{"id":610805,"date":"2026-04-17T19:06:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T19:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/610805\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T19:06:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T19:06:08","slug":"lee-cronin-on-the-mummy-putting-his-name-in-horror-film-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/610805\/","title":{"rendered":"Lee Cronin on The Mummy, Putting His Name in Horror Film Title"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tAt the exact time Warner Bros. was cleaning up at the Oscars in early March thanks to \u201cOne Battle After Another\u201d and \u201cSinners,\u201d Lee Cronin<\/a> was a short drive away on the studio\u2019s lot, three-quarters into a 24-hour shift putting the finishing touches to his latest horror feature.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cLee Cronin\u2019s The Mummy\u201d was finally completed at around 7.30 a.m. on the Monday, probably just as the last stragglers were stumbling, perhaps mummy-like, out of the post-ceremony parties. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI remember staring up at the water tower, where they\u2019d already put up a big \u2018Congratulations\u2019 sign, and just standing there, shaking and exhausted, and thinking: this is a wild, wild moment,\u201d Cronin tells Variety. <\/p>\n

\n\tLess than five weeks on from that wild moment on the WB lot, \u201cLee Cronin\u2019s The Mummy\u201d \u2014\u00a0a balls-to-the-wall, excessively gory and unashamedly R-rated take on one of cinema\u2019s classic scare stories \u2014\u00a0is hitting cinemas. <\/p>\n

\n\tHaving turned heads with his deeply unsettling debut \u201cThe Hole in the Ground,\u201d and brought one of horror\u2019s best-loved franchises its biggest box office to date with the bloodsoaked \u201cEvil Dead Rise\u201d ($147 million worldwide off a sub-$20 million budget), Cronin\u2019s third feature underlines the Irishman\u2019s credentials as one of the modern genre world\u2019s most exciting and unique voices. So unique, in fact, that he\u2019s in the title. <\/p>\n

\n\tBut \u201cLee Cronin\u2019s The Mummy,\u201d which puts Cronin among a handful of directors to be named in their own movie, is called \u201cLee Cronin\u2019s The Mummy\u201d for a number of good reasons. Chief among them: it was an idea pitched by horror maestro Jason Blum<\/a>, who produces for Blumhouse alongside fellow scare specialist James Wan<\/a> for Atomic Monster (plus Cronin\u2019s longtime producer John Keville for their new banner Wicked\/Good). <\/p>\n

\n\tBut the film is also unlike any other entry in the near century-old franchise about a resurrected bandage-swathed Egyptian baddie. It\u2019s also very \u2014\u00a0very \u2014\u00a0different to Universal\u2019s Brendan Fraser-fronted action adventure series (the long-awaited fourth instalment of which was formally announced while it was in production \u2014\u00a0something that Blumhouse has lent into with a series of unusual marketing posts on X). <\/p>\n

\n\tShot between Ireland and Spain and starring Jack Reynor, Laia Costa and May Calamawy, Cronin\u2019s distinctive spin on the well-trodden story \u2014\u00a0with a budget in the mid-$20 million range \u2014\u00a0sees an expat American family in Egypt devastated by the abduction of their young daughter Katie. Eight years on, with the family having relocated to New Mexico, Katie is suddenly found tightly sealed inside a mysterious tomb. She\u2019s alive but badly deformed and barely able to move or speak. But who is she really? What follows is a crescendo of bloody madness, including a gruesome toenail cutting scene that shouldn\u2019t be viewed while eating, a grandma being eaten alive by a pack of coyotes and a truly bonkers wake that erupts into laugh-out-loud violence thanks to a pair of dentures. It\u2019s OTT and deliberately so. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt was a movie where I definitely wanted to swing for the fences,\u201d admits Cronin.<\/p>\n

\n\tSpeaking from his from his home in rural Ireland, a home (named Overlook, of course) he admits he\u2019s barely seen since buying it a year ago due to work, Cronin discusses teaming up with some of horror\u2019s biggest names to take on a cinematic icon, the potential for sequels, what\u2019s coming next from his new production company and how James Wan\u2019s mid-screening bathroom trip sparked an online rumor.<\/p>\n

\t\tWhat\u2019s the story behind, not just you doing your own take on the The Mummy and joining such a famed cinematic universe, but also bringing acclaimed horror icons James Wan and Jason Blum on board, alongside Warner Bros.\t<\/p>\n

\n\tIt actually started with a conversation with James Wan where he just said, \u2018What would you think about making a Mummy movie?\u2019 It wasn\u2019t screaming at me like the way \u2018Evil Dead\u2019 was screaming at me. But that was exactly the attraction \u2014 I wanted to come at something that wasn\u2019t necessary overly familiar to me, something that wasn\u2019t on my Mount Rushmore. I told this to James, and he goes, \u2018What about trying to make a really terrifying Mummy movie?\u2019 Now that\u2019s worth thinking about. So I said, give me a couple of weeks. And I just started thinking about it. And the first thing was the notion of mummification for a different purpose. When you think of a mummy, people will think of a Pharaoh or a golden sarcophagus. And I landed on this notion of mummification for different purposes. What if a loved one was mummified? What if it wasn\u2019t a Pharaoh, king, queen or prince? What if it was the average person? And that just creates a really, really simple \u2018why?\u2019 and from that, the horror started to leak in.<\/p>\n

\t\tHad you worked with James before?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tNo. I think it was probably the first conversation we ever had. It was a great start to a relationship. Obviously, I know James by his work. So you\u2019re always flattered when people just want to have a conversation. But what\u2019s great as well is that I write and direct, and I build stuff up from the ground myself. So it wasn\u2019t like, here\u2019s a script for a Mummy film. It was just a conversation, a primer.<\/p>\n

\t\tAnd James brought Jason Blum along?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tYeah, they had partnered up at that point. And then, through a variety of conversations and what Jason thought the title of the movie should be, with my name, and my relationship with Warner Brothers and the great people over at New Line, we had this powerful combination to go at it. The joy for me was that it was greenlit very quickly. But then there was the horror, in the most positive way, which was, oh my God, we\u2019ve got a release date. We need to just get started.<\/p>\n

\t\tWhat about Blumhouse\u2019s deal with Universal?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tYeah, and they would have had a conversation. But obviously Universal have got their own \u2018Mummy\u2019 franchise, and in a couple of years time they\u2019re going to bring out a new movie. They\u2019re great movies, but more action-adventure. But this was very distinctly a horror. And New Line felt like the right fit. And I\u2019ve got a first look deal over there now.<\/p>\n

\t\tWatching the film, I didn\u2019t get a sense of any \u2018The Mummy\u2019 film I\u2019ve ever seen. There were elements of \u2018The Exorcist\u2019 and perhaps hints of \u2018Annabelle\u2019 and \u2018Hereditary,\u2019 and obviously a heavy splash of \u2018Evil Dead.\u2019 What were your influences going into this?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI actually get a real kick when people feel a connectivity to the things that have essentially polluted my mind. \u2018The Exorcist\u2019 is interesting, because I understand there are possession elements to this story. But what I\u2019ve come to realize when people talk about \u2018The Exorcist,\u2019 it\u2019s also the patience that\u2019s in the movie. But I didn\u2019t watch a single \u2018Mummy\u2019 movie until after I\u2019d written my script and I went back and watch a Boris Karloff film. But there wasn\u2019t any major influence from those particular places, apart from great respect and reverence. The two movies I kept going back to and thinking about, were \u2018Seven\u2019 and \u2018Poltergeist.\u2019 Poltergeist is a story about a missing kid, and a missing kid who, even when she\u2019s brought home, the parents are still in doubt about what it is that lays in front of them. And it\u2019s interesting when people talk about this movie and \u2018Evil Dead\u2019 and I\u2019m like, well, that\u2019s no surprise, because I did make an \u2018Evil Dead\u2019 movie, and I also made an \u2018Evil Dead\u2019 movie in my terms and my way with my voice.<\/p>\n

\t\tIs this the first R-rated Mummy?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tQuite possibly! It is definitely an R-rated movie and that is actually very possible.<\/p>\n

\t\tYou said it was Jason\u2019s idea to call it \u2018Lee Cronin\u2019s The Mummy.\u2019 What was behind that?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tThey\u2019d read the script and everybody knew what it was and just said, \u2018This movie has your fingerprints and DNA all over it. Why do you reckon if we did this?\u2019 And honestly, I was flattered, but I was also unsure. And I was like, you\u2019re gonna have to give me the weekend to think about it. As always, I just talked to the people that I trust and the people that I trust were like, \u2018We know how you like to author your movies. Your fingerprints are on every single corner, so why not?\u2019 And if someone as smart as Jason thinks it\u2019s a good idea and he\u2019s backing you, then you roll with it. And I just see this flattering more than anything. But it is a cool way of separating this movie from what\u2019s come before.<\/p>\n

\t\tI honestly assumed that it was to make sure there wasn\u2019t any confusion with previous or future Mummy films. And maybe there was some legal or contractual elements to it. But this was a creative decision?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI think it\u2019s probably a little bit of both. Because we wanted to create a distinct identity and not create confusion. And I hope when people watch the movie, they will just enjoy it for its freshness.<\/p>\n

\t\tBut you have now joined a very small group of directors to have their name credited in the title of their film. And this is only your third feature.\t<\/p>\n

\n\tIt certainly won\u2019t be on everything from here on! My producer, John Keville, jokes about it and if I sit down, he\u2019ll go, \u2018Oh look, it\u2019s Lee Cronin\u2019s chair.\u2019 But I think it was right for this movie, even from the business point of view. In the great marketing team at Warner Brothers, there\u2019s a fantastic person there called Susie Shen who cuts the trailers. I remember speaking to her and about the title, and she said, \u2018But this is what\u2019s great \u2014 we get to play with people\u2019s expectations. There\u2019s nothing more valuable than being able to do that.\u2019<\/p>\n

\t\tWhat stage were you at when the fourth \u2018The Mummy\u2019 film at Universal with Brendan Fraser was announced?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI think there were some noises about it when we were in production, but it hadn\u2019t been greenlit. It is now. But I always knew, even if they weren\u2019t making another one, generationally there\u2019d be a lot of people that would point back to that film in some way, shape or form. And that\u2019s okay, because everybody has their cultural references and everybody looks for a shortcut in the comprehension of what something might be. As I said with that movie, number one, Brendan Fraser\u2019s an awesome actor. And number two, Radio Silence, the guys directing the movie, are wonderful people. So as somebody that has now fed into Mummy lore in the wider world of cinema history, I\u2019ll be looking forward to seeing what they do.<\/p>\n

\t\tUniversal\u2019s next \u2018The Mummy\u2019 obviously isn\u2019t out for another couple of years, but was there any sort of confusion about the two films?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tYeah, that would always exist a little bit. It\u2019s interesting with movies, because there\u2019s various code words for films and at one point, the internet found one of the code words we were using \u2014 Resurrected \u2014 and decided our film had been retitled. There\u2019s always internet noise, which is fine and part and parcel of making a movie. There was also a very funny rumor that James Wan was so disgusted by the movie that he walked out of a screening. He\u2019d gone to go to the bathroom! It was also the third time he\u2019d seen the movie, and he came back in. But I\u2019d rather have people talking about the thing you\u2019re making than not.<\/p>\n

\t\tI noticed that Blumhouse seem to be leaning into it. They posted several tweets explicitly saying, in capitals, that \u2018Brendan Fraser is not in Lee Cronin\u2019s The Mummy\u2019\t<\/p>\n

\n\tYeah, it really caught fire. I think it\u2019s important to be playful. As we got closer to finishing, I said to everybody involved that we should all be incredibly proud of what we\u2019ve achieved, so let\u2019s pump out our chests and own it. We\u2019ve made something that is unique, and that will be very clear when people engage with the film. So we should be just really proud and really confident in what it is we\u2019ve put out into the world.<\/p>\n

\t\tNow you\u2019ve brought your own unique Mummy into the world, any plans for sequels?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI\u2019m gonna repeat the best advice I was ever given, by people that know how to make movie franchises work, which is the brilliant execs over at New Line, Rich Brener and Dave Neustadter, and they\u2019ll always say: we let the audience decide. I\u2019m very audience focused. But I absolutely adore the characters in this world, and we\u2019ve dipped our toes into a much, much bigger lore. And if the audience really like this world and this universe, then there\u2019s no doubt there would be conversations about how we would continue to grow it. And as the originator and creator of it, I\u2019d want to be pretty involved with that. And I think there are great opportunities, because this movie is on a timeline. It\u2019s about a family in the here and now in Albuquerque, New Mexico, that are being affected by the choice another family made in Egypt 3000 years ago. So, no pun intended, I think there is a sandpit.<\/p>\n

\t\tThis film is the first out of the box for your own production company, which I understand was called Doppelgangers but is now Wicked\/Good?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tYeah, we bumped up against a little trademark issue so decided to rename the company to Wicked\/Good, which kind of captures both sides of the movies I like. But it started with John (Keville), who\u2019s my long-term producing partner, and Macdara (Kelleher) at Wild Atlantic Pictures. Just coming up to \u2018Evil Dead Rises,\u2019 I was really starting to find confidence in my own voice and starting to really see other filmmakers and what they were doing, and thinking, how could I support them in their endeavours? But with the success of \u2018Evil Dead Rise\u2019 and the fortification of a relationship with Warner Brothers, that suddenly started to turn into, no, this really needs to be a company with its own identity. And we\u2019re delighted that we\u2019re out of the gates already with our first production.<\/p>\n

\t\tSo what else is coming from Wicked\/Good?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tWe\u2019ve got a television show that we are in full partnership with Blumhouse and Atomic Monster on, which I created with Glenn Montgomery. It\u2019s called \u2018Spiral\u2019 and it\u2019s set in 1980s Ireland and dripping in folklore, repression and the strangeness of the Irish countryside. We\u2019ve also got a found-footage movie that we\u2019re producing, and a slasher movie with two brothers from Aruba, which is a really, really interesting and a different approach to the slasher genre. So we are looking at new talent and also established talent as well, and just looking for really interesting stories that can plant flags in exciting places within the genre.<\/p>\n

\t\tSo it\u2019s not just going to be in horror\t<\/p>\n

\n\tNo, the wider genre. We\u2019re interested in science fiction, we\u2019re interested in comedy and we\u2019re interested in thrillers. So no, it doesn\u2019t have to have a ghost or a demon in it to be a Wicked\/Good film, far from it. I think we\u2019re just interested in stories that ideally can be theatrical or can be very noisy and certainly have some sort of event-like quality to them. And it\u2019s very, very internationally focussed.<\/p>\n

\t\tDo you have anything else in the pipeline to direct?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI have a project called \u2018Box of Bones,\u2019 which I was developing after I made \u2018The Hole in the Ground,\u2019 and I was developing it again after \u2018Evil Dead Rise,\u2019 and before I made \u2018The Mummy.\u2019 But it was kind of starting to just slip down the pecking order, and for some reason, it\u2019s really, really appealing to me \u2014 it\u2019s kind of burning in my mind. So I\u2019m sitting at my new desk in my new house, and I\u2019m like, \u2018Is this the thing that\u2019s going to start polluting the desk?\u2019<\/p>\n

\t\tYou mentioned your Mount Rushmore before. \u2018The Mummy\u2019 may not have been on there, but what is? What cinematic world would you love to join?\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\u2018Lord of the Rings,\u2019 for sure. The fact that that\u2019s over at New Line \u2014 I\u2019d always be whispering a little bit of elvish the corner. That\u2019s a world that I absolutely adore. I\u2019d drop everything for an opportunity to play around in Middle-earth. And then, from a horror point of view, I would find it very hard not to have a swing at ol\u2019 Freddy Krueger, because he haunted my nightmares throughout my entire childhood and still pops up about four times a year. But I actually think it\u2019s unlikely that my next movie will be franchise adjacent \u2014 and that\u2019s something that feels important to me right now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At the exact time Warner Bros. was cleaning up at the Oscars in early March thanks to \u201cOne…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":610806,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[49,48,75,59511,65685,195286,162757,337],"class_list":{"0":"post-610805","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-james-wan","12":"tag-jason-blum","13":"tag-lee-cronin","14":"tag-lee-cronins-the-mummy","15":"tag-movies"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=610805"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610805\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/610806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=610805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=610805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=610805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}