Universal’s Dark Universe will reintroduce those classic Universal Monster films that terrified us as kids to a younger generation of audiences who might not be familiar with them. In this world of gods and monsters, the shadowy organization Prodigium works hard to find, examine, and contain these evil monsters. With Alex Kurtzman’s The Mummy opening in theaters this weekend, the film opens the door to an all new terrifying universe where those same gods and monsters that used to scare us now exist and live amongst us today.

In The Mummy, the first Dark Universe installment, Annabelle Wallis plays Jenny, an archeologist who uses two soldiers of fortune, Nick (Tom Cruise) and Vail (Jake Johnson), to find an ancient sarcophagus that has sealed away one of the most powerful evils on earth, Princess Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella). But Nick’s reckless behavior unleashes that evil, and it is up to Nick, Jenny, and the rest of Prodigium to find out how to stop Ahmanet from succeeding with her plans to complete her ritual.

We were fortunate enough to participate in a phone interview with Wallis prior to the film’s release, where she talked about what it was like to film with Tom Cruise, the physicality of the shoot, doing her own stunts, what monsters scared her as a kid, and more. Find out what she had to say here below.

For New Girl star Jake Johnson, The Mummy was a way for him to expand his career into action films, though he still retains his small-screen witty and charming sense of humor. In Universal’s new reboot, the actor plays Vail, a soldier of fortune, who joins Tom Cruise’s Nick Morton on global quests to raid tombs and swipe treasures for profits. However, they come across one tomb they should have never unearthed, and without realizing it, they release a powerful evil bent on reclaiming what was once her’s.

We were recently invited to participate in a phone interview with Johnson to talk about his experience on set of The Mummy, his training, doing his own stunts, and more. Check out what he had to say here below.

The Mummy is the first film of Universal Pictures’ Dark Universe, a shared universe of rebooted versions of the studio’s classic monsters. Though it still has a long way to go to be as prominent as the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the DC Extended Universe, the studio already has plans to expand their world of gods and monsters with new versions of Bride of Frankenstein, The Wolfman, Creature From The Black Lagoon, and Dracula. And much more to come.

Directed by Alex Kurtzman, The Mummy follows Nick Morton (Tom Cruise) a modern-day treasure seeker who accidentally unearths a sarcophagus that was meant to seal away an ancient evil. Now that she is reawakened, she seeks to complete her malevolent ritual and terrors that will surely bring about the end of humankind.

We were fortunate enough to participate in a phone conference with our fellow journalists to talk to Kurtzman about what it means to him to bring these classic monsters to the big screen once more, the future of the shared universe, and what makes these monsters resonate with today’s audiences. For more on this plus a little bit on what to expect from the Bride of Frankenstein, click below.

The Mummy (2017)
Director: Alex Kurtzman
Writers: David Koepp, Christopher McQuarrie, Dylan Kussman
Cast: Tom Cruise, Sofia Boutella, Annabelle Wallis, Jake Johnson, Courtney B. Vance, Russell Crowe
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Rated PG-13 | 107 Minutes
Release Date: June 9, 2017

“Welcome to a new world of gods and monsters.”

If you’re a moviegoer in the year 2017, odds are you’re familiar with the concept of a “shared cinematic universe.” Whether it’s the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s The Avengers or the DC Extended Universe’s upcoming Justice League, we understand that these franchises are built on standalone stories set within the same continuity, leading to crossover events and team-up films.

The idea of a shared cinematic universe came into being over 70 years ago with the emergence of Universal Monsters. Following their popular silent films, 1923’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame and 1925’s The Phantom of the Opera, Universal Studios began developing talkies based on other classic horror characters. 1931’s Dracula and Frankenstein got things started, followed by The Mummy (1932), The Invisible Man (1933), 1935’s Bride of Frankenstein, and The Wolf Man (1941).

This weekend, Universal will launch the start of their brand new Dark Universe monsters franchise with a reboot of The Mummy. Directed by Alex Kurtzman, the film will bring together some of our favorite classic monsters in an all new shared universe involving Universal Monsters. It will be followed up by the Bill Condon-directed Bride of Frankenstein, starring Javier Bardem; Creature of the Black Lagoon from screenwriters Jeff Pinkner and Will Beall; The Invisible Man, starring Johnny Depp; and Van Helsing, from Prometheus scribe Jon Spaihts, Arrival writer Eric Heisserer, and Dan Mazeau.

But that is just the beginning. Because Kurtzman says there are more Dark Universe films on the way. In a new interview, the man responsible for building this new Universal Monsters shared universe says Dracula, Frankenstein, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and The Phantom of the Opera are being developed. More on the story below.