Brendan Fraser (pictured) has closed a rich deal to return in "The Mummy 3," but Rachel Weisz is not coming back.
Rob Cohen will direct the pic, which is expected to begin production late in the summer. It will be set in China and will introduce Jet Li as a villain.
Universal is planning a summer 2008 release; franchise has earned more than $830 million worldwide. "The Mummy" bowed in 1999 and "The Mummy Returns" in 2001.
Weisz has won an Oscar and had a baby since the last installment, has dropped out of talks to reprise her role. She has several other projects in the offing, including "The Brothers Bloom" and Phillip Noyce's Outback drama "Dirt Music," set to begin shooting in August.
Script is by "Smallville" creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, who will do another pass that will factor in the absence of Weisz. Universal is holding up a greenlight pending a final rewrite, but a late summer start date is still expected
Fraser, who previously toplined the "George of the Jungle" films, has proven a reliable franchise performer. Word has it he's made a top-of-the-food-chain money deal for "The Mummy 3," the first film in the series that won't be directed by Stephen Sommers.
....Sommers and his [production company] partner Bob Ducsay are producing....
I am excited for this third go-round, if only because of the casting of Li, as the film's bad guy. His skills as a martial artist are simply amazing and should prove an asset...The first time I saw Li do his thing was in Lethal Weapon 4 in 1998 and I have loved him ever since...As for Fraser's return. I'm not surprised. He has as much at stake in the Mummy series as anyone else.
No comments:
Post a Comment