Tonight on TV: One of Tom Cruise’s rare movie failures

In 1999, Tom Cruise auditioned for the lead role in Stephen Somers’ fantasy adventure film The Mummy. But eventually the role is given to Brendan Fraser, who became world famous thanks to his huge commercial success and his two sequels.

However, for Tom Cruise, this is only a delay: the reboot of the saga began in 2017 under the direction of director Alex Kurtzman. This time the comedian takes the lead role.

So he meets the terrifying antagonist of the title, played by Sofia Boutella, for results… which turn out to be disastrous. Tom Cruise must collect the disappointed hopes of the studios.

Indeed, in 2014, after Dracula Untold, Universal Pictures toyed with the idea of ​​also having an extended universe: a dark universe featuring such famous characters as Frankenstein’s monster, the werewolf, the strange lake creature, the invisible man. Or Van Helsing. But the failure of The Mummy changes all the cards.

To set this connected universe, namely Russell Crowe as Dr. Jekyll in disguise, The Mummy grossed “only” $409 million worldwide on a $125 million budget (which doesn’t include the film’s marketing budget. At least 100 million…).

In an interview with the site variety In October 2022, Brendan Fraser thinks he knows why this version didn’t work:

“It’s hard to make this kind of movie. An ingredient we had in our Mummy that I didn’t see in this reboot was fun. That’s what was missing from this incarnation. “It was a very frontal horror movie. mummy. It should be an exciting journey, but not terrifying or scary.”he said.

With an average audience rating of 2.4 out of 5, The Mummy is one of the lowest rated feature films in Tom Cruise’s filmography by AlloCiné internet users.

Alex Kurtzman’s The Mummy with Tom Cruise, Sofia Boutella, Annabelle Wallis…

Tonight on C8 at 9.20pm.