effects producers and art directors. That particular draft, which is what Moriarty got a hold of, was never even widely distributed within Universal. And for good reason: it’s not the script we’re shooting."

So.... When Moriarty says:

"The primary thing missing from any single page of this script is charm. There's not one thing a character does or says that endears them to the reader in even the slightest way. This is a perfunctory exercise in how to overthink a sequel. Instead of trying to focus on that sense of B-movie fun that made the first film such a modest pleasure," --- Moriarty

Stephen Sommers responds with:

"I can at least assure you will be in the same full-blooded adventure vein as the first one, and -- I guarantee you – bigger and better . I’m excited by, and draw inspiration from, the fact that literally the same team of people will be working together again… Jim Jacks, Sean Daniel, and my friends at Universal, who have been more supportive of me than any studio in my experience; production designer Allan Cameron, film editor Bob Ducsay; cinematographer Adrian Biddle as well as 99% of the rest of the crew, not to mention Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Arnold Vosloo (can’t have a MUMMY film with a Mummy), Oded Fehr… as well as some new cast members I’m really excited about. It’s no secret that Dwayne Johnson (WWF’s “The Rock”) will appear in a crucial new role that, at the very least, has my buddies at ILM salivating. It’s a very rare thing that the entire original production and acting team from a successful film comes to the table for a sequel. And it’s a very good thing."

So, if there is one aspect of Moriarty's piece that wasn't quite fleshed out as it should have was the stress on the fact that this was an early draft. Stephen wants me to assure you good folks, that he's working his ass off on the script to make sure that it exceeds the first film. Which would be good for me, since I'm not the biggest fan of the first film. I have been warming a bit to it on DVD, but personally... I wanted more horror from it, and less goofiness, but then I should've expected the goofy side... coming from the director of DEEP RISING, which was a far more clear case of having a tongue firmly placed in one's cheek... and I really dug that misunderstood film. You know, I was out back, in the AICN Ampitheatre watching Korda & Menzies & Berger & Powell's THE THIEF OF BAGDAD... and though it had the vastly superior score of Miklos Rozsa... I found that it had the same since of goofiness that THE MUMMY had... but THE MUMMY didn't quite have the sincerity of the quieter moments.

Besides, Sommers tells me that the pygmy skeletons that ILM is working on will be worth the price of admission all by themselves. From the sound of things... if he can just work on his characters a bit and nails the pacing, this sequel might be one helluva fun flick. Personally, I understand Sommers' desire to make Harryhausen flicks... He creates effects sequences that he then builds a story around. And with that approach, I would say his first MUMMY was closer to a THREE WORLDS OF GULLIVER than a GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD or JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS.... So I wish Stephen the best. He's making adventurous fantasy films, with Horror characters. I truly hope this second film bests the first one.

And one last thing... Is there any possible way that we could not have it titled MUMMY 2. I mean, how about THE MUMMY STRIKES or THE MUMMY'S CURSE or something else... I hate numbers. Be a bit more adventurous!