The Mummy 4 Set Photos Land: Fraser and Weisz Back After 25 Years
Universal moved the release date up seven months. Rick O'Connell is filming a 1957 speed trial. Evelyn is back at the British Museum. Radio Silence is directing. The Tom Cruise detour is officially over.
Take Me There, Scotty ↓
Set photos from London landed on October 14, 2026, and they delivered what 25 years of waiting looked like ... Brendan Fraser in a crash helmet behind the wheel of a vintage red-and-silver EPSA car, and Rachel Weisz in a yellow polka-dot skirt and wide-brimmed hat outside London's British Museum. They are filming The Mummy 4. The original Rick O'Connell and Evelyn Carnahan are back together for the first time since The Mummy Returns in 2001.
Fraser has already said what this means to him. "I've been waiting 20 years for this call," he told ComicBookMovie. "Now? It's time to give the fans what they want."
The Tom Cruise Detour, Officially Over
In 2017, Universal Pictures released a Tom Cruise vehicle called The Mummy and announced it was the first film of a connected horror franchise called the Dark Universe, with Russell Crowe as Dr. Jekyll and Javier Bardem as the Frankenstein monster lined up behind it. The Mummy earned $409 million worldwide on a $125 million production budget. That sounds like a success until you factor in the marketing spend, and the reviews, and the audience scores, and the fact that Universal cancelled the Dark Universe within months and never made another film in the series.
The directors of The Mummy 4 are Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett of Radio Silence. They made Ready or Not in 2019 and directed both Scream sequels in 2022 and 2023. They have already confirmed that The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008) is not considered canon. The new film picks up the original continuity and ignores everything after The Mummy Returns.
What the Set Photos Actually Show
ARYNews and others reported Fraser filming what appears to be a 1957 speed-trials sequence. Background performers wore "Rick O'Connell Racing" tracksuits. Weisz was photographed separately near the British Museum in a period outfit that places the story in the same era. The film is set in 1950s postwar London, though Universal has not confirmed the full plot.
The behind-the-scenes footage also shows Fraser and Weisz laughing between takes. It is a small detail and it is the detail every fan account screenshot immediately.
The Whole Original Crew Came Back
John Hannah returns as Jonathan Carnahan. Arnold Vosloo is back as Imhotep. Oded Fehr returns as Ardeth Bay. Kevin J. O'Connor is back as Beni Gabor. New cast members Michael Johnston and Numan Acar are joining in undisclosed roles. Original producer Sean Daniel is back too, alongside the Project X Entertainment team. Screenwriter David Coggeshall wrote the script.
Universal moved the release date up from May 2028 to October 15, 2027. That is one year from today. The studio does not move dates forward on films it is nervous about.
The fan reaction to the October 14 set photos was the kind that turns into a trending keyword by morning. Brendan Fraser has been away from blockbuster cinema for most of the last 15 years. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for The Whale in 2023. His return to the role that made him a movie star is not just a nostalgia play. For a lot of people who grew up with these films, it is a resolution to a story that felt unfinished.
Sources & further reading
- Yahoo Entertainment: The Mummy 4 Set Photos Offer First Look at Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz Reunion (Oct 14, 2026)
- ARYNews: Brendan Fraser Returns as Rick O'Connell in First Look at The Mummy 4 (2026)
- ComicBookMovie: The Mummy 4 Set Photos Reveal First Look at Rachel Weisz's Return as Evelyn Carnahan (2026)
