Tom Cruise is starring in "The Mummy" remake

[PNGwynne]

Re: Dark Universe--How in the world can Uni update Phantom of the Opera? The thought of it scares me, and not in a good way.

[PNGwynne]

You made me take a longer look at Clooney's record. ...It also looks like the less theatrical competition he faces in the mid-budget range, the better he performs. In other words, he's Adam Sandler.

That's the cruelest thing you've ever posted lol.

[hedrap]

There was some reporting last week that Universal were going to throw every horror film under the Dark Universe banner. It didn't explain why, but the smaller films were told to expect the marketing. It looks like that was an attempt to save this new brand. Landis said his American Werewolf remake has nothing to do with DU, so he was aware of the swipe, but I'm wondering when he heard about the DU imprint.

Some new trade coverage is stating Cruise took over post-production and implies it's was due to Kurtzman's mess. I'm wondering if Cruise's changes made it worse.

I was so turned off by the initial idea, I hadn't considered how easy a remake The Mummy should have been. I'm obviously partial to Hammer's Mummy, so an inversion of that with Ahmanet as Ardeth Bey, would have worked. But they still need a Kharis.

[hedrap]

While I agree with your larger point, Clooney is a bad example. He continues to work consistently. And while "Tomorrowland" was a flop (along with many others)... he was in "Hail, Ceasar", "Gravity", "The Decendents", "Up in the Air"... a number of movies that were commercially successful theatrical releases without being conventional action blockbusters. Leonardo DiCaprio would be another guy like that. Cruise could certainly make his own "Up in the Air" or "Wolf of Wall Street" if we wanted to stretch himself artistically. But like you said, there is more a lot money to be made in action blockbusters.

You made me take a longer look at Clooney's record. It's interesting. For big budgets, the Oceans films are star ensembles and Bullock is the lead in Gravity, so his best solo success is Perfect Storm. But if it's a mid-size budget (20-30m), they're more profitable even though he rarely wins the weekend. Crazy, his best performing movies were Air Up There and The American. I forgot how much of a bust Three Kings and Solaris were.

It also looks like the less theatrical competition he faces in the mid-budget range, the better he performs. In other words, he's Adam Sandler.

[Goblin19]

I also liked War of the Worlds quite a bit. As far as the Dark Universe continuing, that will largely depend on international market now. Cruise is still pretty huge overseas so we'll see.

[ODBJBG]

WOTW is one of the worst movies I've ever seen lol. But Tim Robbins is hilarious in it for all the wrong reasons.

Reviews for this have been terrible. Not like middle of the road bad, like this is a horrible excuse for a movie bad. It's gonna bomb. It won't even open at #1.

Very curious if it does as bad as it's tracking to do, if Universal will can this "dark universe" now or try to hamfist a couple more stinkers before throwing in the towel.

Depp is box office poison unless he's playing Jack Sparrow and even that seems to have been milked just about as dry as it can. Though I could totally see him as an entertaining Invisible Man.

Javier Bardem doesn't have box office power and Bride, while a fantastic story and movie, doesn't really have the sort of connection with most people. I also find it awkward to do Bride before doing Frankenstein, but I suppose Frankenstein has been done to death.

I'm guessing we're 50/50 on the Dark Universe being done and/or "rebooted" before the next monster movie and Cruise's Mummy will end up like Norton's Hulk.

We shall see.

[Nostalgiabuff]

I love WOTW. it's a really solid movie. coming shortly after 9-11 some of the scenes were truly frightening.

[emeraldknight47]

Cruise was in Born in the Fourth of July...a real downer of a movie...I'm glad he went back to action after that...lol..

Oh, and his War of the Worlds remake, that was serious sci-fi right there...very underrated movie...

Man, Hec, can you and me be roomies? I thought I was the only person here to actually LIKE Spielberg's version/vision of WOTW. Definitely hewed very closely to the source material and, despite the fact that I always have and always will love the designs of the Martian ships in the George Pal/Cecil B. DeMille/Byron Haskin 1953 version, I found the Cruise vehicle to be a fine companion piece and is one of the roles that I do like Cruise in....

[LordMudd]

I liked Tomorrowland, but I am a FX geek, anybody could have been in that role


CCC.

[Hector]

While I agree with your larger point, Clooney is a bad example. He continues to work consistently. And while "Tomorrowland" was a flop (along with many others)... he was in "Hail, Ceasar", "Gravity", "The Decendents", "Up in the Air"... a number of movies that were commercially successful theatrical releases without being conventional action blockbusters. Leonardo DiCaprio would be another guy like that. Cruise could certainly make his own "Up in the Air" or "Wolf of Wall Street" if we wanted to stretch himself artistically. But like you said, there is more a lot money to be made in action blockbusters.

Cruise was in Born in the Fourth of July...a real downer of a movie...I'm glad he went back to action after that...lol..

Oh, and his War of the Worlds remake, that was serious sci-fi right there...very underrated movie...

[madmarva]

MILDLY SPOILERISH




There's some fun stuff in The Mummy, and it looks great, but it drowns you with exposition setting up the playing field for Universal's Dark Universe. There's little chemistry between Cruise and Wallis, and Cruise and his buddy, played by Jake Johnson. Sofia Butella cuts a striking figure as a succubus/mummy and was really the best part of the movie. The action is OK. The humor falls flat.

The film is as is part gender-twisted remake of Karloff's Mummy and part remake of American Werewolf in London. It also swipes from Monster Squad, the Indiana Jones flicks, and probably others. I love all those movies, but I really wish screenwriters and directors would get over directing referencing other films. I expected it to draw from Mummy films, but borrowing so heavily from American Werewolf just reminded how me how much better that film was than this one.

[sprytel]

Studios no longer make big budget dramas for theatrical. He can make dramas and take a serious paycut, move to a streaming project, or he can do this. Just this past week, Julia Roberts announced she was taking on a tv project. Pitt and Sandler are working for Netflix. You dont see Clooney because no one is willing to pay for his vanity projects and he stinks in action/genre projects. Tomorrowland was a huge flop.

While I agree with your larger point, Clooney is a bad example. He continues to work consistently. And while "Tomorrowland" was a flop (along with many others)... he was in "Hail, Ceasar", "Gravity", "The Decendents", "Up in the Air"... a number of movies that were commercially successful theatrical releases without being conventional action blockbusters. Leonardo DiCaprio would be another guy like that. Cruise could certainly make his own "Up in the Air" or "Wolf of Wall Street" if we wanted to stretch himself artistically. But like you said, there is more a lot money to be made in action blockbusters.

[Makernaut]

Studios no longer make big budget dramas for theatrical. He can make dramas and take a serious paycut, move to a streaming project, or he can do this. Just this past week, Julia Roberts announced she was taking on a tv project. Pitt and Sandler are working for Netflix. You dont see Clooney because no one is willing to pay for his vanity projects and he stinks in action/genre projects. Tomorrowland was a huge flop.

I hadn't considered any of that until I read your post. And now, I can see how obvious it is that things have changed to that degree. "Moment of clarity" kind of thing.

[hedrap]

Studios no longer make big budget dramas for theatrical. He can make dramas and take a serious paycut, move to a streaming project, or he can do this. Just this past week, Julia Roberts announced she was taking on a tv project. Pitt and Sandler are working for Netflix. You dont see Clooney because no one is willing to pay for his vanity projects and he stinks in action/genre projects. Tomorrowland was a huge flop.

[Goblin19]

I think Tom Cruise has settled into action movies because that's what audiences have seemed to want him in over the last 7-10 years. I'd like to see him in some different parts again, but I like him in action movies too. I just finished watching The Mummy. It was okay, but Cruise gives his typical solid performance.