Good ol’ Brendan Fraser is on the path of a major comeback. Darren Aronofsky, who is no stranger to revitalizing an actor with a fallen career, cast Fraser in an intimately intense role in his new drama, The Whale. The Whale has been making the film festival rounds and, on more than one occasion, moved the audience into giving applause and standing ovations for the former action movie star.
Oscar buzz is already building for Fraser, and in an age of nostalgia kicks and legacy sequels, the actor is sure to find out how much he’s missed in his former popular roles. Variety reports on a question Fraser had been asked on whether he’d be interested in returning to the Mummy franchise or not. The star of the supernatural-adventure series responded, “I don’t know how it would work. But I’d be open to it if someone came up with the right conceit.”
Stephen Sommers, the director of the first two films, commented on why he decided to go with Fraser as Rick O’Connell, “He could throw a punch and take a punch, and he had a great sense of humor. You really like the guy. He never comes across as cocky or arrogant. He was game for anything we threw at him.”
When Universal Studios tried their hand at a shared universe, taking a cue from the franchise juggernaut Marvel Studios, their introduction would be a reboot of Fraser’s Mummy. It sounded like it could’ve been a success with a heavyweight like Tom Cruise in the starring role. Audiences didn’t take to it, and Fraser shares the sentiment with his impression of the film, “It is hard to make that movie. The ingredient that we had going for our Mummy, which I didn’t see in that film, was fun. That was what was lacking in that incarnation. It was too much of a straight-ahead horror movie. ‘The Mummy’ should be a thrill ride, but not terrifying and scary. I know how difficult it is to pull it off. I tried to do it three times.”