This is an expanded universe based upon monster movies, after all, and it could conceivably swing from straight horror to the more tongue-in-cheek takes seen in the Brendan Fraser series. (In the original Universal films, characters like Frankenstein and the Wolf Man ended up teaming up in various ways, before things took a more comedic bent in movies like Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.)īut with the attempted launch of any new series, one of the biggest questions can be the matter of tone. Hyde fame - who is part of a mysterious group called Prodigium that seems to be focused on discovering various monsters in what will no doubt lead to eventual match-ups. Given that though, the hooks and larger ambitions are clear. It’s not so much ‘build a universe,’ as it is ‘make a great Mummy movie.’” “So that has been the goal in making The Mummy. “Whether it was by default, or because they did it intentionally, they knew that the audience needed to fall in love with each individual character first, and if they did that, then a world would present itself,” he said.

has done with its handling of the DC world - doesn’t give audiences anything to latch onto or feel invested in, something that Kurtzman said Universal’s original films understand at a fundamental level. And if you do that, then the audience will follow you.” Simply jumping into an Avengers-style team-up - as some have argued that Warner Bros. “You have to make great individual movies, first and foremost,” Kurtzman said. “You have to make great individual movies, first and foremost.” But in a briefing with journalists last week, Kurtzman emphasized that putting a universe ahead of any given character or film was a surefire way to fail. Kurtzman has been masterminding the new “Universal Monsters” universe alongside Fast and the Furious architect Chris Morgan, with films about characters like The Invisible Man, the Wolf Man, and vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing in various stages of development. Star Trek Beyond’s Sofia Boutella stars as the titular Mummy herself.

Starring Tom Cruise and directed by Alex Kurtzman - best known as the writer of movies like Star Trek Into Darkness and Transformers - the new Mummy looks to be as much an action film as anything else, with Cruise stuck in a death-defying sequence right at the top, and facing various moments of peril and adventure throughout the clip. Marvel may have kicked off the current expanded cinematic universe craze, but the concept arguably started back with the classic Universal Pictures horror films - and the studio is hoping that the first trailer for The Mummy will be the beginning of a new run of interconnected movies.

The mummy movie trailer