Brendan Fraser has finalized his deal with Universal, setting up his return to The Mummy 3. But he’ll have to go it alone, as his leading lady, Rachel Weisz has opted not to return to the successful film franchise.
The third Mummy is currently on track for a summer 2008 release, with production set to begin in late summer. The film, set in China, will be directed by Rob Cohen and introduce a new villian played by Jet Li.
The script (penned by Smallville creators Miles Millar and Alfred Gough) will have to be re-worked to account for the absence of Weisz’s character. Until that rewrite, Universal will hold up the official greenlight.
The Mummy franchise (The Mummy (1999) and The Mummy Returns (2001)) has grossed more than $848.9 million worldwide.
Oh wow, a sequel to a sequel so crappy that it orginally didn’t get a sequel, just a crappy spinoff?
And now one of the main characters is being written out?
We all saw what happened to X-men 3 when they started writing out characters.
It was long enough ago that people won’t notice the lack of Weisz. Good for her… her career’s on a good path, don’t need a pile of junk like this on her resume.
[...] 14, 2007 Posted by Russ T.C. in Mummy 3, Casting, Movies, News. trackback With Rachel Weisz opting not to return to The Mummy franchise, the studio had to set out looking for her replacement. They’ve found [...]