Russell Crowe: ‘The Mummy’ Is ‘Designed to Seriously Scare the S— Out of You’

08/05/2016 - Unlike Brendan Fraser’s trilogy, Universal’s “The Mummy” reboot is better categorized as a horror pic than an action-adventure, according to Russell Crowe. Crowe confirmed that he’s joined Tom Cruise in the remake. “I’m gonna do it,” Crowe said about the film at a press junket at the Beverly Hilton promoting his action comedy “The Nice Guys,” according to Collider. Crowe portrays Dr. Henry Jekyll, a Royal Society fellow, opposite Cruise, who plays a Navy Seal hunting terrorists. “New Girl” star Jake Johnson and “The People v. O.J. Simpson’s” Courtney B. Vance also recently boarded the movie. When asked how the remake differs from Fraser’s films, Crowe said, “This one is kind of more designed to seriously scare the s— out of you.” The Aussie actor added that he’s already been bouncing off ideas for the film with director Alex Kurtzman (“there were a few things I put up in the air and he picked up on them”). “It’s very interesting, what they’re gonna do with that stuff. I’ve had a couple of chats about it with the director,” Crowe said before joking about his relationship with Cruise. “I’ve known Tom Cruise since 1992, or something like that. When he was married to an Australian, I was really good friends with him. But when he got divorced, I was part of the settlement package, and I went to Nicole [Kidman].” The studio tapped Alex Kurtzman and Chris Morgan last summer to develop a monster universe with rebooted versions of its classic monster movies. Universal hopes Crowe’s role in “The Mummy” will lead to a possible standalone film, potentially launching a new franchise. “The Mummy” is set to bow on June 9, 2017.

(VARIETY)