Some new The Mummy set photos have arrived that give us a closer look at Universal’s upcoming reboot by revealing the titular monster. Sofia Boutella, who first broke out as Samuel L. Jackson’s murderous henchwoman in Kingsman: The Secret Service and co-stars in this month's Star Trek Beyond, fills the role of The Mummy in this new film, and while these set photos are undoubtedly out of context, her iteration of the classic Universal monster certainly looks to be a bit of a throwback.
Alex Kurtzman, co-writer of the first two Star Trek films and countless other blockbusters, directs The Mummy, which is intended to be the beginning of an interconnected series of Universal Monsters movies. Tom Cruise plays the hero of this first installment, a military-type protagonist who is spurred into action when Boutella’s ancient queen is resurrected. The story takes place in present day London as opposed to the Brendan Fraser-fronted films (which were fun—give ‘em another watch!), which likely means this new Universal Monsters franchise is anchored by a contemporary setting.
Boutella looks pretty great here, although there will almost certainly be some CG touch-ups done to complete the look of the character, so it’s best not to think of this as the Mummy, but more a "Mummy work-in-progress." Russell Crowe also stars in the picture as Dr. Henry Jekyll, who will traverse through some of the other Monsters movies, and the actor previously told us that this Mummy reboot is designed “to scare the shit out of you” and had nothing but praise for the overall plan:
How they’ve pulled all of this stuff forward into a contemporary world and how they’re building it out from there, and how all of the different character interweave into each other’s stories, it’s fantastic.
Take a look at Boutella in some of the set photos below. Also starring Courtney B. Vance and Jake Johnson, The Mummy opens in theaters on June 9, 2017.
