The Mummy is a media franchise based on films by Universal Pictures about a mummified ancient Egyptian priest who is accidentally resurrected, bringing with him a powerful curse, and the ensuing efforts of heroic archaeologists to stop him. The franchise was created by Nina Wilcox Putnam and Richard Schayer.
Original series (1932–1955)
The original series of films consists of six installments, which star iconic horror actors such as Boris Karloff (only in the original one, as Imhotep); and both Tom Tyler and Lon Chaney Jr. as Kharis. The series of films is part of the larger Universal Classic Monsters series. Year Film The Mummy actor 1932 The Mummy Boris Karloff 1940 The Mummy's Hand Tom Tyler 1942 The Mummy's Tomb Lon Chaney Jr. 1944 The Mummy's Ghost The Mummy's Curse 1955 Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy Eddie Parker
The Mummy (1932) When archaeologists awaken the tomb of the mummy Imhotep, he sets out to find the reincarnation of his long-lost love Anck-es-en-Amon.
The Mummy's Hand (1940) Steve Banning and his assistant Babe Jenson, who are being watched by spies, decide to fund an expedition. Magician The Great Solvani and his beautiful daughter Marta join the expedition, but when they awaken the tomb of the mummy, Kharis, they don't know whether they are going to survive the expedition.
The Mummy's Tomb (1942) The mummy, Kharis is back after he was lit on fire 30 years ago. Steve Banning has now become a famous archaeologist and is living in the peaceful town of Mapleton, Massachusetts. The town becomes less peaceful, however, when Steve is murdered by an unknown assailant. His son John tries to crack the case with some help from Babe, Steve's friend who helped defeat Kharis.
The Mummy's Ghost (1944) After Kharis is defeated by the Banning family, a new protagonist, Tom Harvey and his girlfriend Amina Mansori, who is the reincarnation of Princess Ananka, are in conflict with Kharis, who grows closer to Amina and wants to turn her immortal, while Tom and the police try to stop him.
The Mummy's Curse (1944) 25 years later, an irrigation project in the bayous of Louisiana unearths the mummy, Kharis from his sleep and is resurrected once again. Meanwhile, Kharis' lost love Ananka also forms from a swamp, causing the monster to embrace his 3,000-year-old love after many years.
Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955) Expatriate Americans, Pete Patterson and Freddie Franklin, are supposed to work as guardians of Kharis during its transportation, but their prospective employer, Dr. Gustav Zoomer, is murdered, and the mummy is stolen. The duo is left in possession of a sacred medallion which supposedly records the location of a hidden treasure. They get acquainted with treasure hunter Madame Rontru and with the modern followers of Kharis.
Hammer series (1959–1971) In 1959, the franchise was rebooted, starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. Though the title suggests Universal Pictures' 1932 film of the same title, the film actually derives its plot and characters entirely from two 1940s Universal films, The Mummy's Hand and The Mummy's Tomb, with the climax borrowed directly from The Mummy's Ghost. The character name Joseph Whemple, the use of a sacred scroll and a few minor plot elements are the only connections with the 1932 version. The films afterwards act as spin-offs in the same franchise, focusing on other mummies.
The Mummy (1959)
In 1895, British archaeologists find and open the tomb of Egyptian princess Ananka with nefarious consequences.
The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb (1964)
British archaeologists and their American investor Alexander King ship Egyptian mummy Ra-Antef's sarcophagus to London but someone has the amulet to revive Ra-Antef who then kills all those who disturbed his tomb.
The Mummy's Shroud (1967)
In 1920, an archaeological expedition discovers the tomb of ancient Egyptian child prince Kah-To-Bey. Returning home with their discovery, the expedition members soon find themselves being killed off by a mummy, which can be revived by reading the words off Ka-To-Bey's burial shroud.
Blood from the Mummy's Tomb (1971)
An archaeological expedition brings back to London the coffin of Egyptian queen Tera, known for her magical powers. Her spirit returns in the form of young girl Margaret Fuchs and strange things start to happen.
Stephen Sommers/Rick O'Connell series (1999–present)
Originally a proposed remake of The Mummy would have been directed by horror filmmaker and writer Clive Barker. Barker's vision for the film was violent, with the story revolving around the head of a contemporary art museum who turns out to be a cultist trying to reanimate mummies. Barker's take was "dark, sexual and filled with mysticism", and that, "it would have been a great low-budget movie".
In 1999, Stephen Sommers wrote and directed a remake of The Mummy, loosely based on the original film of 1932. This film switches genres from the emphasis on horror to action, concentrating more on adventure sequences, special effects, comedy, and a higher element of Egyptian lore. The film became a box office success spawning two sequels, several video games, a spin-off series and an animated television series. The first two films received mixed to positive reviews, while the third one received mostly negative reviews.
A fourth film is in production with a release date of October 15, 2027.
Main series The Mummy (1999)
It is the year 1923 and Rick O'Connell, an American explorer and treasure hunter, has discovered Hamunaptra, the city of the dead. Three years later, he meets with a beautiful librarian, Evelyn "Evy" Carnahan and her brother, Jonathan. When Evy accidentally revives the mummified corpse of an Egyptian priest, Imhotep, the pair must find a way to kill him before he rises back into power and destroys the world.
The Mummy Returns (2001)
In 1933, Rick and Evy are married with an 8-year-old son, Alex. When Alex triggers a curse and Imhotep is resurrected, Rick and Evy must once again try to save the world and fight both Imhotep and the Scorpion King.
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008)
Set in 1947, the film continues the adventures of Rick, his wife Evy and their son Alex against a different mummy, the Dragon Emperor Qin Shi Huang of China.
Untitled fourth film (2027)
After Tomb of the Dragon Emperor was released, actress Maria Bello stated that another Mummy film would "absolutely" be made, and that she had already signed on. Actor Luke Ford was signed on for three films as well. In 2012, Universal Pictures cancelled the film and later developed a reboot of the series.
In November 2025, a fourth film was reported to be in development with Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett attached to direct and David Coggeshall writing. Fraser and Weisz are slated to reprise their roles. In an interview made while promoting Rental Family, Fraser later mentioned it saying "the one I wanted to make…is forthcoming" and that it was time to "give the fans what they want". In a January 2026 interview with the Radio Times, however, Fraser seemed to suggest that a fourth film was not guaranteed, though he would want to be involved if there was one. The film was officially confirmed the following month alongside the involvement of Olpin, Gillett, Fraser and Weisz with a May 19, 2028, release date. That March, John Hannah was revealed to reprise his role as Jonathan Carnahan. In April 2026, the film's release date was moved backward to October 15, 2027. On June 14, 2026, during the 65th Monte-Carlo Television Festival, Hannah confirmed the presence of Arnold Vosloo and Kevin J. O'Connor in the cast of the new film. On July 27, 2026, Michael Johnston was revealed to be in talks to join the cast. In August 2026, O'Connor and Oded Fehr were announced to reprise their roles as Beni Gabor and Ardeth Bay, respectively, and that Numan Acar had joined the cast. Filming began on September 7, 2026.
Critical and public response
Film Critical Public Rotten Tomatoes Metacritic CinemaScore The Mummy 48 (34 reviews) B The Mummy Returns 48 (31 reviews) A− The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor 31 (33 reviews) B−
The Scorpion King spin-off series
This spin-off series is set before the events of Sommers's Mummy franchise. It follows the adventures of Mathayus of Akkad, later known as the Scorpion King within the series's timeline and an antagonist in The Mummy Returns.
The Scorpion King (2002)
Set in 3067 BC, the film reveals the origins of Mathayus and his rise to power as a legendary hero.
The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior (2008)
A prequel to The Scorpion King, it follows a young Mathayus who witnesses the death of his father Ashur at the hands of evil military commander Sargon. Mathayus's quest for vengeance transforms him into the most feared warrior of the ancient world.
The Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption (2012)
A sequel set after the events of The Scorpion King, the film continues the story of Mathayus, now an assassin-for-hire, and portrays his battle to stop the tyrant Talus from claiming the Book of the Dead.
The Scorpion King 4: Quest for Power (2015)
Mathayus is betrayed and framed by his friend Drazen for the murder of King Yannick of Norvania. Mathayus and his friends band together to stop his opponent from obtaining an ancient power.
The Scorpion King: Book of Souls (2018)
Mathayus is joined by the warrior Tala in a hunt for an ancient relic known as the Book of Souls in an effort to stop evil warlord Nebserek.
Future In November 2020, a reboot of The Scorpion King film series was announced to be in development. Jonathan Herman was attached to serve as screenwriter, with the plot taking place in modern-day and involving a contemporary adaptation of Mathayus of Akkad / Scorpion King. Dwayne Johnson was hired as producer alongside Dany Garcia and Hiram Garcia. The project is a joint-venture production between Universal Pictures and Seven Bucks Productions.
Dark Universe (2017) The Mummy (2017)
U.S. Army Sergeant Nick Morton, a soldier of fortune, accidentally unearths the ancient tomb of entrapped Egyptian princess Ahmanet. When she awakens from the tomb and unleashes the evils on the world, Nick teams up with allies to stop her.
A reboot of the series, the film stars Tom Cruise, Sofia Boutella, Annabelle Wallis, Russell Crowe and Jake Johnson. Directed by Alex Kurtzman and written by David Koepp, Christopher McQuarrie and Dylan Kussman (based on the story by Jon Spaihts), the film was released in 2017. Several directors and writers were attached to the project at one point, such as Len Wiseman, Andy Muschietti and Billy Ray.
The Mummy was originally developed as the first entry of the new shared universe franchise titled Dark Universe by Universal Pictures, who hired Alex Kurtzman and Chris Morgan to develop all classic movie monsters such as Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Invisible Man, Bride of Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Abraham Van Helsing, and the Mummy. The film, however, became a critical and commercial failure, causing all the future planned films in the Dark Universe to be cancelled.
Warner Bros.
While Universal-International produced and originally distributed the film, Warner Bros. Pictures would later acquire the distribution rights to the 1959 Hammer remake around 1985 and has been releasing the film on home video and streaming ever since.
Lee Cronin's The Mummy (2026)
Katie Cannon, the young daughter of journalist Charlie Cannon, disappears without a trace in the desert. Eight years later, the devastated family is stunned when Katie suddenly reappears. However, what should be a joyful reunion soon turns into a terrifying nightmare.