Michael Johnston, who earned fame with his role as Bear in the recent horror hit Obsession, seems to have landed a major film in a blockbuster franchise for his sophomore project. According to Variety, the actor is currently in early talks to star in The Mummy 4 from Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz.
While Johnston has previously starred in the TV series Teen Wolf, Curry Barker's horror thriller put him on the global map. The film, which was made in a budget of $750,000, became a cultural phenomena, earning over $450 million worldwide.
As reported earlier, Fraser and Weisz are reprising their roles as Rick O'Connell and Evelyn O'Connell in the fourth installment of the franchise. John Hannah is also coming back as Evelyn's brother Jonathan. Radio Silence's Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett are set to direct the upcoming film from a script by David Coggeshall. The duo created Ready or Not in 2019 and had also revived the Scream franchise for Paramount in 2022. Additional cast members are also not announced yet. The film will be a continuation of the events from the second Mummy film, ignoring the third part. Plot details for the new film has been kept under wraps.
The Mummy series headlined by Brendan Fraser spawned three films - the first and second, directed by Stephen Sommers were released in 1999 and 2001 respectively.
A prequel film The Scorpion King, headlined by Dwayne Johnson was released in 2002 and an animated series was also produced from 2001 to 2003. The third Mummy film, Tomb of the Dragon Emperor hit theatres in 2008 with Maria Bello replacing Weisz.
Sean Daniel, who backed the three films with his late partner James Jacks, is returning to produce along with Radio Silence collaborators William Sherak, James Vanderbilt and Paul Neinstein, who are producing through their Project X Entertainment banner.
The new Mummy film is slated to release in theatres on October 15, 2027.