While superhero cinematic universes are currently dominating the box office, there's already another form of cohesive silver screen universe in the works as well. The Universal Monsters Universe will soon make its glorious debut with the release of The Mummy, but we still don't know much about the upcoming project. However, according to screenwriter, Jon Spaihts: we can definitely expect the scariest Mummy film of all time. He explained:
I think [there is] a similar desire to legitimately explore the frightening and the cosmic. In The Mummy, I think we're going to see the first Mummy film in the entire Universal canon with the true power to terrify. The earliest [Boris] Karloff and Bela Lugosi Mummy movies were scary in a small way, perhaps a dated way. They were almost parlor movies. Subsequent movies have been more swashbuckling. This one is going to have all of that action and adventure, but a legitimate power to terrify. I think that's going to be the new experience of that film.
During a recent conversation with THR to promote the release of Doctor Strange, screenwriter Jon Spaihts explained the differences between the newest incarnation of The Mummy and the films that preceded it. Based upon his description, it's fairly obvious that the upcoming incarnation of the horror classic intends to combine elements of everything we have seen before into something familiar, yet unique. While the older Mummy movies relied on certain old fashioned horror principles, the more recent Mummy movies (starring Brendan Frasier) utilized a more action-oriented approach. It now seems that the intention with The Mummy reboot is to keep the action as visceral as possible, while also crafting the scariest Mummy film to date.
For the sake of comparison, it sounds like The Mummy will adopt elements of James Cameron's Aliens. Just as that beloved sci-fi sequel blended a visceral amount of carnage with genuine terror, so too will the upcoming Mummy film deliver the scares in a gripping manner. Rather than rely quiet tension, the film will utilize terror that comes at you full force.
Of course, this all seems to line up with everything that we already know about The Mummy. Taking place in modern times, the film will follow a group of explorers (led by Tom Cruise's Tyler Colt) who accidentally disturb the final resting place of an ancient, evil queen (Sofia Boutella) in the deserts of Egypt. Following her awakening, she goes on a rampage that threatens to destroy everything and everyone in her path.
Based upon everything that Jon Spaihts has to say about the upcoming film, it's clear that The Mummy will bring serious amounts of action and horror to the table. We will just have to wait and see whether or not the Universal Monster movie delivers when it hits theaters on June 9, 2017.
