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Still from The Mummy (1999)
Film 1 of 3 · by Cinvibe Editorial Team

The Mummy (1999): Cast, Plot, Ending and Where to Watch

The Mummy (1999) is the film written and directed by Stephen Sommers that stars Brendan Fraser as Rick O'Connell and Rachel Weisz as Evelyn Carnahan, released in US theaters on May 7, 1999. It runs 124 minutes, cost $80 million to make, earned about $418 million worldwide according to Box Office Mojo, and is the first main film in the the mummy movies saga, placed second by release date after the 1932 original.

Image: TMDB
The Mummy (1999) theatrical poster
US release
May 7, 1999
Runtime
2h 4m
Rating
PG-13 / 12 / M
Budget
$80 million
Worldwide
$418 million

The Mummy Trailer

25th Anniversary | Official Trailer

The Mummy 4 trailer

What Is The Mummy (1999) About?

The Mummy (1999) follows a librarian, her reckless brother and a soldier of fortune who go looking for a lost city in the Egyptian desert and wake something that was buried there on purpose. In ancient Egypt, the priest Imhotep is caught in a forbidden affair with the pharaoh's mistress and cursed to a horrible living death. Thousands of years later, in 1926, the librarian Evelyn Carnahan gets hold of a clue to the lost city of Hamunaptra through her brother Jonathan, who is not known for his caution.

They free the soldier of fortune Rick O'Connell from a prison in Cairo so that he can guide them to the site. Out in the desert they run into a rival team of American treasure hunters, and both groups start digging in the ruins, each with a very different idea of what is worth finding.

The Mummy 1999 Cast and Characters

The Mummy cast

More of the cast: Omid Djalili (Gad Hassan), Carl Chase (Hook).

The Mummy Stills

  • Still from The Mummy (1999)
    The Mummy (1999), still 1
  • Still from The Mummy (1999)
    The Mummy (1999), still 2
  • Still from The Mummy (1999)
    The Mummy (1999), still 3
  • Still from The Mummy (1999)
    The Mummy (1999), still 4
  • Still from The Mummy (1999)
    The Mummy (1999), still 5

Release Dates

MarketDateSource
USMay 7, 1999confirmedboxofficemojo.com
UKJune 14, 1999reportedthemoviedb.org
AUJune 24, 1999confirmedthe-numbers.com

Where to Watch The Mummy

MarketSubscriptionRent or buy
USfuboTV, YouTube Free (Free with ads)Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
UKSky Go, Now TV CinemaApple TV Store, Rakuten TV, Amazon Video, Sky Store, YouTube
AUNetflix, Amazon Prime Video, BINGE, Paramount Plus, Paramount+ Amazon Channel, Foxtel Now, Netflix Standard with Ads, Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Basic with Ads, Amazon Prime Video with AdsApple TV Store, Amazon Video, YouTube, Fetch TV

Streaming availability data from JustWatch, checked 2026-11-03.

Who Directed The Mummy (1999) and Who Made It?

DirectorStephen Sommers
WritersStephen Sommers
ProducersSean Daniel, James Jacks
MusicJerry Goldsmith
CinematographyAdrian Biddle

Box Office

Budget$80 million
Domestic (US and Canada)$157 million
International$261 million
Worldwide$418 million
Worldwide, in September 2026 dollars$845 million

The Mummy box office for every film.

The Mummy (1999) Soundtrack and Score

Jerry Goldsmith composed the score for The Mummy (1999), and the music was released as "The Mummy: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" by Decca Classics on May 4, 1999. That date falls three days before the film opened in the US on May 7, 1999. The album is a score release rather than a song compilation, and it runs to 15 tracks.

Goldsmith is credited as the sole composer, with his role listed as score. For a film directed by Stephen Sommers, that puts the orchestral music in charge of linking the Hamunaptra dig, the desert chases and the horror of Imhotep's return. The music record for the film lists no featured songs, so the score and its album make up the whole musical picture.

The key facts at a glance:

  • Composer: Jerry Goldsmith (score)
  • Album: "The Mummy: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack"
  • Label: Decca Classics
  • Released: May 4, 1999
  • Length: 15 tracks

For the music across every film in the series, see the mummy soundtrack.

The Mummy: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack album cover

The Mummy: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Score album · Decca Classics · May 4, 1999 · 15 tracks

Cover art via Deezer

Full tracklist

  1. 1Imhotep · Jerry Goldsmith4:21
  2. 2The Sarcophagus · Jerry Goldsmith2:17
  3. 3Tuareg Attack · Jerry Goldsmith2:23
  4. 4Giza Port · Jerry Goldsmith2:02
  5. 5Night Boarders · Jerry Goldsmith4:09
  6. 6The Caravan · Jerry Goldsmith2:52
  7. 7Camel Race · Jerry Goldsmith3:27
  8. 8The Crypt · Jerry Goldsmith2:27
  9. 9Mumia Attack · Jerry Goldsmith2:20
  10. 10Discoveries · Jerry Goldsmith3:41
  11. 11My Favorite Plague · Jerry Goldsmith3:59
  12. 12Crowd Control · Jerry Goldsmith3:13
  13. 13Rebirth · Jerry Goldsmith8:33
  14. 14The Mummy · Jerry Goldsmith6:20
  15. 15The Sand Volcano · Jerry Goldsmith5:39

Sources: musicbrainz.org, themoviedb.org

The Mummy soundtrack

The Mummy (1999) Plot in FullSpoilers

The Mummy (1999) plot, in full, is a chain of cause and effect that starts with one book being read aloud. The film opens in ancient Egypt, where the high priest Imhotep and the pharaoh's mistress Anck-su-namun kill the pharaoh. She takes her own life, and Imhotep is mummified alive and sealed away under a curse. That curse is the legend the film asks you to accept, and it exists only inside the story.

In 1926, Evelyn Carnahan and her brother Jonathan find a puzzle box that points to the lost city of Hamunaptra. They persuade Rick O'Connell, who once saw the city, to take them there. A team of American treasure hunters led by Beni Gabor competes with them at the site, so the dig becomes a race as much as a search.

Evelyn finds a golden book and, against Rick's advice, reads aloud from it. That wakes Imhotep. The mummy begins to regenerate by draining life from the people he kills, and he brings the plagues of Egypt down on the land. It is a neat rule for a creature: he needs victims to rebuild his body, so every scene of him gaining strength costs someone their life.

He captures Evelyn, because he needs her as a sacrifice to bring Anck-su-namun back to life. Rick, Jonathan and the Medjai warrior Ardeth Bay, who has spent his life guarding against this return, race back to Hamunaptra to stop him. They fight through Imhotep's servants and rescue Evelyn at the last moment. Evelyn uses the other book to take away his immortality, and Rick drives a blade into him. Imhotep sinks back to the underworld and the city starts to collapse. The heroes escape with some treasure while Beni meets a grisly end in the ruins.

The Mummy 1999 Release Date, Rating and Parents Guide

The Mummy (1999) opened in US theaters on May 7, 1999, according to Box Office Mojo. Universal moved the date up from May 21 to avoid The Phantom Menace, per Wikipedia. The UK release followed on June 14, 1999 (reported by TMDB), and Australia on June 24, 1999, per The Numbers. The film returned to US theaters on April 26, 2024, for its 25th anniversary, per Box Office Mojo.

On the rating question, which parents ask most: the film is rated PG-13 in the US, 12 in the UK and M in Australia. The story includes a villain who drains life from his victims, the plagues of Egypt and a rival treasure hunter who meets a grisly end, so parents of younger children may want to weigh those scenes against the rating.

The film runs 124 minutes.

The Mummy (1999) Ending ExplainedSpoilers

The Mummy (1999) ends with Imhotep made mortal, killed and sinking back to the underworld as Hamunaptra falls apart, and the key to all of it is the second book. Evelyn reads from it at the climax, which takes away his immortality, and that is what lets Rick's blade finish the job.

In our view, this is the neatest piece of rule setting in the saga. The first book wakes him, the second removes his protection, and Evelyn is the person who reads both. The librarian is the one who starts the problem and the one who solves it, which gives her more to do than the usual adventure film allows. Rick's role is the physical one, and it works because Imhotep has first been made mortal.

Ardeth Bay lets the survivors go and wishes them well. Beni's death in the ruins is the film's punishment for greed, and the heroes ride off with only a little treasure.

Does the ending stay closed? Not quite. The Mummy Returns (2001) is set in 1933, nine years later, with Rick and Evelyn married and raising their son Alex in London, and a cult led by Baltus Hafez brings Imhotep back. The sinking into the underworld is a pause in the story rather than a permanent exit, and we would argue that the 1999 film leaves the door ajar on purpose. Why does the film work at all? Perhaps because it pairs a cautious rule set with a mismatched trio of leads: a librarian, her reckless brother and a soldier of fortune who has seen the city before.

Where Was The Mummy (1999) Filmed?

The Mummy (1999) was filmed in Morocco and the UK, not Egypt, because Egypt was politically unstable at the time, per Wikipedia, read alongside the TMDB and Box Office Mojo pages. Principal photography began on May 4, 1998, in Marrakech, Morocco, and ran about 17 weeks, to August 29, 1998.

  • Marrakech, Morocco: where filming began on May 4, 1998.
  • Sahara near Erfoud, Morocco: the Hamunaptra exteriors, the desert city at the heart of the story.
  • Shepperton Studios, UK: the interiors of the City of the Dead.
  • Chatham Dockyard, UK: doubled for Giza Port on the Nile.

The split shapes the look of the film: the dunes and ruins around Hamunaptra are real desert, while the interiors of the City of the Dead were shot at Shepperton Studios in England.

The Mummy (1999) Trivia

The Mummy (1999) trivia starts with money: it cost $80 million to make, a figure that Box Office Mojo and The Numbers both list, and it earned $157 million domestic, $261 million international and $418 million worldwide. So, was it a hit or a flop? On those numbers, a hit: it grossed more than five times its budget.

  • Jerry Goldsmith composed the score.
  • Principal photography began on May 4, 1998, in Marrakech and ran about 17 weeks to August 29, 1998.
  • Interiors of the City of the Dead were shot at Shepperton Studios in the UK.
  • Universal moved the US release up from May 21 to May 7, 1999, to avoid The Phantom Menace.
  • The film returned to US theaters on April 26, 2024, for its 25th anniversary.
  • Stephen Sommers wrote and directed the film and also directed the 2001 sequel.

Will the Mummy 4 have Brendan Fraser? Yes. Variety reported on February 11, 2026, that deals for Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz had closed for the fourth film, now titled The Mummy: Book of the Dead and set for a US release on October 15, 2027. It is directed by Radio Silence. See the mummy 4 for the current status.

Facts

FAQs

Is the 1999 The Mummy a remake?

The Mummy (1999) shares its title and central idea with The Mummy (1932), directed by Karl Freund, in which a high priest named Imhotep is brought back to life when a character reads a scroll aloud. On Cinvibe the 1932 film is a spinoff and the 1999 film is the first main film, so each has its own page. See the mummy 1932 for the original.

Was The Mummy 1999 a hit or flop?

It was a hit. The Mummy (1999) cost $80 million and earned about $418 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo, which is more than five times its budget. The domestic gross was $157 million and the international gross was $261 million.

Why is the mummy 1999 so good?

We think it works because the creature has clear rules and the leads are well matched. Imhotep regenerates by draining life from his victims, the first book wakes him and the second makes him mortal, and Evelyn reads both. Stephen Sommers also shot the Hamunaptra exteriors in the real Sahara near Erfoud, Morocco, rather than on a soundstage, and the ensemble of Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz and John Hannah gives the adventure its humor.

Is the mummy 1999 for kids?

The Mummy (1999) is rated PG-13 in the US, 12 in the UK and M in Australia. The story includes a villain who drains life from victims, the plagues of Egypt and a grisly death for one treasure hunter, so parents should check those scenes against their own comfort level.

Did Brendan Fraser get hurt during The Mummy?

The trade and box office records for the film do not report an injury to Brendan Fraser on the 1998 shoot, which began in Marrakech on May 4, 1998 and ran about 17 weeks across Morocco and the UK. Anything beyond that would be anecdote rather than a documented fact, so treat claims of on set injuries with caution.

Where can you watch The Mummy 1999?

As of November 3, 2026, in the US it streams on fuboTV and is free with ads on YouTube, and it can be rented or bought on Amazon Video, Apple TV, Google Play, YouTube and Fandango At Home. In the UK it streams on Sky Go and Now TV Cinema. In Australia it streams on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, BINGE, Paramount Plus and Foxtel Now, per JustWatch via TMDB. Availability changes often.