The Mummy is a classic monster in the catalogue of supernatural threats. For close to a century, Hollywood has been adapting this undead threat into franchise after franchise, some more successful than others. Let’s take a dive into the long-lost tomb of The Mummy films and see what history has in store.
The Mummy (1932)
The original 1932 film adaptation of The Mummy, directed by Karl Freund, is a supernatural horror film known for being a part of the Universal Classic Monsters Franchise. It stars Boris Karloff as the titular mummy Im-ho-tep, who awakes from his tomb in 1921 after being asleep for thousands of years. After blending into society over the course of a decade under the pseudonym Ardath Bey, he discovers a woman named Helen Grosvenor, who he believes to be the reincarnation of his past love Anck-es-en-Amon. Frank and Joseph Whemple, a father-son duo of archeologists, try to prevent Ardath’s attack on Helen, as Frank is in love with her.
Helen Grosvenor is played by actress Zita Johann, Frank Whemple is played by David Manners, and Joseph Whemple is played by Arthur Byron.
The original The Mummy would go on to have 5 sequels and spinoff films: The Mummy’s Hand (1940), The Mummy’s Tomb (1942), The Mummy’s Ghost (1944), The Mummy’s Curse (1944), and Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955). In The Mummy’s Hand, the titular Mummy is played by actor Tom Tyler. In the films after that, actor Lon Chaney Jr., who also played the Wolf Man in the 1941 film of the same name, plays the Mummy. In Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy, the Mummy is played by actor Eddie Parker.
The Mummy (1932) and its sequels can be rented off YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, or Apple TV.
The Mummy (1959)
The 1959 adaptation of The Mummy, directed by Terence Fisher, is a British horror film. While it has some elements of the original 1932 film, such as Joseph Whemple, it takes stronger inspiration from films like The Mummy’s Hand, The Mummy’s Ghost, and The Mummy’s Tomb. For example, the film’s climax, where the Mummy and his mistress flee to a swamp together to escape a mob, is taken directly from The Mummy’s Ghost.
The film stars actors Peter Cushing as John Banning, an archaeologist who seeks the tomb of Princess Ananka, Christopher Lee as the Mummy, Yvonne Furneaux as Isobel Banning and Princess Ananka, Felix Aylmer as Stephen Banning, and Raymond Huntley as Joseph Whemple.
Similar to its 1939 counterpart, the 1959 film would also go on to have a number of sequels: The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb (1964), The Mummy’s Shroud (1967), and Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb (1971). While The Curse and The Mummy’s Shroud feature familiar plot beats of discovering an ancient royal prince’s tomb, Blood puts a larger focus on the discovery of an ancient queen’s tomb, and her connection to the daughter of the man who discovers it.
The Mummy (1959) and its sequels can be rented off YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, or Apple TV.
The Mummy (1999)
The 1999 adaptation of The Mummy, written and directed by Stephen Sommers, is an action-adventure film. After adventurer and treasure hunter Rick O’Connell discovers the Egyptian city of the dead in 1926, he must team up with librarian Evelyn Carnahan and her brother Jonathan to fight off the ancient Egyptian priest Imhotep, who has risen from his tomb.
The film stars actors Brendan Fraser as Rick O’Connell, Rachel Weisz as Evelyn Carnahan, John Hannah as Jonathan Carnahan, and Arnold Vosloo as Imhotep.
The film became a cult classic adventure alongside the likes of Indiana Jones, spawning two sequels, with a fourth film in development for 2027.
The Mummy Returns (2001) picks up a decade later, following a married Rick and Evelyn alongside their son Alex, played by Freddie Boath. The original cast of Fraser, Weisz, Hannah, and Vosloo all return as their respective characters alongside writer-director Stephen Sommers, as the Mummy Imhotep is revived again to fight off a new threat: the Scorpion King. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson joins the cast as the fabled Scorpion King, an ancient warrior revived to wreak havoc on the world. The character would get his own series of spinoff films spanning 5 different movies.
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008) takes the series in a new direction, directed by Rob Cohen. While Fraser and Hannah return as Rick O’Connell and Jonathan Carnahan respectively, actress Maria Bello steps in to take over the role of Evelyn from Rachel Weisz while Luke Ford takes over the role of Alex O’Connell. While journeying through China in 1946, Alex discovers the tomb of Chinese Emperor Qin Shi Huang, played by Jet Li, alongside an army of terracotta warriors. His tomb is guarded by a woman named Lin, played by Isabella Leong. Lin is the daughter of the emperor’s former second-in-command Ming Guo, played by Russell Wong, and an immortal sorceress named Zi Yuan who the emperor sought out for immortality, played by Michelle Yeoh. The emperor is revived in the modern day by General Yang, played by Anthony Wong, who believes the emperor will save China following World War 2. The O’Connell’s works alongside Lin to take down the emperor, as Lin wields the only weapon that can defeat the emperor: a cursed dagger.
The Mummy (1999) and its sequels can be streamed on HBO Max.
The Mummy (2017)
The 2017 adaptation of The Mummy, directed by Alex Kurtzman, is an action-adventure horror film. It is quite infamous for being both the beginning and the end of a proposed Dark Universe, a revival of the Universal Classic Monsters franchise in modern Hollywood’s obsession with cinematic universes. In its attempts to set up a franchise before it begins, the film fails where its predecessors succeeded: providing a solid story first and worrying about sequels later.
Nick Morton is a U.S. Army Sergeant who discovers the tomb of the Egyptian Princess Ahmanet alongside his friend Corporal Chris Vail. After unknowingly reviving Ahmanet, the two fly back to London with her sarcophagus alongside archaeologist Jennifer Halsey. On their flight back, Chris is possessed by Ahmanet, leading Nick to kill the possessed Chris in self-defense. Nick dies and comes back to life with Ahmanet’s help after the plane crashes, as she seeks his body to use as a vessel. As a result of his supernatural resurrection, Nick has the ability to commune with Chris’ ghost throughout the film. Jenny, who survived the crash, works with Nick to defeat Ahmanet. It is eventually revealed that Jenny is working with an organization known as Prodigium, led by the dangerous Dr. Henry Jekyll, as they attempt to take down supernatural threats similar to Ahmanet.
Nick Morton is played by Tom Cruise, Princess Ahmanet is played by Sofia Boutella, Nick Morton is played by Jake Johnson, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is played by Russell Crowe, and Jennifer Halsey is played by Annabelle Wallis.
The Mummy (2017) can be streamed on HBO Max.
Conclusion
Amidst many reboots and franchise attempts, exploring the history and mythology of both Egyptian Mummies and beyond, Hollywood has had its hits and misses. Many curses have claimed the various Mummy franchises. The 2017 adaptation of The Mummy fizzled out attempting a Dark Universe before it could even begin. While the original 1932 film and 1959 film garnered a myriad of sequels, they suffered from similar plot beats revolving around archeologists discovering long-forgotten tombs. The one Pharoah to seemingly reign supreme is the 1999 Mummy franchise, as it continues onward into 2027 with a proposed fourth film bringing back the original cast. Other realms of Mummy mythology continue to be explored through the likes of Lee Cronin’s The Mummy, which released in theaters on April 17th of 2026.
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