My thoughts on why 'the Mummy' failed to launch Dark Universe

[Kahran Ramsus]

I think it failed because it didn't look like The Mummy, it looked like Tom Cruise action film. If they wanted to do horror, they should have committed to it. The general audience probably wanted and was expecting something close to the Brendan Fraser Mummy franchise and when everyone realized that wasn't the case, no one was interested.

They aren't even in Egypt. They are in Iraq. I know they have an explanation for that, but it doesn't matter. It just isn't what people want from a mummy movie. There are other major problems (the lead character is horrible being a big one), but even the basic foundation of this movie is broken. It is kind of like Fant4stic in that there is no way it was going to work even if the execution was a bit better. The script never should have been approved.

 

[TheVileOne]

Always sort of strange to me why Cruise hitched his wagon to such a non-starter franchise. Just didn't seem like his type of material.

 

[Prison Mike]

I thought this movie was fun summer blockbuster fare. I was pretty entertained by this given how I don’t care for these “monster” movies very much.

 

[divan]

Always sort of strange to me why Cruise hitched his wagon to such a non-starter franchise. Just didn't seem like his type of material.

He and Universal just wanted the same thing, an MCU of their own.

 

[TheVileOne]

He and Universal just wanted the same thing, an MCU of their own.

Sure but an MCU of Universal Monsters which are like basically horror movie characters? If he had a great affinity for those classic Universal horror films I can kind of understand...

 

[divan]

Sure but an MCU of Universal Monsters which are like basically horror movie characters? If he had a great affinity for those classic Universal horror films I can kind of understand...

Nah, if they had love for those characters, they would have kept their horror roots or at least paid service to them. They just wanted to rip-off the most superficial parts of the MCU with adventure-action movies using whatever they owned. Cruise probably just didn't think any differently than, say, Fox, Sony or WB executives - Everybody thought that people just wanted shared universes and that if you gave them that they'd make a lot of money and "The Mummy" is just the culmination of the worst excesses of that line of thinking, made in a hurry without thinking about anything else they put in it. It seemed like a good idea at the time because a bunch of B-Listers nobody seemlingly cared about that much made more money than all but two movies in history and it's not like the narrative strenghts (beyond the mere fact that different movie characters can say "hi" to each other onscreen) of the MCU were commented on a lot critically those days (they were well received, but without any kind of analysis). It wasn't until the first flops producers realized it just wasn't that simple (and people in turn looked back on the MCU a bit more deeply to see why it had worked).

 

[StarLord]

It was typical Kurtzman schlock. Magic blood or magic dagger blah blah nonsense.

That guy must have gift of the gab to fool people into putting money down.

 

[jmc]

I can actually see this having worked if the right people were involved. If there was ever a cinematic universe concept that could have worked outside of the MCU or DC it's this one. So, I can see why Cruise attached himself to it.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

While far from perfect, the other monster cinematic universe (Godzilla, Kong, Mothra, Rodan, etc.) has succeeded far more than this one.

 

[Peyton Westlake]

Boris Karloff and Arnold Vosloo weren't unattractive in their portrayals.

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I don't think that was issue so much as I never felt any sense of true power from the character. Previous versions were unstoppable forces of nature. This one's powers are all over the map and she is stopped rather easily. Also, she had no character. The Mummy has traditionally had some sort of sympathetic backstory to explain their actions. Usually either some tragic romance or fighting against foreigners exploiting and pillaging Egyptian heritage. In this version she's evil because...she's evil. Not exactly a lot of depth there.

I guess if you think Karloff looks attractive with that crepey skin, then we have different definitions of attractive.

 

[Peyton Westlake]

I was thinking something more like this....

 

[Silvermoth]

It’s funny. People have sexified Dracula, zombies, even Gill Man. But not yet the Mummy. As in not just a quirky portrayal but full on like giving it the CW treatment

 

[TheVileOne]

While far from perfect, the other monster cinematic universe (Godzilla, Kong, Mothra, Rodan, etc.) has succeeded far more than this one.

Has it really though? Godzilla: King of the Monsters did not do very well. They've only had three movies in the last six years.

Godzilla vs. Kong has faced constant delays.

 

[Peyton Westlake]

While far from perfect, the other monster cinematic universe (Godzilla, Kong, Mothra, Rodan, etc.) has succeeded far more than this one.

Well I looked up how well it's done and this is what I found, so not sure what they consider succeeding nowadays.

GODZILLA : KING OF THE MONSTERS :

Theatrical Performance
Domestic Box Office $110,500,138
International Box Office $272,799,777
Worldwide Box Office $383,299,915

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

Has it really though? Godzilla: King of the Monsters did not do very well. They've only had three movies in the last six years.

Godzilla vs. Kong has faced constant delays.

More successful than the Dark Universe anyways.

 

[Prison Mike]

I think it’s considered a success if it can make back its budget (but preferably more) from the domestic box office. I read the budget was 170 million (probably doesn’t even include marketing costs) so it looks like it lost money.

 

[Peyton Westlake]

The figures I posted up above for King of the Monsters were not blockbuster but.....Kong Skull Island & Godzilla seemed to have done much more healthier numbers.
Not sure why the 2nd Godzilla entry wasnt the same as the 1st in terms of box office.

 

[Prison Mike]

Well personally I found the 2014 Godzilla to be pretty boring. Then they wait 5 years for a sequel with unlikeable human characters so I wasn’t really chomping at the bits to see that one. Plus it opened up to tight competition I think.

 

[Peyton Westlake]

Then they wait 5 years for a sequel with unlikeable human characters so I wasn’t really chomping at the bits to see that one.

You know ,when I was much younger, many,many,many moons ago...I enjoyed the Godzilla movies, even though they were not the best quality. But just as you said Mike, for some reason I didn't leap up now & say, "Damn I cant wait to see Godzilla". I was ok with waiting to see it on cable.

 

[Prison Mike]

You know ,when I was much younger, many,many,many moons ago...I enjoyed the Godzilla movies, even though they were not the best quality. But just as you said Mike, for some reason I didn't leap up now & say, "Damn I cant wait to see Godzilla". I was ok with waiting to see it on cable.

Yeah I mean I was honestly excited to see the first one in 2014...and I even saw it in theaters. But I just found it boring and kind of dozed off during some scenes(granted it was a late show and I was coming from a long day at work). I saw it again on video but found it just as boring as the first time around. Then when KOTM came out, I was happy to wait for it on video and rented it for $3 and I’m glad I did. I’ll probably do the same for Godzilla vs Kong.

 

[Peyton Westlake]

Then when KOTM came out, I was happy to wait for it on video and rented it for $3 and I’m glad I did. I’ll probably do the same for Godzilla vs Kong.

Yes, that may be a big problem for them with Godzilla vs. Kong. My whole feeling on it is this, its a matchup with todays CGI ,I would like to see but if its released around other movies I would prefer seeing more, I would wait to rent it too.

 

[TheVileOne]

Yeah I mean I was honestly excited to see the first one in 2014...and I even saw it in theaters. But I just found it boring and kind of dozed off during some scenes(granted it was a late show and I was coming from a long day at work). I saw it again on video but found it just as boring as the first time around. Then when KOTM came out, I was happy to wait for it on video and rented it for $3 and I’m glad I did. I’ll probably do the same for Godzilla vs Kong.

That's why I don't get why that movie got much better reviews than King of the Monsters. The movie did have some good visuals and production values, but it was sort of a boring movie until they got to the big fight at the end. The main humans were boring. They killed off the most interesting character in the first act. Most of the acting performances were really bad.

Aaron Taylor Johnson's character didn't seem all that concerned or worried about his family at all.

Now sure, the acting in King of the Monsters wasn't like world class or anything, but it wasn't as bad as 2014. I think KOTM did have a few too many characters and a couple could've been cut. Thomas Middleditch's character gets introduced and promptly lost in the rest of the film, doesn't really do anything. Too many interchangeable military soldiers.

Ken Watanabe had better direction this time around, but he's still forced to say a line about getting some sage wisdom out of a fortune cookie. Seriously, is that really Hollywood's ****ing go-to joke for Asian characters? "Say something wise and then joke you found it in a fortune cookie." For starters, Watanbe is from Japan!

 

[StarLord]

Ken Watanabe had better direction this time around, but he's still forced to say a line about getting some sage wisdom out of a fortune cookie. Seriously, is that really Hollywood's ****ing go-to joke for Asian characters? "Say something wise and then joke you found it in a fortune cookie." For starters, Watanbe is from Japan!

Lol. I was expecting him to go full Splinter and say ''I made a funny!'' after that.

 

[Prison Mike]

I need to watch KOTM again to see if my opinion of the movie has changed. I think it’s on HBO. I just remember not liking Vera’s character at all and getting annoyed with Millie Bobby Brown. But it did have some good monster vs monster action. I think I would love a Godzilla movie without any human characters.

 

[TheVileOne]

I need to watch KOTM again to see if my opinion of the movie has changed. I think it’s on HBO. I just remember not liking Vera’s character at all and getting annoyed with Millie Bobby Brown. But it did have some good monster vs monster action. I think I would love a Godzilla movie without any human characters.

Yeah, I think that's fair.

A few things that stick out in my mind on Tom Cruise's Mummy:

* Cruise's character not liking Annabelle Wallis talking about how short their time having sex was
* Jake Johnson's ridiculous character arc. I think it was partly meant to be evocative of American Werewolf in London, though not sure.
* Just all these convenient plot elements. Like Courtney Vance's character letting Cruise and Johnson's characters assist in Wallis' excavation of that tomb. Like why would he even allow that? Shouldn't they be arrested and court martialed immediately?