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The Mummy (1999) backdrop
Franchise guide · by Callan Brooks

The Mummy Movies: Every Film in the Franchise

The Mummy movies are a franchise of three main films plus three spin-offs, running from The Mummy (1932) to The Mummy (2017), with The Mummy: Book of the Dead announced for US theaters on October 15, 2027. The main saga is The Mummy (1999), The Mummy Returns (2001) and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008), all starring Brendan Fraser as Rick O'Connell, and the film now announced is a fourth Mummy movie with Fraser and Rachel Weisz reported to return.

Next: The Mummy: Book of the Dead · October 15, 2027
Image: TMDB

Every The Mummy Movie

All The Mummy movies

What Are The Mummy Movies?

The Mummy movies are a franchise built on one repeating idea, an ancient figure who was buried for a crime or a bargain and is woken by people who should have left the tomb alone. Six films have been released, split on this hub into three main films and three spin-offs, and a seventh, The Mummy: Book of the Dead, is announced for 2027. If you are new to the series, think of it like a family road trip: the O'Connells are the car everyone keeps climbing back into, and the other films are detours down different roads. The full list sits on all the mummy movies.

The story starts with The Mummy (1932), directed by Karl Freund and released by Universal on December 22, 1932. Boris Karloff plays Imhotep, a high priest buried alive for a sacrilege, and the plot begins in 1921, when a young assistant named Ralph Norton ignores warnings on a British dig and reads the Scroll of Thoth aloud. The film runs 73 minutes, and Zita Johann plays both Helen Grosvenor and the princess Anck-es-en-Amon, which tells you where the romance is heading.

Stephen Sommers brought the creature back with The Mummy (1999), a 124 minute adventure released on May 7, 1999 on an $80 million budget. Brendan Fraser plays the soldier of fortune Rick O'Connell, Rachel Weisz is the librarian Evelyn Carnahan, John Hannah is her reckless brother Jonathan, and Arnold Vosloo plays Imhotep. In 1926, they travel to the lost city of Hamunaptra, where a rival team of American treasure hunters starts digging in the same ruins.

The Mummy Returns (2001), also directed by Sommers, jumps to 1933 and finds Rick and Evelyn married and raising their son Alex in London. It ran 130 minutes, cost $98 million and introduced Dwayne Johnson as Mathayus, the warrior who earned his own film, The Scorpion King (2002), directed by Chuck Russell as a spin-off set in ancient times.

Rob Cohen directed The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008), which moves to 1946 and China, with Jet Li as Han and Michelle Yeoh as Zi Yuan. Weisz did not return, and Variety reported that Maria Bello replaced her as Evelyn. Alex Kurtzman then directed The Mummy (2017), with Tom Cruise as Nick Morton and Sofia Boutella as the princess Ahmanet, built on a $125 million budget according to Box Office Mojo.

Which Film Is Which?

Three films share the title The Mummy, so the year always matters: 1932 is the Universal original, 1999 is the Fraser adventure, and 2017 is the Cruise film. Lee Cronin's The Mummy (2026) is a separate film and is not part of this franchise.

Was The Mummy a Horror Movie?

The 1932 film is a horror film, and the later entries lean more toward adventure and action. Boris Karloff's Imhotep is a revived corpse, a man goes mad at the sight of him, and the mummy walks out into the night with the Scroll of Thoth. The 1999 film and its sequels keep the curse and the creature but set the scares beside gunfights and banter between Rick, Evelyn and Jonathan. The 2017 film is a monster action vehicle for Cruise. Within the stories, the curses are plot rules: in the 1999 film Imhotep is cursed to a living death, and in the 2008 film a sorceress curses an emperor and his army into clay. These are inventions of the films, not real events. For the mythology behind them, see the mummy egyptian mythology, and for the creatures themselves, the mummy villains.

How Much Did The Mummy Movies Earn?

The five Mummy films with a recorded worldwide gross earned about $1.86 billion combined, according to Box Office Mojo figures. The Mummy Returns leads at about $444 million, followed by The Mummy (1999) at about $418 million, The Mummy (2017) at about $409 million, Tomb of the Dragon Emperor at about $403 million and The Scorpion King at about $181 million. Tomb of the Dragon Emperor had the largest budget of the group at $145 million. The 1932 original has no budget or gross listed. The breakdown is on the mummy box office page. On music, Jerry Goldsmith scored the 1999 film and Alan Silvestri scored the sequel, which also carries the song "Forever May Not Be Long Enough" by Live, covered on the mummy soundtrack. Release dates in story order are laid out on the mummy timeline.

Still from The Mummy (1932)
The Mummy (1932)

The Mummy Movies in Order: Where to Start

The simplest way to watch is release order, and it runs The Mummy (1932), The Mummy (1999), The Mummy Returns, The Scorpion King, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor and The Mummy (2017). Chronological order moves only one film: The Scorpion King, set in ancient times, slides up to second place, ahead of the 1999 film. The full explanation, with both lists, is on the mummy movies in order.

Release order

  1. The Mummy (1932)
  2. The Mummy (1999)
  3. The Mummy Returns (2001)
  4. The Scorpion King (2002)
  5. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008)
  6. The Mummy (2017)

Chronological order

  1. The Mummy (1932)
  2. The Scorpion King (2002)
  3. The Mummy (1999)
  4. The Mummy Returns (2001)
  5. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008)
  6. The Mummy (2017)

So, where should a newcomer begin? Perhaps with The Mummy (1999), because it introduces Rick, Evelyn, Jonathan, Imhotep and the tone that the next two main films follow, and it is the one that makes the rest of the series click. It could be argued that the 1932 film works best as homework afterward, since it shows where the creature and the Scroll of Thoth came from, but nothing in the Fraser trilogy depends on it. The Mummy (2017) is a spin-off with a different cast, so it asks nothing of you and can wait until you want to compare it with the Fraser films.

If you are aiming at The Mummy: Book of the Dead in October 2027, the practical plan is to watch the 1999 film, The Mummy Returns and Tomb of the Dragon Emperor in that order, add The Scorpion King if you want the Mathayus backstory, and leave the rest for later.

Is There a Mummy 4? The Mummy: Book of the Dead

Yes, a fourth Mummy film is announced: The Mummy: Book of the Dead is set for US theaters on October 15, 2027, according to Variety, and its status is announced. Universal Pictures lists the film under that title on its official site, and the full status and cast tracker is on the mummy 4.

The project moved quickly. TheWrap reported on November 4, 2025 that Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz were in talks to return, with Radio Silence directing and David Coggeshall writing, and Universal had no comment at the time. In February 2026, Variety and TheWrap reported that Universal had set the film for May 19, 2028. On April 25, 2026, Variety reported that it had moved up to October 15, 2027, and the official title arrived on October 15, 2026. Outlets differ on whether the title carries a second "The".

Radio Silence is the directing team of Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett. The A.V. Club reported a returning cast that includes Fraser, Weisz, John Hannah, Kevin J. O'Connor and Oded Fehr, alongside Numan Acar and Michael Johnston, and the reports do not name the roles. TheWrap listed Sean Daniel, William Sherak, James Vanderbilt and Paul Neinstein as producers. No UK or Australian release date has been reported, and Universal has not disclosed plot details.

When a trailer arrives, it will appear on the mummy 4 trailer.

Next movie

The Mummy: Book of the Dead

MarketRelease
USOctober 15, 2027confirmed
UKTBCtbc
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The Mummy 4: status, cast and rumors

The Mummy Characters: Who Matters Most

The Mummy characters

The main characters of the Fraser films are Rick O'Connell, Evelyn, Jonathan Carnahan, Imhotep and Ardeth Bay, and the wider franchise adds Mathayus, Han and Ahmanet. Every profile is gathered on the mummy characters, and the actors are listed on the mummy cast.

Rick O'Connell is the soldier of fortune played by Brendan Fraser in the 1999 film, The Mummy Returns and Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Evelyn begins as the librarian Evelyn Carnahan, played by Rachel Weisz, and is credited in the sequel as Evelyn O'Connell and Nefertiri. Maria Bello plays Evelyn in the 2008 film. Jonathan Carnahan is Evelyn's brother, played by John Hannah in all three main films, and he is the series' source of bad ideas and worse timing.

On the monster side, Imhotep is played by Boris Karloff in 1932, where the role is credited as Imhotep and Ardath Bey, and by Arnold Vosloo in the 1999 film and its sequel. Anck-Su-Namun is played by Patricia Velásquez in both of those films. Ardeth Bay is the warrior played by Oded Fehr, and Fehr is also reported in the Book of the Dead cast, though the role has not been named. Alex O'Connell is Rick and Evelyn's son, played by Freddie Boath in 2001 and by Luke Ford in 2008.

The spin-offs and later films bring their own faces. Mathayus, also credited as the Scorpion King, is played by Dwayne Johnson in The Mummy Returns and The Scorpion King. Han, played by Jet Li, is a lead role in Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Ahmanet is the princess played by Sofia Boutella in The Mummy (2017), opposite Tom Cruise as Nick Morton and Russell Crowe as Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde.

The Mummy Music: Composers and Songs

The Mummy soundtrack

  1. Swan Lake (Scene, Act II)

    Licensed song

    Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky · The Mummy

    It plays over the opening credits, using the same arrangement Universal had used for Dracula in 1931.

More songs

Facts

  • Still from The Mummy (1932)
    The Mummy (1932)
  • Still from The Mummy (1999)
    The Mummy (1999)
  • Still from The Mummy Returns (2001)
    The Mummy Returns (2001)
  • Still from The Scorpion King (2002)
    The Scorpion King (2002)
  • Still from The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008)
    The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008)
  • Still from The Mummy (2017)
    The Mummy (2017)

Where to Watch The Mummy Movies Right Now

As of November 3, 2026, the Mummy films are spread across a handful of services, and Australia has the widest subscription coverage. The details here come from JustWatch data through TMDB, they change often, and the live table is on where to watch the mummy.

In the US, The Mummy (1999) streams on fuboTV and on YouTube Free with ads, and The Mummy (2017) is on Netflix and the HBO Max Amazon Channel. The Scorpion King is on Starz through the Apple TV and Roku Premium channels. The Mummy Returns, Tomb of the Dragon Emperor and The Mummy (1932) are rent or buy only, through services such as Amazon Video, Apple TV and YouTube.

In the UK, Sky Go and Now TV Cinema carry The Mummy (1999), The Mummy Returns, The Scorpion King and Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, and The Mummy (2017) is on Amazon Prime Video. The 1932 film is rent or buy only. In Australia, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Paramount Plus and Foxtel Now carry the 1999 film, The Mummy Returns and Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, with BINGE added for the 1999 film. The Mummy (2017) is on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Paramount Plus, The Scorpion King is on Paramount Plus, and the 1932 film is rent or buy only.

If you would rather own the films, the collectibles are on the mummy merchandise page, and the verdicts live on the mummy reviews.

Still from The Mummy (2017)
The Mummy (2017)

Streaming availability data from JustWatch. Where to watch The Mummy by country.

Explore The Mummy

FAQs

How many mummies movies are there?

Six Mummy films have been released: three main films and three spin-offs. The main films are The Mummy (1999), The Mummy Returns (2001) and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008), and the spin-offs are The Mummy (1932), The Scorpion King (2002) and The Mummy (2017). The Mummy: Book of the Dead is announced for October 15, 2027.

What are the movies in The Mummy movie series?

In release order, they are The Mummy (1932), The Mummy (1999), The Mummy Returns (2001), The Scorpion King (2002), The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008) and The Mummy (2017). The Scorpion King is a spin-off that grew out of The Mummy Returns, and the 1932 and 2017 films are spin-offs on this hub. The Mummy: Book of the Dead follows in 2027.

Which Mummy movie is considered the best?

There is no official best Mummy movie, and the answer is a matter of taste. By worldwide gross, The Mummy Returns leads at about $444 million, ahead of The Mummy (1999) at about $418 million, according to Box Office Mojo. Gross does not settle quality, so the ordering and reasons are on the mummy movies ranked.

Is there a Mummy 4?

Yes. The Mummy: Book of the Dead is announced for US theaters on October 15, 2027, according to Variety. Radio Silence is directing from a script by David Coggeshall, and Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz are reported to return. The release date moved up from May 19, 2028.

Is The Mummy 2026 connected to The Mummy 1999?

No. Lee Cronin's The Mummy (2026) is a separate film and is not part of this franchise. The film connected to The Mummy (1999) is The Mummy: Book of the Dead, due on October 15, 2027, with Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz reported to return.

Was The Mummy a horror movie?

The Mummy (1932) is a horror film, with Boris Karloff as a high priest revived by the reading of the Scroll of Thoth. The Mummy (1999) and its sequels mix scares with adventure and humor. The Mummy (2017) is a monster action film starring Tom Cruise.

Which Mummy movies star Brendan Fraser?

Brendan Fraser stars as Rick O'Connell in The Mummy (1999), The Mummy Returns (2001) and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008). He is reported to return in The Mummy: Book of the Dead, according to The A.V. Club. He is not in the 1932, 2002 or 2017 films.

Is the Tom Cruise Mummy part of the Brendan Fraser series?

No. The Mummy (2017), directed by Alex Kurtzman and starring Tom Cruise as Nick Morton, is a spin-off with a different cast and does not feature Fraser. It is placed last in both watch orders on the mummy movies in order.