Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz return after 24 years to star in a new film of the franchise that made them famous worldwide

Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz will reunite for a new adventure film called “The Mummy,” years after they starred together in the popular feature films and after an attempt to “revive” the franchise with Tom Cruise failed, Variety and Deadline are reporting.

Filmmakers Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett are set to direct the fourth installment of the decades-long action franchise. Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett are best known for the film Ready or Not from 2019 and for the relaunch of the horror series Scream at Paramount in 2022.

Fraser was the protagonist of the film The Mummy from 1999, in which he starred alongside Weisz, and the film became a box office success. The blockbuster, which follows a treasure hunter who accidentally awakens a cursed Egyptian priest with supernatural powers, also established Fraser as a top-notch action hero.

He returned for two sequels, The Mummy Returns (2001) and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008), although Weisz appeared in only the first of them. Universal tried to resurrect the franchise The Mummy with Tom Cruise in 2017, but without success. The film was a commercial failure and caused Universal to abandon its plans to launch a so-called “Dark Universe”, which was supposed to capitalize on Universal's catalog of classic monsters in a series of interconnected adventures, modeled after the Marvel and DC Cinematic Universes.

Fraser will return in a “Mummy” film after winning his first career Oscar

After retiring from Hollywood due to personal issues, health issues and a sexual assault allegation against the former president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, Fraser experienced a major career comeback with the film The Whale from 2022.

The feature film earned him the Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role, taking home his first Oscar statuette of his career.

During the promotional campaign for The WhaleFraser told Variety that he would be willing to reprise his most popular role, that of adventurer Rick O'Connell, in a new sequel to the franchise The Mummy.

“I don't know how that would work,” he said at the time. “But I would be open to the idea if someone came up with the right concept,” added the now 56-year-old actor.

The hit ingredient that the “Mummy” movies with Fraser and Weisz had

Fraser had an idea of ​​what wouldn't work. In 2022, he expressed his opinion about the reasons why Cruise's version of The Mummy failed to catch on with the public.

“It's hard to make that movie,” Fraser said. “The ingredient we had in mummy ours, but that we didn't see in the new one, was the fun. That was missing from that version. It was just too much of a horror movie. mummy it should be a thrilling adventure but not scary and terrifying,” he said.

As for Weisz, herself an Oscar winner in 2006 for her performance in the thriller drama The Constant Gardenershe has acted in fewer films in recent years, with her last major role being in the Marvel film Black Widow from 2021, in which she played Melina Vostokoff.

Universal Studios has not yet commented on the new film project The Mummyso the eventual release date in cinemas remains an unknown. But given how long it usually takes to produce such a project, it's unlikely to hit theaters before 2027.