‘The Mummy’ Director Admits the Film Wasn’t What He “Wanted It to Be”

The Mummy was meant to launch the Dark Universe of Universal Monster reboots, yet the film’s disappointing critical and financial reception seemingly killed the shared universe’s future. Director of The Mummy, Alex Kurtzman, recently confirmed that the film also disappointed him and wasn’t what he had envisioned.

“The Mummy wasn’t what I wanted it to be,” Kurtzman revealed to The Hollywood Reporter. “I’m no longer involved in that and have no idea what’s going on with it. I look back on it now [and] what felt painful at the time ended up being an incredible blessing for me. I learned that I need to follow my own instincts, and when I can’t fully do that, I don’t think I can succeed.”

The director had a daunting task ahead of him, as the original Boris Karloff-starringThe Mummy is drastically different than the immensely successful 1999 reimagining of the property. The more recent incarnation offered audiences a more swashbuckling, action-oriented adventure, as opposed to the slow and shambling undead creature seen in 1932.

While the 2017 adaptation leaned more heavily into the horror themes, it also delivered epic CGI action, which was one of many elements that disappointed devout fans of the character.

The film might have been a disappointment at the domestic box office, but it ended up being a hit overseas, ultimately taking in more than $400 million worldwide. Despite being disappointed with the final product, the filmmaker previously detailed the real joy was seeing audiences connect with his films.

“The only gauge that I really use to judge it is having just traveled around the world and hearing the audiences in the theaters,” the director shared with Business Insider while the film was still in theaters. “This is a movie that I think is made for audiences and in my experience, critics and audiences don’t always sing the same song.”

General audiences weren’t the only ones disappointed with the film, as The Mummy earned only 15 percent positive reviews according to aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes.

“I’m not making movies for them,” Kurtzman explained of critics. “Would I love them to love it? Of course, everybody would, but that’s not really the endgame. We made a film for audiences and not critics so my great hope is they will find it and they will appreciate it.”

The next film in the Dark Universe was slated to be a reboot of Bride of Frankenstein, though Universal Pictures announced in October of 2017 that the film had been delayed indefinitely.

Stay tuned for details about any possible future for the Dark Universe.

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