(CBR) Andres Muschietti, who directed and co-wrote the enormously successful horror film “Mama”, is in talks to helm the reboot of Universal Pictures” “Mummy” franchise, Heat Vision reports. He would replace Len Wisemen, who left the project in late July, citing scheduling conflicts.
Produced by “Star Trek’s” Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, “The Mummy” reboot had been described by Wiseman as “more of a modern-day version of what would happen if we came across a mummy in our world today.” “Prometheus” screenwriter Jon Spaihts penned the script for what Universal calls “an “action-adventure tentpole with horror elements.”
The 1999 film “The Mummy” grossed more than $415 million worldwide, only to be outperformed by the 2001 sequel “The Mummy Returns”, which brought in $433 million (the two also inspired the short-lived “The Mummy: The Animated Series”). Although the 2002 Dwayne Johnson spinoff “The Scorpion King” stumbled at the box office, earning just $160 million, the franchise bounced back with 2008′s “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor”, which delivered $401 million globally.
A protege of Guillermo del Toro, Muschietti made his feature and English-language debut with “Mama”, based on his 2008 short film of the same name. Produced for just $15 million, the movie grossed more than $146 million in its theatrical release.