The New ‘Mummy’ Movie May Be Erasing the Dragon Emperor from Canon

Franchise revivals always come with a tricky question hanging over them: which parts of the original story actually still count? Few reboots have had to answer that question quite as directly as Universal’s return to its beloved turn-of-the-century adventure series, especially given how divisive one particular chapter of that franchise turned out to be.

The 1999 original and its 2001 sequel became genuine blockbuster hits, built around the chemistry between Brendan Fraser’s Rick O’Connell and Rachel Weisz’s Evelyn Carnahan as they battled a resurrected Egyptian priest. That winning formula shifted dramatically for the franchise’s third entry, when Weisz declined to return and the story relocated from Egypt to China under a different director.

Now that Fraser and Weisz are both officially back for the fourth installment, currently in production under directing duo Radio Silence, the film appears to be skipping right past that contested third chapter entirely and continuing the story as though it picks up directly after ‘The Mummy Returns.’

Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett addressed the question of continuity head-on when asked whether ‘The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor’ would factor into their new film’s canon. Bettinelli-Olpin offered a pointed response, telling Entertainment Weekly simply that Weisz is in this one, with Gillett adding that the answer should speak for itself.

That answer, while not an outright confirmation, leaves little room for interpretation. Weisz’s absence from the 2008 film, where Maria Bello stepped in as Evelyn instead, has long been considered the reason the third movie is generally regarded as the weakest entry in the series, and her return now suggests Radio Silence intends to treat that recasting, and the film built around it, as something that essentially never happened.

Fraser himself has been candid about his own complicated feelings toward the third film in past interviews, explaining that the movie he originally wanted to make never actually got produced. He’s described how NBC’s Olympic broadcasting rights that year led to the decision to relocate the story to China, calling the experience worthwhile despite acknowledging it wasn’t the film he’d originally envisioned.

That kind of institutional distancing from ‘Tomb of the Dragon Emperor’ extends beyond just the cast. The film’s shift away from Egypt, its swap to a different lead director in Rob Cohen, and its comparatively muted critical reception have made it an easy chapter for the franchise to quietly step around now that its original stars are returning together.

Filming on the new installment is officially underway as of this week, with Universal setting a theatrical release date of October 15, 2027. That timeline notably moved up from an earlier reported target of May 2028, suggesting the studio is eager to get this reunion in front of audiences sooner rather than later.

John Hannah is also confirmed to return as Evelyn’s brother Jonathan, alongside franchise veterans Kevin J. O’Connor as Beni and Oded Fehr as Ardeth Bay, further reinforcing that this new chapter is building directly off the world established in the first two films rather than anything introduced in the divisive third entry.

With Weisz back in the fold and the directors all but confirming the franchise’s most polarizing chapter has been quietly written out of continuity, ‘The Mummy’ looks set to deliver the kind of direct sequel longtime fans have been hoping for since 2001. Whatever story Radio Silence has planned, it appears rooted firmly in the world audiences fell in love with over two decades ago.

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