WTF Went Wrong With The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor?

Brendan Fraser saved the world from mummies twice. How can someone follow up success like that? By saving the world from mummies a third time! When he signed on for another Mummy sequel, he was working with a new director and new writers. Some of his co-stars were recast. Some were absent. But his task remained the same: stop the rampage of a power-hungry walking corpse. That’s what he set out to do in The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor... and it’s time to figure out What Happened to This Horror Movie.

Written by: Cody Hamman
Edited by: Juan Jimenez
Narrated by: Tyler Nichols
Produced by: John Fallon and Andrew Hatfield
Executive produced by: Berge Garabedian

SERIES SYNOPSIS: Hollywood has had its fair share of historically troubled productions. Whether it was casting changes, actor deaths, fired directors, in-production rewrites, constant delays, budget cuts or studio edits, these films had every intention to be a blockbuster but were beset with unforeseen disasters. Sometimes huge hits, sometimes box office bombs. Either way, we have to ask: What Happened To This Horror Movie?

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#joblohorror #themumy #themummy3 #brendanfraser #michelleyeoh

[licmir]

The idea is great, in theory. Turn the main character into an explorer who goes to different countries to fight mummies (like Indiana Jones, if his enemies were living dead). The problem was that producers recast characters, forgot about others, and made Brendan Fraser’s son an adult. Fraser was not old enough at the time for that to be acceptable. It looked weird. And they did that because they were too greedy, hoping to turn the son into the star of another trilogy. Marvel before Marvel.

[chickendrawsdogs]

Having no Rachel Weisz was already a major blow to the movie's marketing and story, her chemistry with Brendan Fraser was one of the major reasons the original Mummy worked so well - but another reason I don't see talked about enough is the titular mummy himself. Imhotep had such presence, urgency in his actions, and an understandable motivation in resurrecting his lover, plus Arnold Vosloo seemed to revel in every moment playing the character. The Emperor was just...well, plain evil.

[grantpowell]

The mummy and the sequel will go down as legendary movies

[joelwright]

This movie should never have been greenlit without Weisz. She and Fraser had phenomenal chemistry in the first two.

[anyaaa]

The problem for me was the fact that they recasted Rachel and COMPLETELY rewrote who her character was. Like that was sooo unnecessary. It made me feel like i was being gaslighted or something. It made the casting even more worse and I'm sorry but the new actress had terrible chemistry with Frasier. Also the "romance" thing going on between his son and that girl felt very very FORCED. Like they dedicated no time to let it grow but they still forced an unnecessary subplot into an already "okay" movie.

[TodaysDante]

No Rachel Weitz. That's what was wrong with it.

[totallypreposterous]

The director wanted to make the movie more grounded. Really? It’s a movie about a mummy dude.

[glennwelsh]

At the time, another Mummy movie just felt unnecessary or unwanted, and losing Rachel Weisz and casting an actor for Alex that looks more like Brendan Fraser's younger brother than his son didn't help either.

[richardblakely]

The 1999 and 2001 Mummies are comfort movies for me. Don’t know what to watch? The Mummy and The Mummy Returns. I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve seen them. Dragon Emperor, though, I’ve not seen since the cinema.

[sweetpetebrown]

I always thought they dropped the ball with the sequels fighting mummies AGAIN. Why not go up against a different Universal monster in each one? Rick O’Connell verses Creature from the Black Lagoon would’ve been awesome!

[marvelfoxmorty]

even though this third one doesn't have the same energy like it's two successful predecessor, i do like the China History mix with fantasy, very adventurous indeed

[_rishavthakur_]

The director of the first two OG MUMMY flims Stephen sommers has shown his interest for making the part 4, with the old cast, which is great 👍👏😊. I just can't wait for that THRILL, COMEDY, HORROR, and the chemistry between Brendon and Rachel ❤️‍🔥

[thisisntmyceiling]

7:15 to be fair, I saw this movie in theaters and I immediately went home and looked up the terracotta warriors. I know it’s the weak spot in the franchise but I enjoyed it.

[CSReed]

Honestly The Mummy animated series is a better third installment than this movie.

[williamedwards]

Oh, it was mostly just the recasting of Rachel Weisz that did it for me.
I like Maria Bello. She's good. She's pretty and talented. She's just not Evie.
The very moment Rachel Weisz turned down the script should have been the very moment they rewrote the damn thing. She wasn't an optional casting choice.
Stephen Sommer was also pretty critical to the first 2 movies' success. He really wasn't replaceable. And certainly not with a freaking Fast and Furious Director.
Ultimately, they should have delayed. Or just put this off until *everyone* was ready to do another one. Let Sommer do his comedy or whatever. Let Rachel spend time with her kid. Then get them back together a few years down the road.
It wouldn't have been ideal, sure. They wanted to keep the train rolling. But they didn't have a choice. Doing what they ended up doing was worse and ruined any real prospect of a franchise.
Just another example of out-of-touch corporatized studios thinking they know best and that the audience will just watch whatever.

[tenchifan]

The highlight of the film is Jet Li as the villain. He has the great level of powers and menace. The flaw of the film is the recasting of Rachel Weitz and completely changing her character. They just made a bad choice, as the new girl lacked the chemistry with Frasier and didn't really represent the character she was suppose to. I hated the guy they got to play their kid, found him just annoying. Glad they didn't make sequels with him, as I wouldn't have giving those a shot. I kinda liked this film, but it doesn't hold a candle to the first two, or even The Scorpion King.

[jboao]

Stephen Sommers talked about wanting to do a 4th film AFTER seeing the 3rd one flop… like uh you could’ve avoided that had you just done the third film like they originally asked. Smh.

[thegargoylecumeth]

Its actually really nice to hear one of the main asian talents in the movie was so down with the usage and portrayal of the cultures history and such

[ukmediawarrior]

Yep, loved the first two, hated this one. The chemistry was just not there between Rick and Evelyn in this movie. Without Weiss I just wasn't buying it.

[andrewchoi]

Thx for reviewing. I still haven’t seen the 3rd film😂 I was 20 when this was released. Good god😂😂😂