‘The Mummy’ Reboot Coming From Len Wiseman

Did you know that Universal was planning to reboot The Mummy franchise?

Deadline broke the news today that Universal Pictures has set their sights on Total Recall‘s Len Wiseman. Jon Spaihts (Promethius) is currently working on the script, and the film is shooting for a Summer 2014 release.

Film producer Alex Kurtzman in a Deadline interview had this to say about the project:

“When I first heard Universal was relaunching this, that is the image that popped into my head, the period tale, the old monster, but when Bob and Alex pitched it, there was a great new take and approach, and a very different mummy as well,” Wiseman told me. “It’s a darker twist on the material, a scarier version.”

The film will apparently take place in more modern times than previous iterations, which is a very interesting move. The previous franchise took place around the 1920’s.

Wiseman also had this to say about the film and its title character:

“One of the things that interested me with this mummy is, he’s still in essence a man,” Wiseman said. “They haven’t turned his brain into a monster brain. He still has a personality and is very cunning and calculating. He’s a true character in any form, and in creature form, even if he is that staggering creature, it becomes more important that he’s a thinking, calculating person.”

I totally forgot about this franchise. I don’t think I’ve seen any of the titles since The Mummy 2 was in theatres. A modern take is a cool idea, but I’m a bit wary of it coming from the writer of Promethius and the director of this summer’s Total Recall, as neither of those turned out too hot.

What are your thoughts? Looking forward to this one? Hoping for Brendan Fraser to return?