While Marvel is releasing its 13th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe this weekend, some studios are just getting started on their own interconnected series of films. Universal has been crafting a rebooted Universal Monsters Universe for a couple of years now, but the first installment—a reboot of The Mummy starring Tom Cruise—is finally filming, and now we have an official synopsis to give us a better idea of what to expect from the film.

Alex Kurtzman, one half of the Kurtzman/Roberto Orci screenwriting duo responsible for blockbusters like Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Star Trek, is writing and directing The Mummy, marking his second directorial effort following the Chris Pine dramedy Welcome to People. Kurtzman is now overseeing the entire Universal Monsters Universe alongside Fast & Furious scribe Chris Morgan, and things kick off with The Mummy, whose synopsis reads as follows:


Thought safely entombed in a crypt deep beneath the unforgiving desert, an ancient queen (Sofia Boutella of Kingsman: The Secret Service and Star Trek Beyond) whose destiny was unjustly taken from her, is awakened in our current day, bringing with her malevolence grown over millennia and terrors that defy human comprehension.

 

From the sweeping sands of the Middle East through hidden labyrinths under modern-day London, The Mummy brings a surprising intensity and balance of wonder and thrills in an imaginative new take that ushers in a new world of gods and monsters.

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Image via 20th Century Fox

The “gods and monsters” line is a reference to the 1935 film Bride of Frankenstein, but clearly The Mummy reboot will be venturing to a number of locations, though it appears most of the action takes place in modern-day London with Tom Cruise’s military-type character leading the fray. The cast also includes Courtney B. Vance (The People vs. O.J. Simpson), Jake Johnson (New Girl) and Annabelle Wallis (Peaky Blinders), but it appears that Kurtzman is also looking to lay the groundwork for future films within The Mummy as we just learned that Russell Crowe is in talks to appear as a Dr. Jekyll-type character.

Universal has amassed a pretty impressive lineup for its films thus far, with Johnny Depp set to lead The Invisible Man and Angelina Jolie being courted for Bride of Frankenstein, while Van HelsingThe Wolfman, and Dracula are also in the works. The Mummy reboot comes first, though, with all the starpower of Tom Cruise when it hits theaters on June 9, 2017.


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Image via Universal