Following his critically-acclaimed performance as Johnnie Cochran in American Crime Story: The People vs. OJ Simpson, Deadline reports that actor Courtney B. Vance has joined the cast of Universal’s The Mummy reboot. There is no word on who he will play in the film, but production is currently underway in London.
Tom Cruise stars in the June 9, 2017 release along with Annabelle Wallis (Knights of the Roundtable: King Arthur, Annabelle), Sofia Boutella (Kingsman: The Secret Service), who is playing the title monster in the film, and Jake Johnson (Jurassic World). The storyline is expected to be set in modern day with Cruise’s character to be a special forces soldier.
The Mummy is directed by Alex Kurtzman, who also produces alongside Chris Morgan (Fast & Furious series, Wanted) and Sean Daniel (The Mummy trilogy, The Best Man series). Jon Spaihts (Prometheus) wrote the screenplay, and Bobby Cohen executive produces. It’s being planned as the first film in the Universal Monster cinematic universe with plans for The Wolfman, The Invisible Man, Bride of Frankenstein, and Van Helsing all in various stages of development.
The original monster was made famous on the big screen by Boris Karloff in Karl Freund’s 1932 feature. Subsequent sequels to the original The Mummy saw Tom Tyler (who played Captain Marvel/Shazam in the original 1941 serials) and later Lon Chaney Jr. playing a different mummy than the one Karloff played. Stephen Sommers’ more recent The Mummy and The Mummy Returns films set Arnold Vosloo in the title role. Jet Li then played the villain in Rob Cohen’s The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.
