After a couple years of development, the Universal Monsters Cinematic Universe is officially getting off the ground now. 2014's DRACULA UNTOLD was turned into a sort of prelude to the world of gods and monsters that Universal is building with producers Alex Kurtzman and Chris Morgan, but the first film that was meant to be a part of the universe from the start is THE MUMMY, which Kurtzman is also directing from a screenplay by Jon Spaihts (PROMETHEUS).
THE MUMMY is currently filming in Oxford, England, and during the shooting of some exterior scenes paparazzi got some snaps of the film's leads, Tom Cruise and Annabelle Wallis, on set and in character.
Cruise plays Navy SEAL Tyler Colt in the film, which is a modern day reboot of the MUMMY concept.
Colt goes on a mission in the Iraqi desert to find a group of terrorists hiding out in a bunker.
However their prey turn out to be mere grave robbers who have all magically died, and when they go inside the bunker Tyler and his team also succumb to some mystical forces out of their control, which is when they realise they are actually in an ancient tomb.
While his men end up turning on each other, Tom's character is the only one make it all the way deep within the tomb alive and find an ominous black iron sarcophagus.
After he tries to open it he is stabbed in the palm and his mind is cursed with visions of Ashurbanipal, King of Assyria, more informally known as The Mummy.
Given that the eponymous Mummy is being played by Sofia Boutella, I think the "King" part of that synopsis is outdated.
I've chosen a few of the set pictures to share here, for the full batch check out the Daily Mail site.
THE MUMMY is set for release on June 9, 2017.