Because Tom Cruise is the natural next step from Brendan Fraser, right?
Indeed, Cruise is the guy they want to headline THE MUMMY, which will kick off the upcoming slate of Classic Monster reboots at Universal.
No word on who Maverick/Ethan Hunt/Lestat/Jerry Maguire/Vincent Lauria/just plain Vincent would play, but my guess it’s not Imhotep (though, like De Niro as FRANKENSTEIN, that alone would make this an object of curiosity). What we do know is that the story’s set in present day, so my guess is it’ll be a large-scale modern horror-actioner kinda like Cruise’s buddy Pitt’s WORLD WAR Z. We also know that other monsters will be popping up in each other's films, so expect this whole run to be set in modern times.
Of course, if he signs on, he’s expected to take on a prominent behind-the-scenes role, but he won’t be taking a producer credit. They don’t have a director yet, but they have to snag one soon if they want to get this shot before Cruise goes and does some more crazy shit on camera for MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 6.
Cruise’s horror experience is basically limited to INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE, but that’s one hell of a go for one shot. He almost did IN THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS with Del Toro, but noooooooooo, Universal had to save their money to trot out a property we just saw in multiplexes 7 YEARS AGO (sigh…). Still, having him onboard immediately distinguishes this from the Fraser trilogy (not to mention updating the story to present day), and, like Pitt with Z, gives this the potential to be a worldwide success instead of basing the appeal on THE MUMMY’s name value alone, which might not have been a rock solid bet.
But I’m curious, who will he play if he signs on? Another intrepid archeologist? A Daniel Jackson-esque Ancient Egypt know-it-all? A T-800 good guy mummy resurrected to bandage-fight the villain? Jack Reacher??
