“Obsession” star Michael Johnston is in early talks to join the fourth installment of “The Mummy,” Variety has confirmed.
Johnston previously starred in the TV series “Teen Wolf,” but this year’s “Obsession” brought him to the attention of moviegoers when the low-budget Curry Barker horror film became a box-office sensation.
As previously reported, Academy Award winners Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz are officially returning for a fourth installment of the blockbuster franchise, “The Mummy.”
Universal Pictures has dated the movie, directed by Radio Silence’s Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, for a wide theatrical release on Oct. 15, 2027.
Fraser and Weisz, whose involvement was first reported last fall, have closed deals to reprise their roles as adventurer Rick O’Connell and Egyptologist Evelyn O’Connell in the movie, plot details for which are being kept — not unironically — under wraps.
Fan favorite John Hannah was also confirmed to return to the film’s franchise.
“The Mummy” follows a treasure hunter who accidentally awakens a cursed Egyptian priest with supernatural powers. The movie and its 2001 sequel “The Mummy Returns” were major box office hits, reviving the classic monster movie IP and establishing Fraser as a bankable action star. Weisz, however, did not appear in the 2008 threequel “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor,” so her return to the franchise is particularly thrilling for fans.
Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett (“Ready or Not” and sequel “Ready or Not 2: Here I Come”) direct the new “Mummy” movie from a screenplay by David Coggeshall (“The Family Plan,” “Orphan: First Kill”). Sean Daniel — who has produced each installment of the $1.8 billion-grossing franchise at the studio since 1999’s “The Mummy,” including “The Mummy Returns,” “The Scorpion King,” “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor” and the 2017 Dark Universe project — also returns for the film.
William Sherak, James Vanderbilt and Paul Neinstein, whose joint credits include “Nuremberg,” the Scream franchise and “The Night Agent” series, will produce through Project X Entertainment.
Clayton Townsend will produce. Brendan Fraser and Hivemind’s Jason F. Brown will executive produce the film.
Universal had no comment.
The news was first reported by The Insneider.
