Tom Cruise inThe Mummy(2017); Brendan Fraser inThe Mummy(1999).Photo: Chiabella James/Universal/Kobal/Shutterstock; Keith Hamshere/Alphaville/Imohotep Prod/Kobal/Shutterstock
Brendan Fraserwould be down to reprise his role as adventurer Rick O’Connell again, shouldThe Mummyever have another reboot.
While he doesn’t “know how it would work,” per se, the 53-year-old actor toldVarietyin a new cover story alongside hisThe WhaledirectorDarren Aronofskythat he would “be open to it, if someone came up with the right conceit.”
Touching on thereboot ofThe MummystarringTom Cruise, Fraser admitted that “it is hard to make that movie.” He also said Cruise’s 2017 version “was lacking” the “fun” of his trilogy, which starred Fraser alongsideRachel Weiszin the first two films: 1999’sThe Mummyand 2001’sThe Mummy Returns. (The third film in the series,The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, came out in 2008, and starred Fraser with Maria Bello)
“It was too much of a straight-ahead horror movie,” Fraser said of the 2017 film. “The Mummyshould be a thrill ride, but not terrifying and scary.”
“I knowhow difficult it is to pull it off,” he added. “I tried to do it three times.”
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Brendan Fraser and Darren Aronofsky forVariety.Benedict Evans for Variety
Earlier this year, Alex Kurtzman, who directed the 2017 movie, revealed that he sees the reboot of the hit action franchise asthe “biggest failure of my life, both personally and professionally.”
“I tend to subscribe to the point of view that you learn nothing from your successes, and you learn everything from your failures,” Kurtzman, 49, said during an appearance onThe Playlist’sBingeworthypodcast. “There’s about a million things I regret about it, but it also gave me so many gifts that are inexpressibly beautiful.”
The film, which critics panned andsome called “dead on arrival"when it hit theaters, reportedly cost Universal Studios close to $95 million.IndieWirecalled it the “worst Tom Cruise movie ever.”
Looking back on the production process in the interview, Kurtzman emphasized just how young and new he was to the business of directing at the time he madeThe Mummyand how much he has grown since.
“I didn’t become a director until I made that movie, and it wasn’t because it was well directed — it was because itwasn’t,” the filmmaker said. “I would not have understood many of the things that I now understand about what it means to be a director had I not gone through that experience.”
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Fraser, meanwhile, is getting major recognition as of late for what is being considered a comeback performance inThe Whale, for which he was most recently honored with a5-minute standing ovation at the London Film Festival.
Thoughhe largely retreated from Hollywoodin recent years after a string of high-profile roles in the ’90s and early to mid 2000s, Fraser toldVarietyhe “was never that far away.”
“You can’t get rid of me that easy. But I’m glad to have a job,” he added, joking, “I’m still expecting somebody to walk over to me, hand me a dish towel and say, ‘Fraser, get back in the kitchen.’ "
Fraser also said thestanding ovationhe received last month at theVenice International Film Festival"felt so affirming,” recalling, “I was emotional because it was acknowledgment that what we did is making an impact. And that kind of response feels completely new in my professional life.”
source: people.com
