Universal has been pretty open about its plans for a shared universe hosting all its most terrifying monsters – Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, the Wolf Man etc. Now, it looks like the first piece of casting may soon be falling into place, with Sofia Boutella being cast in the reboot of The Mummy.
According to Collider, Boutella, who is most famous for her role as the deadly, blade-running Gazelle in Kingsman: The Secret Service (and soon to appear in Star Trek Beyond in an as yet unspecified role), will take the role made famous by Boris Karloff in Karl Freund’s 1932 original, and later reprised by Arnold Vosloo in the perfectly competent recent Brendan Fraser-starring actioners (well, apart from the third one).
Having already proven her villainous credentials in Kingsman, we’re looking forward to seeing what Boutella brings to the role. We’re sure there’ll be shades of Ghostbusters in the predictable howls of outrage at the mere thought of a female actress in the role, but hell, it’s not like the role was defined by the Mummy being male – does it really matter what gender the protagonist is? In our opinion: no, not really.
Alex Kurtzman (Star Trek, Transformers) is set to direct (as well as overseeing the project alongside Fast & Furious executive producer Chris Morgan), working on a script by Jon Spaihts (Prometheus, Doctor Strange), so there is definitely a healthy amount of creative talent behind the scenes. Apart from that, no additional cast members have been confirmed as yet, although Tom Cruise is reportedly in discussions for one of the lead roles. Brendan Fraser’s shoes are some big ones to fill, but we’re sure if anyone can, Cruise can.
The Mummy will be released in cinemas on 24 March 2017. For more news on the biggest horror movies, pick up the latest issue of SciFiNow.
