To keep it short: “The mummy“ is a disaster! Of course there are worse movies – countless, in fact. Given a $195 million rumored budget and the names gathered in front of and behind the camera, it’s almost frightening that the result of their combined efforts could be so disappointingly banal, mediocre and, at times, downright boring.

“De Mummy” is today, March 5, 2023, prime time at 8:15 PM on RTL. The station offers a repeat of the same evening at 11:40 pm.

If you miss both dates, but still want to watch the film despite (or maybe because of?) our warning, you can order it on Blu-ray and DVD from online providers such as Amazon. Optionally, the FSK 12 title is also available there for direct streaming for a fee.

However, our recommendation would be that instead of The Mummy, you choose one of the many good to downright brilliant films from Tom Cruise’s more than impressive filmography for your evening entertainment. What about Top Gun 2: Maverick? Or “a matter of honor”? Or with “Magnolia”? Or with “collateral”? Or with one of the “Mission: Impossible” hits? Or with “Edge Of Tomorrow”? Or, or, or…?

“The Mummy” on RTL: That’s the story

Set in the days of ancient Egypt in Mesopotamia, in the territory of present-day Iraq, Pharaoh’s daughter Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella) can hardly wait to take over her immensely wealthy and powerful father’s legacy and rule the vast empire. But then she slides down the line of succession with the unexpected birth of a little brother.

Driven by blind rage, the princess forms an alliance with Set (Javier Botet), the god of death, and kills her entire family for him. Just as she is about to give her divine ally his promised human shell, she is mummified alive by priests loyal to the king and buried under a meter-thick layer of sand.

In the present: U.S. Army Sergeant Nick Morton (Tom Cruise) and his friend Corporal Chris Vail (Jake Johnson) use the confusing situation in war-torn Iraq to routinely illegally acquire antiques and valuable works of art. When a hitherto unknown cemetery is exposed by a bombardment, the duo is of course there.

With the help of archaeologist Jenny Halsey (Annabelle Wallis), Morton and Vail want to bring the precious sarcophagus to England to earn money there. However, when they recover, they release Ahmanet, who has been plotting revenge for thousands of years in her dark tomb. Suddenly the treasure hunters have to fight against a huge evil force. Surprisingly, Dr. Henry Jekyll (Russell Crowe) and his mysterious secret organization…

That’s why “The Mummy” is a flop

At first glance, it’s hard to believe that a $410 million worldwide gross that gave superstar Tom Cruise the highest grossing worldwide opening weekend of his blockbuster-studded career to date with $169.3 million.

But if you look at the fact that ‘The Mummy’ not only cost the 195 million mentioned in the beginning in production, but also at least 150 million in sales and advertising costs, then the statement becomes more tenable.

In addition, the producing studio did not receive 100 percent of the revenue, but only a fraction of it. The rest goes to taxes, cinemas, local distributors, etc. Of the nearly 100 million taken in China alone, less than 25 made it to Universal’s box office. To really be in the black, “The Mummy” would need to generate at least double its final box office earnings.

But that is not everything. Not only financially, but also artistically, the film fell far short of expectations. The reviews for the theatrical release were mostly negative to devastating. Rotten Tomatoes, an English-language review aggregator, reports that of the 316 reviews registered, only 15 percent were positive. The rest were partly rather harsh slatings of director Alex Kurtzman’s work.

We’re still relatively gracious with two and a half out of five possible stars and our MOVIE STARTS review, which mostly praises the brooding look. Nevertheless, our author Andreas Staben also criticizes the bumpy story, an uninspired production, little interesting because of one-dimensional characters and annoyingly unfunny attempts at relaxing humor. Even the protagonist couldn’t let his otherwise obvious charm play out. After all, Cruise is trapped in a much too unsympathetic, selfish character.

“The Mummy”: Beginning and End of the “Dark Universe”

Also – and this was perhaps the biggest disappointment for Universal – should “The Mummy” start the so-called “Dark Universe”.. Under this title was a coherent film world à la MCU & Co. planned, in which the classic samples of the studio hits of the thirties and forties would return in glossy format to the collective consciousness of a wide audience. At least that was the idea.

Blockbusters about characters such as the invisible man, Frankenstein’s monster, the wolf man or the phantom of the opera were all in the pipeline. The first stars were already signed with Johnny Depp for “The Invisible One”, which had by now been completely turned inside out and appeared without him, as well as Javier Bardem and Angelina Jolie for “Frankenstein’s Bride”. Another of them was Russell Crowe, known as Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde even had a supporting role in “The Mummy” in preparation for his own movie.

That doesn’t sound very exciting, does it? But with “The Mummy,” the start of the planned new mega franchise was slammed head-on into the wall. So the whole idea is now a thing of the past. It is not known whether at least one of the planned monster films, apart from an overarching plot, will be realized. As time goes by, even this is likely to become less and less likely.

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