Consider it wiped from the scrolls. The directors of The Mummy 4 have confirmed that the divisive third film — The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008) — will no longer be considered canon in the upcoming sequel. The answer they gave was elegantly brief: “Well, Rachel is in this one.” That’s all fans needed to hear.
🔗 Read the full history of The Mummy film franchise on Wikipedia
The Mummy 4 — Key Details at a Glance
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Title | The Mummy 4 (untitled) |
| Release Date | May 19, 2028 |
| Studio | Universal Pictures |
| Directors | Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett (Radio Silence) |
| Screenplay | David Coggeshall |
| Returning Cast | Brendan Fraser (Rick O’Connell), Rachel Weisz (Evelyn) |
| Is Tomb of the Dragon Emperor canon? | ❌ No — officially de-canonised |
| Tomb of the Dragon Emperor RT Score | 13% (critically panned) |
| Previous Franchise Films | The Mummy (1999), The Mummy Returns (2001), Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008) |
Why Was Tomb of the Dragon Emperor Cut Loose?
The third film always sat awkwardly in franchise history. When it came time to make it, Rachel Weisz declined to return as Evelyn O’Connell — reasons still unconfirmed — and Maria Bello stepped in as a recast replacement. The story moved from Egypt to China, tied to corporate synergy around the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Even Brendan Fraser later acknowledged it wasn’t the film he’d envisioned.
Fraser told the AP: “The one I wanted to make was never made. NBC had the rights to broadcast the Olympics that year, so they put two together and we went to China.” Despite his pride in the cast’s effort, he added that the film he truly wanted to make was “forthcoming.”
Now that Radio Silence — the directors behind Scream (2022), Scream VI, and Abigail — are at the helm, and both Fraser and Weisz are back together, the simplest solution is also the most satisfying: treat Tomb of the Dragon Emperor as if it never happened and pick up from The Mummy Returns.
This isn’t unprecedented in Hollywood. The 2018 Halloween ignored decades of sequels to continue directly from the 1978 original. Superman Returns skipped Superman III and IV entirely. The Mummy 4 is following a well-worn path.
What It Means Going Forward
With the third film out of continuity, the story of Alex O’Connell — last seen as a child in The Mummy Returns — is wide open. In Tomb, he was an adult played by Luke Ford. Now? Filmmakers can reintroduce him any age, any way they like. The script by David Coggeshall is already approved by both Fraser and Weisz, and Radio Silence promise it has “all the heart and character you could hope for.”
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