The Mummy 4 directors reveal why Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz chose to return as they tease "scary" script
“I don’t think Brendan and Rachel are getting involved unless they love that script, and what they read, I think they really liked."
The Mummy 4 directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett have opened up about why Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz chose to return to the franchise.
Fraser, who has been enjoying a brilliant career comeback in recent years with his Oscar-winning part in The Whale, a key supporting role in Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon, and an acclaimed turn in upcoming film Rental Family, is set to reprise his role as adventurer Rick O’Connell in the upcoming sequel.
And he's set to be joined by Weisz, who recently starred in Prime Video's Dead Ringers and Marvel's Black Widow, who's reprising her role as librarian Evelyn Carnahan.
In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett, the directing duo known as Radio Silence, shared how they made it happen, revealing that they were working with producer William Sherrick on the set of Abigail (2024) when the subject of The Mummy came up.
"William's always way ahead of us," Gillett said. "Matt and I, what we're doing next is we're finishing the day, we have eight setups, and William's always talking about the next thing. And he was like, 'Hey, I think I'm gonna get us Mummy.' In our heads, we're going, 'That'd be f***ing crazy. There's no way William's gonna pull it off.'"
But they were soon proved wrong. "Cut to, we're finishing Abigail, and we're meeting with Dave Coggeshall, the writer, and we're designing a pitch," Gillett added.
"We have been in this line of work long enough to know that nothing is real until it's very, very real. It's all speculative, and it feels great to give energy to really wonderful ideas, but we have learned to keep those opportunities a little bit at arm's distance because it's just easy to have your heart broken."
Bettinelli-Olpin went on to tease that Coggeshall’s script has “all of the heart and the character that you could hope for".
Gillett added: “I don’t think Brendan and Rachel are getting involved unless they love that script, and what they read, I think they really liked. And it’s a good script. It’s gonna be fun to make.”
Fraser and Weisz first appeared in The Mummy (1999) before reprising their roles in 2001’s The Mummy Returns, but Weisz was absent from 2008’s widely derided third film The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, with Maria Bello replacing her as Evelyn.
Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillet went on to confirm that The Mummy 4 won't be treating Tomb of the Dragon Emperor and its recast as canon.
When asked if they consider the film canon to their new movie, Olpin said: "Well, Rachel is in this one."
"That should answer the question for you," Gillett added.
The Mummy 4 is set to be released in cinemas on 19th May 2028.
The first three films in The Mummy franchise are currently available to stream on Sky Movies and NOW.
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Authors
Molly Moss is a Trends Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest trends across TV, film and more. She has an MA in Newspaper Journalism and has previously written for publications including The Guardian, The Times and The Sun Online.
