Universal is ready to unwrap some exciting casting news for its anticipated film project, The Mummy! According to Deadline, franchise veterans Kevin J. O’Connor and Oded Fehr are returning for another tussle with the undead. Numan Acar is also joining the cast in an undisclosed role.
Both O’Connor and Fehr starred in 1999’s The Mummy, with Fehr reprising in 2001’s The Mummy Returns. O’Connor played Beni Gabor, a former French Foreign Legion comrade of Brendan Fraser’s Rick O’Connell, turned con man and servant of the resurrected Egyptian high priest Imhotep. Additionally, Fehr played Ardeth Bay, the leader of the secret society of elite warriors known as the Medjai, who are sworn to protect Egypt from the franchise’s undead antagonist. O’Connor’s Beni Gabor died in the original film after being eaten alive by a swarm of flesh-eating scarab beetles. How he will return in the new Mummy movie is anyone’s guess. Maybe he’s still alive? Maybe he returns as a scorned undead? We’ll need to wait and see.
Radio Silence’s Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett are directing from a script by David Coggeshall, with the film set for release on October 15, 2027. While the plot remains under wraps, Universal’s upcoming Mummy movie stars Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, and John Hannah as Rick O’Connell, Evelyn Carnahan, and Jonathan Carnahan, respectively. Last week, Michael Johnston, who played the lovelorn Bear in Curry Barker’s runaway hit Obsession, was said to be in talks for a role in the new Mummy movie.
According to directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, the Mummy sequel will be “really, really beautiful and scary and sweeping, and it’s awesome.” Bettinelli-Olpin added that he doesn’t think “Brendan and Rachel are getting involved unless they love that script, and what they read, I think they really liked. And it’s a good script. It’s gonna be fun to make.”
Resurrecting the Mummy franchise is a tall order, but I have faith in Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett to honor the adventure film series with a sequel that’s worth everyone’s time. With so many of the franchise’s stars willing to return and hitting the gym to make sure they can handle the task, we’re in business!