The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

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The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Rob Cohen
Produced by Stephen Sommers
James Jack
Bob Ducsay
Sean Daniel
Written by Alfred Gough
Miles Millar
Starring Brendan Fraser
Jet Li
Maria Bello
John Hannah
Luke Ford
Michelle Yeoh
Isabella Leong
Music by Randy Edelman
Theme:
Jerry Goldsmith
Cinematography Simon Duggan
Editing by Joel Negron
Kelly Matsumoto
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release date(s) August 1, 2008[1]
Country USA
Language English
Budget $175,000,000[2]
Preceded by The Mummy Returns (2001)
Official website
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor[3] is an upcoming American film that follows The Mummy and The Mummy Returns. It is slated for release on August 1, 2008.

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is directed by Rob Cohen and written by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar. Bob Ducsay, Sean Daniel, Stephen Sommers and James Jacks produce the film.

Contents

[edit] Plot

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor stars Brendan Fraser as explorer Rick O'Connell, along with his son Alex (Luke Ford), wife Evelyn (Maria Bello, taking over the character from Rachel Weisz) and her brother, Jonathan (John Hannah). They must stop the resurrected Han Emperor (Jet Li), a mummy awoken from a 2,000-year-old curse who threatens to plunge the world into his merciless, unending service with his Terracotta Army.

[edit] Production

In November 2001, director Stephen Sommers, who directed the previous Mummy films, said about directing a third Mummy film, "There's a demand for it, but most of the gang would only be up for it again if we could find a way to make it bigger and better."[4] In May 2004, Sommers expressed his doubts about having the energy to make a third Mummy, though the cast of previous films had expressed interest in returning.[5] In December 2005, a review of a script written by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar was about a Chinese mummy (China's first emperor, who wants to take over the world with his army of accursed warriors in 1940. The idea of the Han Emperor and his army is based on the real-life Han emperor The Dragon Emperor, who was buried amidst 10,000 painstakingly-carved terra cotta soldiers, called the Terracotta Army, believed to date back to 210 BC. [6]

[edit] Cast

In March 2006, actor Oded Fehr said Sommers had told him a third film was in development and being written, with only Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz's characters returning for the sequel.[7] The following September, director Joe Johnston was offered the helm by Universal Pictures, who hoped to start filming early in 2007.[8] Later in the month, Weisz expressed interest in reprising her role.[9]

In January 2007, Universal announced that Stephen Sommers, director of the first two Mummy films would not be attached to direct the third film. It was then announced that Universal entered talks with director Rob Cohen to take the helm from Sommers as the director of the third Mummy.[10] Later in the month, the story was revealed to center around Brendan Fraser's and Rachel Weisz's characters, as well as their now grown-up son. Negotiations with the actors were in progress at that time.[11] In February, casting began for the role of Alex O'Connell. In addition, the character of Jonathan, and previously portrayed by John Hannah, will return for the sequel.[3] Also in February, director Rob Cohen mentioned that Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh will star in the movie although the official confirmation was not published until May.[12][13]

In April, Fraser re-joined the cast for The Mummy 3, though Weisz did not due to the script issues.[14] The film was shot in Montreal[15] and China. The movie was reported to be titled The Mummy 3: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.[16] In April, Luke Ford was cast as Alex O'Connell,[17] and in May, Maria Bello was cast to replace Weisz in the role of Evelyn. Bello reported during an interview that the new "Evy" is different from the original "Evy". "She has the same name, but she's quite a different character." said Bello. [18]


[edit] Principle Cast and Roles

Actor Character
Brendan Fraser Rick O'Connell
Maria Bello Evelyn Carnahan O'Connell
John Hannah Jonathan Carnahan
Jet Li Emperor Han
Michelle Yeoh Zijuan
Luke Ford Alex O'Connell

[edit] Marketing

The Mummy Movie Prequel: The Rise & Fall of Xango's Ax, a comic book limited series by IDW Publishing, will be published to promote the film. The comic explores the relationship between Rick and his son Alex. Sierra will make a game version of the Mummy 3 which will be released in July of 2008 in North America. [19] The trailer for the film debuted on May 16, 2008.

[edit] Music

The score is composed by veteran composer Randy Edelman. The soundtrack will feature numerous different Chinese and Middle Eastern ethnic instruments along with classic British folklore, and is expected to be released sometime in July or August before the film's initial release. The trailer music, DNA Reaction, is better known as one of the musics in the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix trailer.

[edit] Sequel

Actress Maria Bello stated in an interview that another Mummy film will "absolutely" be made, and that she has already signed on.[20]

[edit] References

  1. ^ "The Mummy and Hellboy 2 Switch Dates", ComingSoon.net, 2007-07-27. Retrieved on 2007-07-27. 
  2. ^ "Universal's re-born identity", Variety.com, 2008-02-22. Retrieved on 2008-04-18. 
  3. ^ a b "The Mummy 3 Gets New Title and Date", Worst Previews, 2007-07-27. Retrieved on 2007-07-27. 
  4. ^ Steve Head; Brian Linder. "New Scorpion King Pics and More!", IGN, 2001-11-15. Retrieved on 2006-12-29. 
  5. ^ "Sommers Won't Helm Mummy 3", Sci Fi Wire, 2004-05-19. Retrieved on 2006-12-29. 
  6. ^ Michael Vaal. "Exclusive Script Review: Mummy III Script", IESB.net, 2005-12-03. Retrieved on 2006-12-29. 
  7. ^ Clint Morris. "Fehr talks The Mummy 3", Moviehole.net, 2006-03-16. Retrieved on 2006-12-29. 
  8. ^ Stax. "Fraser Set For Mummy 3?", IGN, 2006-09-07. Retrieved on 2007-02-11. 
  9. ^ Paul Davidson. "Weisz Wants Mummy III", IGN, 2006-09-11. Retrieved on 2006-12-29. 
  10. ^ Gabriel Snyder. "Cohen in talks for 'Mummy 3'", Variety, 2007-01-09. Retrieved on 2007-01-13. 
  11. ^ Cindy White. "Mummy 3 Spoilers Unwrapped", SciFi.com, 2007-01-22. Retrieved on 2007-01-21. 
  12. ^ Stax. "Mummy 3 Exclusive - Character and casting scoops!", IGN, 2007-02-16. 
  13. ^ Michael Fleming. "Li and Yeoh take "Mummy" roles", Variety, 2007-05-04. 
  14. ^ Diane Garrett; Michael Fleming. "Fraser returns for 'Mummy 3'", Variety, 2007-04-11. Retrieved on 2007-04-12. 
  15. ^ Patricia Bailey. "Mummy moves back to Montreal", Playback, 2007-02-27. Retrieved on 2007-02-28. 
  16. ^ Bloody Disgusting; Bloody Disgusting. "New Title for Mummy 3", Bloody Disgusting, 2007-04-20. 
  17. ^ Michael Fleming. "Ford to star in third 'Mummy'", Variety, 2007-04-30. Retrieved on 2007-05-13. 
  18. ^ Michael Fleming. "Bello replaces Weisz in 'Mummy'", Variety, 2007-05-13. Retrieved on 2007-05-13. 
  19. ^ Bill Radford. "Starscream transformed into comic book", Detroit Free Press, 2008-03-23. Retrieved on 2008-03-23. 
  20. ^ Shawn Adler. "'Mummy 3' Star Maria Bello Talks About Taking Over For Rachel Weisz, Fighting An Invisible Baddie", MTV, 2008-03-10. Retrieved on 2008-04-09. 

[edit] External links

v • d • e
The Mummy franchise
Original pentalogy
The Mummy (1932) • Hand (1940) • Tomb (1942) • Ghost (1944) • Curse (1944)
Hammer tetralogy
The Mummy (1959) • Curse (1964) • Shroud (1967) • Blood (1971) 
Remake trilogy
The Mummy (1999) • Returns (2001) • Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008)
Spin-off prequels
Characters
Related topics