The Mummy Archives

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(via TotalFilm & FilmShaft)


We all know that vampires are totally vogue at the moment.

Perhaps that’s why Dimension Films have decided to invest in a similar monster myth update.

Except they’re crafting anew the decidedly less sexy mummy – yeah, those wound and bound corpses who moan and stalk around trying to kill people.

The LA Times report that producer Doug Wick has come up with the idea of a mummy flick that goes the Paranormal Activity route and offer scares and thrills by meddling with cinematic technique.

Which means it’ll be “a more artful and modestly budgeted version of The Mummy”, while having absolutely nothing to do with Stephen Sommers’ Indiana Jones-inspired romps, nor Lon Cheney’s 1944 Mummy’s Curse.

Wick reveals that the film will follow a gang of young people who are haunted by a mummy curse, while most of the action will take place in the “unseen realm” (i.e. off screen), as we only ever witness the before and after of devastating events. According to the L.A. Times via Bloody Disgusting, this new Mummy will:

“Focus on several young people who are haunted by a mummy curse, with the action playing out very much in the unseen realm, as both the audience and the characters frequently experience the effects of the curse without seeing it explicitly.”

Could work. Dimension have reportedly enlisted Spanish director Gonzalo Lopez-Gallego to helm the project and also write the screenplay. It’s been budgeted at a very modest $5m, and no doubt ‘body actors’ Andy Serkis or Jackie Earle Haley will be approached for the mummy role.

Do we need another movie about mummies? If they’re done right, they could be creepy, silent shufflers. Time will tell if we can banish memories of Sommers silliness in time to have Archives make our skin crawl.