Director Alex Kurtzman's THE MUMMY, the first entry in the Dark Universe that Universal is planning to build around their classic monster characters, has made over $400 million at the global box office – an impressive haul that would be better for the studio if only they hadn't put $125 million into the budget and then spent $100+ million on top of that for marketing. Hopefully they'll be more thrifty with future installments, because I want the Dark Universe to succeed, I want to see its new versions of old monsters.
THE MUMMY is now available on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD, and digital, and to coincide with its home video release we have an EXCLUSIVE clip to share from its special features. In the video below, Kurtzman and the film's star Tom Cruise discuss the female leads, Sofia Boutella as The Mummy herself and Annabelle Wallis as archaeologist Jenny Halsey.
Also starring Jake Johnson, Courtney B. Vance, Marwan Kenzari, and Javier Botet, with Russell Crowe as Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde, THE MUMMY has the following synopsis:
Thought safely entombed in a crypt deep beneath the unforgiving desert, an ancient queen whose destiny was unjustly taken from her, is awakened in our current day, bringing with her malevolence grown over millennia and terrors that defy human comprehension.
From the sweeping sands of the Middle East through hidden labyrinths under modern-day London, The Mummy brings a surprising intensity and balance of wonder and thrills in an imaginative new take that ushers in a new world of gods and monsters.
I had fun with THE MUMMY, although it does have its issues. It gets off to a great start, then gets a bit bumpier in the second half – I wasn't fond of Johnson's character, who becomes an homage to AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON; the movie spends too much time in the headquarters of Jekyll's Prodigium, the monster-hunting organization that will tie the Dark Universe films together; and there's a sandstorm in London that feels unnecessary and largely inconsequential. The studio could have saved some money by dropping that sandstorm at the script stage. Still, I find THE MUMMY to be quite entertaining overall.
I was able to get my hands on a copy of the Blu-ray/DVD last week, and those discs have some great extras on them that provide interesting insight into the filmmakers' approach to the story and characters. I really gained a deeper appreciation for the film while going through the featurettes, which add up to just under 80 minutes, and listening to the commentary.
If you'd like to score a copy of THE MUMMY on Blu-ray / DVD yourself, it can be purchased on Amazon.
The next Dark Universe movie will be director Bill Condon's remake of BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, which is set to star Javier Bardem as Frankenstein's Monster and is scheduled for a February 14, 2019 release.