Is Lee Cronin’s The Mummy connected to previous Mummy films? Timeline explained

If you've been following recent news about films in The Mummy franchise, you'd be forgiven for feeling a little bit confused.

Not only is there a new horror film from Warner Bros titled Lee Cronin's The Mummy arriving in UK cinemas this week, but there's also recently been confirmation that a reboot of the iconic Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz trilogy is officially in the works.

The latter of those films is currently slated for release in 2028, with Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett – the filmmaking duo collectively known as Radio Silence – directing from a script by David Coggeshall (Orphan: First Kill).

But the more imminent film from Evil Dead Rise writer/director Cronin appears to have a very different vibe, one far more concerned with tapping into the horror genre than the family friendly action-adventure trappings of the films starring Fraser as Rick O'Connell.

Starring Jack Reynor, Laia Costa and May Calamawy, the film follows events when the daughter of a journalist suddenly shows up eight years after she vanished in the desert without a trace – with the synopsis teasing that "what should be a joyful reunion turns into a living nightmare".

So just how does Lee Cronin's The Mummy fit into the pre-existing franchise? Read on for everything you need to know.

Is Lee Cronin’s The Mummy connected to previous Mummy films?

The short answer to this is no – at least, there is no narrative through line between any of the previous big screen iterations of The Mummy and this new film from Cronin.

Instead, this entry is billed as a "reimagining" of the series, that is more inspired by the early horror films that started the franchise back in Hollywood's Golden Age than the more recent trilogy.

At one point, there was a rumour that the film would even change it's title to The Resurrected to avoid confusion – but it later emerged that this was wide of the mark, especially the claims that the name change was happening because Warner Bros had lost confidence in the film.

Indeed, Cronin himself told IndieWire in a recent interview: "There was all this noise, going, ‘Oh, my God, they’re changing the title because the movie sucks.’ And it’s like, no, movies often have code words — to protect them."

Interestingly, in the same interview Cronin revealed that he had had "no interest" in making a film within the franchise, though he ended up relishing the chance to reinvent one of cinema's most enduring monsters.

"There’s a chance to play around with lore in a different way, and also a mummy being somewhat of a blank canvas that you can then put horrific traits into because it’s not Dracula," he said. "It’s its own thing. It is kind of like a blank space."

In other words, don't go into this film looking for something that plays out like a traditional franchise film, and definitely not a continuation of the Rick O'Connell saga – there's another two years to wait for that.

Instead, expect something which takes the iconography of The Mummy – as seen in countless previous films – and does something new and fresh with it.

The Mummy timeline: All the previous films in the franchise

Since the very first Mummy film was released almost a century ago, there have been a total of 15 films in the franchise – with the upcoming Brendan Fraser reboot set to be the sixteenth.

Those are split into a few distinct phases; first came the classic Universal Classic Monsters films, then there were the Hammer Horror versions, and then a long gap before of the Fraser ones.

Of course, back in 2017 there was a now infamous attempt to reboot the series as part of a new Dark Universe, but the first film – which starred Tom Cruise and Russell Crowe – fared so badly with both critics and audiences that the future plans were subsequently scrapped.

You can find the full list of films below:

Universal Classic Monsters

• The Mummy (1932)
• The Mummy's Hand (1940)
• The Mummy's Tomb (1942)
• The Mummy's Ghost (1944)
• The Mummy's Curse (1944)
• Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955)

Hammer series

• The Mummy (1959)
• The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb (1964)
• The Mummy's Shroud (1967)
• Blood from the Mummy's Tomb (1971)

Rick O'Connell saga

• The Mummy (1999)
• The Mummy Returns (2001)
• The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008)
• Untitled fourth film (2028)

Dark Universe

• The Mummy (2017)

Warner Bros reboot

• Lee Cronin's The Mummy (2026)

Lee Cronin's The Mummy is released in UK cinemas on Friday 17 April.

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