It’s no secret that Universal has been trying to get their ‘Monsters Universe’ off the ground for some time now. 2004’s Van Helsing was originally supposed to kickstart it and when those plans fell through, the studio tried again with 2014’s Dracula Untold. Unfortunately, that too failed to perform well enough to justify spawning a cinematic universe and now, Universal is giving it one more shot with The Mummy.
Set to hit theatres next month, the film will be followed by solo outings for characters like Creature from the Black Lagoon, the Invisible Man, Wolf Man and more. The studio’s assembled quite the cast to help them bring all these projects to life, too, with the likes of Johnny Depp, Javier Bardem, Tom Cruise and more all on board. It’s an ambitious plan, to be sure, but it’s an exciting one as well, especially if it all works out. For that to happen though, The Mummy has to be a hit and while it looks like a fairly thrilling ride – judging by the trailers, at least – box office analysts aren’t predicting it to pull in very much money.
Current tracking puts the blockbuster at a mediocre debut of $40 million. On a budget of $125 million, that’s not a terrible domestic open, but it’s certainly nothing to celebrate, either. Of course, it’s important to note that the international haul could always give The Mummy a significant boost, but we should also mention that these predictions put Alex Kurtzman’s film on the same level as 2008’s The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon. Remember that one? No? We don’t blame you. Honestly, it’s best off forgotten, as it was pretty terrible.
As always, these numbers could very well change. After all, The Mummy isn’t set to arrive until June 9th. However, with the movie opening one week after Wonder Woman and also facing competition from A24’s It Comes At Night, which looks like a far superior horror film, the hopeful franchise starter might struggle to capture moviegoers’ attention. Again, a $40 million debut wouldn’t be the end of the world, but for a release that’s looking to kick off an entire cinematic universe, you’ve gotta believe that Universal is aiming higher than that.