Universal’s reboot of The Mummy has found its hero in Tom Cruise (who is apparently playing a special forces soldier, or potentially a former special forces soldier, but probably someone who has been a military professional at some point in his life) and its monster in Sofia Boutella, and now the supporting cast is coming together.
THR reports that New Girl‘s Jake Johnson will appear “a member of the military,” in a role that’s apparently been written for him. Universal must have been happy with his work in Jurassic World…We’re big fans of the actor’s work, particularly in Joe Swanberg’s awesome Drinking Buddies.
He joins fellow new castmember Annabelle Wallis, who will be playing “a scientist.” Yep, pretty light on details, but the actress was superb in Peaky Blinders and deserves a better shot than disappointing doll horror Annabelle.
The first proper instalment in Universal’s monster movie remakes (it feels safe to assume that Dracula Untold has been quietly forgotten despite that tease ending) is being directed by Alex Kurtzman, who stepped in to make his directorial debut after Andrés Muschietti dropped out in a creative differences situation. It’s being written by Prometheus‘ Jon Spaights, who’s also working on the script for Pacific Rim 2.
The other monster movie that seems to be moving at full steam ahead is The Invisible Man, which has cast Johnny Depp in the title role.
How The Mummy will fit into Universal’s plans for a shared movie universe remains to be seen, but this is quite a fun cast that’s coming together. As long as it’s more entertaining than Dracula Untold. That’s the least we ask.
The Mummy will be released on 9 June 2017. Keep up with the latest genre news with the new issue of SciFiNow.
