Universal is looking to, uh, bring their classic movie monster lineup back from the dead (sorry), and they’re starting with a pretty significant boost: they’ve brought on Tom Cruise to play “a lead role” in The Mummy. While many of the movie’s plot details are still under wraps (sorry again), it says a lot on so many different levels that Cruise is being brought in for this revamp (I swear, I didn’t mean that one).
For starters, Cruise is 53. Yeah, he’s still pretty gosh darn fit, but as Pajiba’s Cindy Davis so, so astutely points out, it’s kind of a reminder that you can be a 50-something dude (not to mention a high-profile member of a dangerous cult) in Hollywood and still get consideration for leading roles in movies. Oh, and for being the poster boy for an entire franchise revival. You know, no big deal.
Previous reports indicated that Universal was open to the idea of having a female Mummy (Mum?), gender-flipping the role made famous by Boris Karloff. It would end up changing the original story, which centered around Imhotep looking for the reincarnation of his long-lost love. However, those reports also said that director Alex Kurtzman and writer Jon Spaihts were just looking for “the best person for the role.” Here’s hoping they’re more self-critical about their hiring process than, say, literally everyone else.
As I said before, there are no plot details to share yet, so it’s not clear whether Cruise will play the bandaged one (and let’s be honest, that’s not likely because who wants to cover up Tom Cruise) or… oh, gosh, what if he’s the long-lost love being chased by a female Mummy?
Okay, I might be on board then.
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