Between Steven Soderbergh’s No Sudden Move, Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale, and Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, the return of Brendan Fraser – or “Brennaissance” – is definitely in full swing. In fact, at this stage, the only way to make his comeback story even greater would be to give the people what they’ve been asking for since 2008: The Mummy 4.
“I don’t know how it would work,” Brendan Fraser, who portrayed the heroic former mercenary/archaeologist Rick O’Connell, told Variety.
“But I’d be open to it if someone came up with the right conceit.”
RELATED: Brendan Fraser Moved To Tears As ‘The Whale’ Receives 6-Minute Standing Ovation
In an attempt to cash in on the Indiana Jones-esque magic of The Mummy, The Mummy Returns, and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor featuring Jet Li, Universal (disastrously) rebooted the franchise back in 2017 with a flick starring Tom Cruise, Russell Crowe, and Sofia Boutella.
Not only would the latter go down in history as an epic box office bomb, losing around $100 million despite grossing $410 million globally due to high production and marketing costs, it’d also force the studio to scrap what had intended to be an MCU-style interconnected “Dark Universe.”
When prompted about why he thought the critically derided action-adventure affair did so poorly, Fraser pointed out the crucial element that was missing.
“It is hard to make that movie. The ingredient that we had going for our Mummy, which I didn’t see in that film, was fun. That was what was lacking in that incarnation. It was too much of a straight-ahead horror movie,” explained Fraser.
He added: “The Mummy should be a thrill ride, but not terrifying and scary. I know how difficult it is to pull it off. I tried to do it three times.”
RELATED: Nicolas Cage Claims His Best Movies Were Made In The Last 10 Years
Regardless of whether Brendan Fraser ever gets the opportunity to reprise his role as Rick O’Connell for The Mummy 4 – or whether The Mummy 4 ever happens, period – fans of the 90s icon will be pleased to hear about his forthcoming films. Like A24’s psychological drama, The Whale, which recently received a six-minute standing ovation during its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival.
Directed by Darren Aronofsky – who himself hasn’t helmed a feature-length project since the polarising Mother! (2017) starring Jennifer Lawrence – Fraser has taken on the role of a reclusive English teacher with a compulsive eating disorder who struggles to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter Elle, portrayed by Stranger Things alum Sadie Sink. And already, there’s talk of the man being at the forefront of this year’s Oscars race for Best Actor.
“It’s gonna be like something you haven’t seen before,” teased Brendan Fraser.
“That’s really all I can tell you. The wardrobe and costume was extensive, seamless, cumbersome.”
“This is certainly far removed from anything I’ve ever done but not to be coy… I do know it’s going to make a lasting impression.”
RELATED: Chris Hemsworth Pushes His Body To The Limits In This New Disney+ Docuseries
Brendan Fraser and Sadie Sink are joined in this adaptation of MacArthur-winning playwright Samuel D. Hunter’s story by Hong Chau as Liz, Samantha Morton as Mary, Ty Simpkins as Thomas, and Sathya Sridharan as an undisclosed character.
A24’s The Whale has an American theatrical release date of December 9th, 2022 (Australian release date TBA) – check out the official synopsis below:
A 600-pound middle-aged man named Charlie (Brendan Fraser) tries to reconnect with his 17-year-old daughter (Sadie Sink). The two grew apart after Charlie abandoned his family for his gay lover, who later died. Charlie then went on to binge eat out of pain and guilt.
