The Mummy (1999)

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About

The Mummy is a 1999 film directed by Stephen Sommers starring Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz. The film was successful upon release, leading to two sequels and a spin-off, but did not maintain a large following afterwards. However, in the late 2010s and early 2020s, the film experienced a resurgence in fandom online, focused primarily on the attractiveness of the lead actors.

History

The Mummy was originally conceived as a remake of the original black-and-white monster movie from 1932. The concept was rewritten numerous times until finally being made as a romantic adventure film with elements of horror.^[1]

The film was released on May 7th, 1999, via Universal Pictures. It stars Brendan Fraser as Rick O'Connell, an adventurer, and Rachel Weisz as Evie Carnahan, a librarian and Egyptologist. Together, they fight the resurrected mummy Imhotep, played by Arnold Vosloo.^[1]

Reception

The film was a box-office success, making over $400 million in its worldwide release. Reviews were mixed, with the film standing at 61 percent from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. ^[2] The financial success of the film led to two sequels, The Mummy Returns (2001) and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008), which recast Rachel Weisz's character with Maria Bello. In addition, a spin-off prequel, The Scorpion King, was released in 2002. The spin-off starred Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, whose first big-screen appearance was a small role in the original film.

Impact

The Mummy series was largely forgotten in the late 2000s and early 2010s, with the third film and spin-off being far less successful than the first two.^[3]

In 2017, Universal released another film titled The Mummy, starring Tom Cruise and intended to be the start of an interconnected "Dark Universe." The film was a complete financial and critical failure but led to a renewed interest in the previous Mummy series.

Fandom

Since the introduction of the first film and years after, the Mummy series has enjoyed a notable fandom and is often regarded as a cult classic among some. In 2007, a Fandom^[9] for the series was created online, categorizing and collecting various characters or elements from the series, which accumulated over 686 articles in 14 years.

The series has also enjoyed a noteworthy presence online in memes and viral discussions over the years. On August 3rd, 2019, Twitter^[4] user kurtisconner tweeted one such example with the caption "the mummy? more like the daddy" alongside two images of Brendan Fraser in the film. The tweet received over 6,000 retweets and 48,000 likes in two years (seen below).

Bisexuality

The earliest known example of the film and its two central leads being associated with bisexuality comes from a post by Tumblr^[6] user pick-nett made on April 21st, 2018, reading "Bi culture is watching The Mummy (1999) and not knowing whether you’re more in love with Evy or Rick."

On November 11th, 2020, Imgur^[7] user messmor uploaded an image reading "My sexual orientation is: the cast of The Mummy (1999)," with images of actors Fraser, Weisz, Vosloo, Patricia Velásquez and Oded Fehr in the film. The image (seen below) received over 100,000 views and 5,000 upvotes in six months.

On December 29th, 2020, Twitter^[8] user Elle_Enasalin tweeted "no one is 'born bi,' you watch The Mummy at a formative age and the whole cast turns you bi." The tweet received over 14,000 retweets and 85,000 likes in eight months (shown below).

Shocked Imhotep

Shocked Imhotep is used as a meme format to react to ironic situations and dark humor. The meme usually contains an opening line that seems normal, but is turned on its head resulting in the reaction of Shocked Imhotep.

IMAX The Mummy Trailer

The IMAX The Mummy Trailer refers to an incomplete version of the official preview clip for the 2017 action-adventure horror film The Mummy starring Tom Cruise that was accidentally uploaded to the IMAX's official YouTube channel in mid-December 2016. Upon its initial release on YouTube, the trailer quickly became a popular subject of online parodies and mockeries for its comedic value in the same vein as music videos without music remixes.