Universal has finally announced the next chapter of The Mummy franchise. The Mummy: Book of the Dead will reunite Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz as Rick and Evie O’Connell, with the film set to hit theaters October 15, 2027 – exactly one year after Universal announced the title.
Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, better known as the filmmaking duo Radio Silence, are directing the film from a screenplay by David Coggeshall. The pair previously revived Scream and directed Abigail, making them an intriguing fit for a franchise that has always balanced horror, adventure, and comedy.
Fraser and Weisz will be joined by returning franchise veterans John Hannah, Oded Fehr and Kevin J. O’Connor, along with Michael Johnston and Numan Acar. Weisz’s return is especially notable because she has not played Evelyn since The Mummy Returns in 2001. Maria Bello played the role in 2008’s The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.
Plot details remain under wraps, but Universal is positioning the movie as a continuation of the Fraser-era films rather than another reboot. Reporting around the project indicates the new movie follows the continuity of the 1999 original and 2001 sequel, effectively returning the franchise to the version audiences first fell in love with.
And that title isn’t random.
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The Book of the Dead was the black ancient Egyptian volume Evelyn accidentally read from in the original Mummy, resurrecting Imhotep and kicking off the entire adventure. Naming the new film after the object that started everything is a pretty direct signal that this sequel intends to reach back into the first movie’s mythology.
The timing could not be better for Fraser.
His career resurgence over the past several years has only increased affection for the actor, and nostalgia for his version of The Mummy has grown right along with it. The 1999 film became a major hit by blending old-school adventure, horror, romance, and screwball chemistry, grossing more than $400 million worldwide and spawning The Mummy Returns two years later.
Radio Silence has also been careful about what drew them to the project.
Bettinelli-Olpin previously said the script had “all of the heart and the character that you could hope for,” while Gillett described it as “beautiful and sweeping and scary and fun.”
That is probably exactly what fans want to hear.
Because the appeal of The Mummy was never just the monsters or the action.
It was Fraser and Weisz.
Rick and Evie.
Adventure and romance with just enough supernatural chaos around them.
And now, 26 years after they last shared those roles together, the O’Connells are coming back.
