The Mummy Re-Release Unwraps Impressive Domestic Box Office Haul
The Big Picture
- The box office lean period has led to re-releases of classic films like Alien and The Mummy , catering to nostalgic millennials.
- The Mummy (1999) grossed $417 million globally, cementing Brendan Fraser as a 90s movie star, spawning sequels and a reboot.
- Universal's Dark Universe was scrapped after Tom Cruise's The Mummy flopped, leading to a focus on standalone projects like The Invisible Man.
The lean period that the box office has been experiencing in recent weeks, perhaps a side effect of last year’s WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, has encouraged a string of re-releases of older classics. While Dune and Shrek 2 had solid recent runs, not to mention the ongoing re-release of every live-action Spider-Man movie, this past weekend saw the re-issue of Ridley Scott’s Alien and director Stephen Sommers’ The Mummy, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Whether we like it or not, millennials are now old enough to revisit childhood favorites in theaters.
Over 1,200 of them across North America played The Mummythis weekend. Originally released in 1999, the film grossed a little over $1 million in three days, falling short of the $1.5 million that Alien made from 1,700 nationwide theaters, and the $1.4 million that the Shrek 2 re-release had generated in its first three days a couple of weeks ago. The Mummy’s cumulative global gross now stands at $417 million, with $156 million coming from domestic theaters. The film served as a reboot of the classic Universal Monsters franchise, and spawned two sequels and a spin-off before being rebooted itself several years later.
The film also cemented Brendan Fraser as one of the biggest movie stars of the 1990s. Fraser experienced a bit of a career slump in the 2010s, before his grand rebound a couple of years ago with his Oscar-winning performance in Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale. He reprized his role as the adventurer Rick O’Connell in 2001’s The Mummy Returns, which was an even bigger hit with $435 million in global box office revenue. He played Rick one last time in 2008’s The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, directed by Rob Cohen. The movie grossed $405 million worldwide. Sommers went on to direct big-budget films such as Van Helsing and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, but hasn’t directed a feature film in over a decade.
The Mummy Films | Global Box Office |
|---|---|
The Mummy (1999) | $417 million |
The Mummy Returns (2001) | $435 million |
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008) | $405 million |
Fraser's Three 'Mummy' Movies Grossed a Combined Total of $1.2 Billion Worldwide
CloseThe Mummy franchise was rebooted in 2017, with the ill-fated Tom Cruise vehicle of the same name. The film was designed to spawn a shared universe of Universal Monsters films, but its lukewarm box office — $410 million worldwide — and toxic reviews brought the entire franchise crashing down. Universal pivoted to focusing on standalone director-driven projects in the aftermath of the Dark Universe’s failure; the studio tasted success with this strategy in early 2020, with The Invisible Man reboot. Also starring Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, and Arnold Vosloo, The Mummy is currently playing in theaters. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
The Mummy (1999)
At an archaeological dig in the ancient city of Hamunaptra, an American serving in the French Foreign Legion accidentally awakens a mummy who begins to wreak havoc as he searches for the reincarnation of his long-lost love.
Release Date May 7, 1999 Director Stephen Sommers Cast Brendan Fraser , Rachel Weisz , John Hannah , Arnold VoslooncG1vNJzZmibn6G5qrDEq2Wcp51kwamxjKaspqWpYr%2BmvsSlnJqrlWKxsLnErKuim12XvLl5zp%2BdopuVZA%3D%3D