3 / 10
The Mummy is Alex Kurtzman’s 2017 American action horror film and the failed launch of Universal Pictures’ Dark Universe shared monster cinematic franchise. Tom Cruise plays Nick Morton, an Army sergeant turned antiquities looter who awakens ancient Egyptian princess Ahmanet. Sofia Boutella plays Ahmanet. Russell Crowe plays Dr. Henry Jekyll, who was supposed to anchor the broader Dark Universe franchise. Annabelle Wallis plays archaeologist Jenny Halsey. The screenplay was written by David Koepp, Christopher McQuarrie, and Dylan Kussman.
The film was produced by Universal Pictures on a budget of approximately 195 million dollars and grossed approximately 410 million dollars worldwide.
The work is the rare Cruise film that fails on most measures. The screenplay attempts to launch a shared cinematic universe while telling a single story and accomplishes neither. The horror elements operate at insufficient intensity. The action elements operate at conventional register. The Tom Cruise star vehicle elements conflict with the franchise launcher elements. The Russell Crowe Dr. Jekyll subplot exists almost entirely to advertise potential future Dark Universe films that the work’s commercial failure prevented from being made. The result is incoherent commercial product that satisfies no audience.
The Franchise Launcher Problem
Universal Pictures intended The Mummy as the launching production for a shared cinematic universe modeled on Marvel Studios’ approach. The Dark Universe was to include Dracula, Frankenstein, the Wolfman, the Bride of Frankenstein, and other Universal monster properties developed through interconnected films. The Mummy required substantial franchise foundation work that competed with its single-film storytelling requirements.
The franchise foundation work damages the film’s specific story. The Russell Crowe Dr. Jekyll character occupies substantial runtime without contributing to the immediate Mummy narrative. The character’s scenes establish Dark Universe institutional framework instead of serving the depicted Mummy story. The screenplay can support either the single film or the franchise launcher but not both. The completed film attempts both and accomplishes neither. The Dark Universe was abandoned after The Mummy’s commercial underperformance.
For Writers
Franchise foundation work and single-work storytelling require different structural priorities that single productions struggle to satisfy at once. Apply this to creative work broadly. Consider whether your work serves immediate story or builds broader infrastructure. Both functions are legitimate but often conflict within single productions.
The Cruise Vehicle Problem
Tom Cruise’s star vehicle requirements conflict with the franchise launcher requirements that the production also demanded. Cruise productions typically center the star’s specific character through accumulated dramatic situations. The franchise launcher requirements demanded that other characters receive substantial development to support potential continuing productions. The completed film cannot serve both functions.
The Cruise performance maintains the actor’s typical commitment despite the screenplay problems. The depicted action sequences, the underwater zero-gravity moments, and the supernatural confrontations all reflect substantial actor preparation. The performance isn’t the problem. The screenplay doesn’t support the actor’s typical strength because the work’s structural requirements pull in multiple directions.
For Writers
Strong individual contributions cannot save work whose structural requirements pull in conflicting directions. Apply this to creative work broadly. Consider whether your work’s structural requirements align or conflict with each other.
The Boutella Performance
Sofia Boutella’s performance as Princess Ahmanet operates at the highest register of the surrounding work. The character requires sustained physical performance, specific atmospheric authority, and committed supernatural presence. Boutella delivers all three despite the screenplay’s failure to develop the character’s specific motivations beyond generic villain template. The performance suggests what the work could have been with stronger structural foundation.
The performance engages with substantial practical effects and physical preparation. Boutella performed substantial creature movements personally including the gravity-defying sequences. The committed practical approach distinguishes the performance from purely CGI-enhanced alternatives. The film shows how committed individual performance can survive surrounding structural problems but cannot redeem the film.
For Writers
Committed individual performances can survive surrounding structural problems but cannot redeem film. Apply this to creative work broadly. Consider whether your work’s specific strengths can carry it past structural problems or whether the structural problems will overwhelm the strengths.
Craft Note
Kurtzman’s structural decision to launch the Dark Universe through the Mummy production required preparation that the completed film doesn’t adequately support. Franchise launchers typically work better when they tell single complete stories that incidentally support future possibilities instead of when they explicitly build franchise infrastructure at the cost of immediate storytelling.
Should you skip The Mummy?
The Mummy is a failed franchise launcher and one of the rare Cruise films that fails on most measures. The franchise launcher problem damages the immediate story. The Cruise vehicle problem conflicts with the franchise launcher requirements. The Boutella performance suggests what the work could have been with stronger foundation. Watch it only for completion of Cruise’s filmography or for understanding the Dark Universe collapse. Audiences seeking effective mummy cinema should engage with the 1932 Karloff original or the 1999 Brendan Fraser adventure version.
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This film appears on 2 of my film lists