Some archaeological discoveries belong in museums. Others should be immediately reburied, covered in concrete, and surrounded by several very large signs reading, "Seriously, don't open this." Unfortunately, that would deprive us of Brendan Fraser running around the desert with two guns while an ancient Egyptian priest turns himself into a sandstorm, and nobody wants that.
Fraser (The Whale) returns to streaming in The Mummy as the beloved 1999 fantasy adventure landed on Peacock on October 1. Stephen Sommers' (Van Helsing) blockbuster arrived alongside The Mummy Returns, making the move particularly well-timed as Fraser prepares to return as Rick O'Connell in the long-awaited next installment of the franchise, currently shooting right now in London and due for release in 2028.
Dashing legionnaire Rick O'Connell stumbles upon the hidden ruins of Hamunaptra while in the midst of a battle to claim the area in 1920s Egypt. It has been over three thousand years since former High Priest Imhotep suffered a fate worse than death as a punishment for a forbidden love — along with a curse that guarantees eternal doom upon the world if he is ever awoken. Sadly, we know exactly what's going to happen.
The cast is led by Fraser as Rick and Rachel Weisz (The Favourite) as Evelyn, alongside Arnold Vosloo (Blood Diamond) as Imhotep, John Hannah (Four Weddings and a Funeral) as Jonathan, Oded Fehr (Resident Evil) as Ardeth Bay, Kevin J. O'Connor (There Will Be Blood) as Beni, Jonathan Hyde (Titanic) as Dr. Allen Chamberlain, and Erick Avari (Stargate) as Dr. Terrence Bey.
How Good Is 'The Mummy'?
Quite surprisingly, critics didn't love the film back in 1999, and The Mummy still sits at only 62% on Rotten Tomatoes. But audiences were considerably kinder, and its swashbuckling adventure is the kind of rewatchable movie that they devour. The formula shouldn't work nearly as well as it does. Sommers throws horror, comedy, romance, period adventure and enormous amounts of late-'90s CGI into the same movie, while Fraser and Weisz give the whole thing enough chemistry to hold it together even when flesh-eating scarabs start crawling underneath people's skin.
Audiences certainly showed up. Produced for around $80 million, The Mummy earned approximately $417 million worldwide, leading directly to The Mummy Returns in 2001. Fraser returned once again for The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor in 2008, although Weisz did not. Fortunately for us all, she'll be back in 2028.
The Mummy began streaming on Peacock on October 1.
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