Blumhouse’s R-Rated The Mummy Sequel Prospects Depend On 1 Major Condition, Says Lee Cronin

Any follow-up to Lee Cronin’s The Mummy will depend on one major condition.

Produced by modern horror powerhouse Blumhouse Productions, the movie, which serves as a reimagining of the Mummy movie universe, is written and directed by Evil Dead Rise director Cronin. Unlike Brendan Fraser’s The Mummy adventure movies, his interpretation of the character falls squarely into the realm of supernatural horror, taking the Mummy movie franchise back to its Universal roots.

In an interview with Variety, Cronin weighed in on the chances of a sequel to the movie and detailed that it will depend on one major factor. He agreed with the approach of New Line Cinema that the franchise’s future will depend a lot on the audience. Check out his comments below:

I’m gonna repeat the best advice I was ever given, by people that know how to make movie franchises work, which is the brilliant execs over at New Line, Rich Brener and Dave Neustadter, and they’ll always say: we let the audience decide. I’m very audience focused. But I absolutely adore the characters in this world, and we’ve dipped our toes into a much, much bigger lore. And if the audience really like this world and this universe, then there’s no doubt there would be conversations about how we would continue to grow it. And as the originator and creator of it, I’d want to be pretty involved with that. And I think there are great opportunities, because this movie is on a timeline. It’s about a family in the here and now in Albuquerque, New Mexico, that are being affected by the choice another family made in Egypt 3000 years ago. So, no pun intended, I think there is a sandpit.

The chances of any follow-up to Lee Cronin’s The Mummy will depend on how the movie performs at the box office. Hopes will be high that the film will have a strong showing in theaters and reinvigorate The Mummy as a genuine horror franchise that can bring in audiences, as well as compete with other strong projects set for release. With a $22 million budget, projections show that the horror movie could deliver up to $15–20 million in its opening weekend.

Photo Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures

There is always the direct-to-streaming avenue if New Line believes the franchise would be worth continuing, but not theatrically. However, with Brendan Fraser’s The Mummy 4 in development and slated for a potential 2028 release, there is a chance that the more family-friendly take on the character will be the one that wins out long-term.

Ultimately, Lee Cronin’s The Mummy needs to hit the ground running and make enough money in theaters to show that this version can still flex its box office muscles as a horror project. That, at the end of the day, will come down to the audience, and whether the movie connects with them, and whether there is enough gore, along with an engaging story, to maintain audience interest through the coming weeks.

Currently, reception is mixed, with the critical score at 43%, but audiences are favoring it more, as the Popcornmeter is at 77% on Rotten Tomatoes. The cast of Lee Cronin’s The Mummy includes Jack Reynor, Laia Costa, and May Calamawy, and is produced by Jason Blum and James Wan.

Lee Cronin’s The Mummy is in theaters now.

Lee Cronin’s The Mummy

7/10

Release Date

April 17, 2026

Runtime

136 Minutes

Director

Lee Cronin

Writers

Lee Cronin

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