2017’s ill-advised Mummy reboot starring Tom Cruise led to an infamous photoshoot and botched launch of what should have been a whole Dark Universe starring Russell Crowe as Dr Jekyll, Johnny Depp as the Invisible Man, and Javier Bardem as Frankenstein’s Monster. Unfortunately, the monster movie was a critical and commercial failure, leading to the entire concept to be abandoned.
The high-concept shared universe being thrown out has ended up being a turn up for the books, if you’re a fan of lower-budget, riskier and more original movies. It led to Leigh Whannell’s Invisible Man, as well as the upcoming Wolfman starring Ryan Gosling and Renfield starring Nicolas Cage.
Alex Kurtzman, the director of The Mummy, is also choosing to look on the bright side of the film’s failure. Kurtzman is behind new television series The Man Who Fell to Earth and has been reflecting on how The Mummy was a turning point in his career. Speaking to The Playlist podcast Bingeworthy, he said; “I tend to subscribe to the point of view that you learn nothing from your successes, and you learn everything from your failures. And that was probably the biggest failure of my life, both personally and professionally.”
“There are about a million things I regret about it, but it also gave me so many gifts that are inexpressibly beautiful. I didn’t become a director until I made that movie, and it wasn’t because it was well directed – it was because it wasn’t,” Kurtzman said of his experience.
“And as brutal as it was, in many ways, and as many cooks in the kitchen as there were, I am very grateful for the opportunity to make those mistakes because it rebuilt me into a tougher person and it also rebuilt me into a clearer filmmaker,” he continued.
“And that has been a real gift and I feel those gifts all the time because I’m very clear now when I have a feeling that doesn’t feel right – I am not quiet about it anymore. I will literally not proceed when I feel that feeling. It’s not worth it to me. And you can’t get to that place of gratitude until you’ve had that kind of experience.”
“Look, if you look at history and you look at people who’ve made amazing things, every single one of them will tell you the same story which is that it came after a failure, so I look back on it now with gratitude. It took me a while to get there, but my life is better for it,” he concluded.
To find the scariest things that go bump in the night, check out our guide to the best monster movies.