Sit down, Tom Cruise. Brendan Fraser will show you how to actually do it.
The Hollywood Reporter And Deadline confirmed that the Oscar winner would reunite with Rachel Weisz for an all-new The Mummy film, marking their first return to the franchise together since 2001 The Mummy returns.
The sequel will arrive 17 years after the last installment, Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, and 25 years since Weisz’s last appearance as Evelyn O’Connell. Tom Cruise appeared in a reboot in 2017, although it didn’t perform as well as the cult classics.
But while fans are excited for their return, Fraser’s return also brings to mind the terrifying near-fatal accident he suffered while filming the original 1999 film. Speaking on The Kelly Clarkson Show in 2023, Fraser revealed that he “nearly died” while filming a scene in which his character, Rick O’Connell, is hanged.
“The camera whipped around and I went on tiptoe and the guy holding the rope above me, he pulled it a little higher and I was stuck on tiptoe, I had nowhere to go but down,” he recalled. “The next thing I knew, my elbow was in my ear, the world was sideways, there was gravel in my teeth and everyone was really quiet.”
Fraser also revealed on The Late Show with David Letterman in 1999, a doctor said he had been “technically dead” for about “12 or 14 seconds.” Despite coming close to death, he survived multiple injuries and surgeries over the years.
At the time he filmed The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon EmperorFraser said he was “putting together like a gladiator with duct tape and ice blocks.”
This assessment ultimately led him to step away from Hollywood for almost a decade.
