The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
Encyclopedia
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is a 2008 American action
adventure film
and sequel to The Mummy
(1999) and The Mummy Returns
(2001). The film stars Brendan Fraser
, Maria Bello
, John Hannah
, Luke Ford
, and Jet Li
, and was released on August 1, 2008 in the United States. The film was directed by Rob Cohen
, written by Alfred Gough
and Miles Millar
, and produced by Stephen Sommers
(director of the previous two installments), Bob Ducsay
, Sean Daniel
, and James Jacks
. This film departed from the previous Egyptian setting.
The story has Rick O'Connell's son Alex, now an adult, discovering the tomb of The First Emperor of China
, Emperor Han. This leads Rick and his wife Evelyn to travel to China
, where an evil Chinese general causes the resurrection of the Emperor. The Emperor then tries to break an ancient curse set on him by the witch Zi Yuan so he can use his magical powers to bring his army back to life to conquer the world. The emperor, "Emperor Han" in the film, is based on Qin Shi Huangdi of the Qin Dynasty
, and the first emperor of China, not the first Emperor of the Han Dynasty
, Emperor Gaozu of Han.
) unites what was several kingdoms into one single massive empire. He conquers his enemies and becomes The Dragon Emperor. As his first act as Emperor, he orders the construction of the Great Wall of China
, burying his former enemies beneath it and cursing their souls to hold it up for all eternity. The Emperor's mystics
teach him supernatural mastery over the Five Elements (Fire
, Water
, Earth
, Wood
and Metal
). Years pass, and Emperor Han begins to grow fearful that all he has accomplished will be lost upon his death. He hears of a witch, Zi Yuan (Yeoh
), who is said to know the secret of immortality. Han sends his right-hand man, General Ming Guo (Wong
), to find Zi Yuan and bring her to the palace. Ming finds Zi Yuan and they fall in love, resulting in jealousy from the Emperor, who desired Zi Yuan for himself. After Zi Yuan supposedly casts a spell on the Emperor in Sanskrit
, a language he does not understand, he has Ming torn apart by horses and impales Zi Yuan with a sword, terribly wounding her. She then reveals that she had foreseen these events and has cast a powerful curse on Emperor Han and his army, instead of making him immortal. The Emperor is gruesomely burned alive and imprisoned within a shell of terracotta, as is his army, transforming them into the Terracotta Army
. Zi Yuan escapes.
In 1946, 13 years after the events of The Mummy Returns
, Alex O'Connell (Ford
), son to Rick (Fraser
) and Evelyn (Bello
), locates Emperor Han's tomb with the financial backing of Professor Roger Wilson (Calder
), an archaeology professor. There, three assistants are killed by various traps (corrosive gases, arrows and a razor disk). Alex is then attacked by an unknown woman, but succeeds in bringing the Emperor's coffin to Shanghai. Meanwhile, the British government entrusts the O'Connells to take the Eye Of Shangri-La
back to China as a good faith gesture to the Chinese. It is later revealed that Wilson is in league with a rogue military faction led by General Yang (Wong Chau-Sang) and his second-in-command
, Choi (Meng), who see the Emperor as the only one who can bring order and greatness back to China. The mysterious woman from the tomb attacks the mummified Emperor in his coffin, which turns out to be a decoy. By accident, the magical fluid within the Eye lands on the statue of the carriage driver, which is revealed to be the actual body of the Emperor. The Emperor is brought back to life, although he remains trapped in his terracotta undead
form. Han accepts the service of Choi and Yang but kills Wilson by seering decapitation. The woman from the excavation site, Lin (Leong
), attempts to kill the Emperor with a magical dagger, the only weapon that can destroy him.
Along with Evelyn's brother Jonathan Carnahan (Hannah
), who owns a Shanghai nightclub, the O'Connells and Lin travels to a tower in the Himalayas
that will reveal the path to Shangri-La when the Eye is placed on top of it. With the help of the Yeti
s summoned by Lin, the group hold off Yang's soldiers, but cannot prevent the Emperor from learning the location of Shangri-La. The Emperor then tries to kill Alex but Rick jumps in the path of the sword, saving his son but fatally wounding himself in the process.
An avalanche triggered by Alex via a thrown grenade attached to some dynamite allows them to reach Shangri-La before Han and meet with Zi Yuan. After Lin vouches for the O'Connells, the ancient witch quickly heals Rick's wound. It is revealed that Lin is Zi Yuan's 2000-year-old daughter, both rendered immortal due to the power of the magic waters of Shangri-La. The magical dagger which Lin carries is the same dagger that the Emperor used to try to kill Zi Yuan two thousand years ago, with a powerful curse placed on it by Zi Yuan herself. Zi Yuan also reveals that she would have died if she had not been saved by the Yetis, and warns Alex that if the Emperor is allowed to drink from the Pool of Eternal Life, he will not only be able to raise his army, but be granted the power to transform into ancient and fearsome Chinese
animal spirits
. Alex and Lin have grown attached to each other, but Lin pushes the relationship away due to her immortality; after watching Zi Yuan mourn General Ming for centuries, she does not want to fall in love with Alex only to watch him grow old and die.
The Emperor eventually arrives and attacks them in Shangri-La and takes the dagger, breaks free of his terracotta form and bathes in the waters, which restores his human form and youth, replenishes his powers, and gives him the ability to shapeshift. He transforms into a gigantic three-headed dragon
, kidnaps Lin, and flies to his tomb where he raises the Terracotta Army, now aided by General Yang's soldiers. The Emperor announces his plans to conquer the entire world and that once he leads his army across the Great Wall, they will be invincible. The O'Connells and Zi Yuan pursue the Emperor to the Great Wall where Zi Yuan sacrifices her and Lin's immortality to revive the workers killed and buried beneath The Great Wall, creating an undead army of her own, led by a vengeful, revived General Ming. The Army of the Dead, with aid from the group's modern weapons and air support, fights the Terracotta Army while Zi Yuan battles the Emperor; she is mortally wounded but succeeds in securing the dagger. Alex rescues the bound and gagged Lin.
The gang finally catches up, and Lin grieves after they find Zi Yuan dying soon after. Then, Emperor Han transforms into a horned Ogre and goes beneath the Great Wall in order to use his elemental
powers to negate Zi Yuan's spell and draw Ming's army back underneath it. However, he is stopped by Alex. Yang and Choi are pushed into moving gears by Evelyn and Lin when they attempt to interfere, crushing and killing them both. Rick and Alex tackle the Emperor with the dagger but are severely outmatched, not just by his magical powers and transformation into an ogre
, but by his martial arts skills, and the dagger is broken. Rick challenges the Emperor to a fair fight, and the Emperor agrees to fight Rick without powers. Rick manages to plunge the broken dagger hilt into the Emperor's chest while Alex stabs him with the tip of the blade from behind, simultaneously piercing his heart from both sides, releasing the dagger's curse; the Emperor is consumed from the inside out by a fury of molten lava, killing him. With The Emperor defeated, his army crumbles and turns to dust. Ming's army celebrates briefly before finally moving on to a peaceful afterlife.
The O'Connells return to Shanghai, where Alex and Lin fall in love again. Rick and Evelyn, and Alex and Lin, share kisses during a slow dance at a bar. Jonathan decides to move to Peru
with the Eye of Shangri-La, which he has stolen himself, as he hopes there's no mummies in Peru. Unfortunately, an ending caption appears, explaining that shortly after his arrival, mummies were discovered in Peru.
, who directed the previous Mummy films, said about directing a third Mummy film, "There is a demand for it, but most of the gang would only be up for it again if we could find a way to make it bigger and better." In May 2004, Sommers expressed his doubts about having the energy to make a third Mummy, though the cast of previous films had expressed interest in returning. In December 2005, a review of a script written by Alfred Gough
and Miles Millar
was about a Chinese mummy (China's first emperor, who wants to take over the world with his army of accursed warriors in 1940).
The idea of the emperor and his army is based on the real-life Qin emperor
Qin Shi Huang
, who was buried amidst thousands of crafted and fired terra cotta
soldiers, called the Terracotta Army
, dated at latest to 210 BC. (Incidentally, the Terracotta Army is actually mentioned at the end of the novelization as something that will be discovered in the future, although its relation to the emperor's army, or rather how the destroyed army made it into the site is left unexplained.)
, who played Ardeth Bay in the first two Mummy movies, said Sommers had told him a third film was in development and being written, with only Brendan Fraser
and Rachel Weisz
's characters returning for the sequel. The following September, director Joe Johnston
was offered the helm by Universal Pictures
, who hoped to start filming early in 2007. Later in the month, Weisz expressed interest in reprising her role.
In January 2007, Universal announced that Stephen Sommers, director of the first two Mummy films, would not be attached to direct the third film. It was then announced that Universal entered talks with director Rob Cohen
to take over directing duties from Sommers as the director of the third Mummy. Later in the month, the story was revealed to center around Brendan Fraser
's and Rachel Weisz
's characters, as well as their now grown-up son. Negotiations with the actors were in progress at that time. In February, casting began for the role of Alex O'Connell. In addition, John Hannah
reprised his role as Jonathan. Also in February, director Rob Cohen
mentioned that Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh would star in the film although the official confirmation was not published until May.
In April, Brendan Fraser re-joined the cast for The Mummy 3. Weisz did not, citing "problems with the script" in addition to having just given birth to her son. The film was shot in Montreal
and China. The film was reported to be titled The Mummy 3: Curse Of The Dragon. In April, Luke Ford was cast as Alex O'Connell, and in May, Maria Bello
was cast to replace Weisz in the role of Evelyn. Bello commented during an interview that the new "Evy" is different from the original "Evy". "She has the same name, but she is quite a different character," said Bello. At a news conference in Shanghai
, Bello told the audience that "Rob Cohen has 'created a new Evelyn ... in the first two Mummy movies she was all actiony and lovely, but this Evelyn might be a little more ... forceful in terms of her martial art skills and shooting skills'".
At the ADF stage in the city, Phelps’s team created sets of the Terra Cotta mausoleum. Set decorator, Anne Kuljian designed 20 different statue heads that were sculpted by 3D Arts team and interchanged between shots. One soldier and horse statue was bought from China, and copies of it as well as "The Dragon Emperor" were made (Jet Li's statue was sculpted by Lucie Fournier, Tino Petronzio, and Nick Petronzio in a workshop in Montreal). Propmaster Kim Wai Chung supervised the making of the horses’ bridles and mausoleum ornaments in China. Meanwhile at Mel’s, the brutal battle between the Emperor and Rick was filmed, the first scene shot with Jet Li
.
On October 15, 2007, the team moved to China. At Shanghai Studios, a set depicting the city in 1940s was used for the chase sequence and was shot in 3 weeks. General Yang’s camp was filmed in a Ming village near Tian Mo. At the studio, Chinese cultural advisers aided Cohen in order to depict the Qin Dynasty language and ceremonies. The O'Connell family's drama scenes were shot in an Egyptian-themed nightclub suitably named "Imhotep's".
The crew frequently had to halt in and near Shanghai when soldiers marched. The setting of desert battlefield was actually a training facility for the Chinese army that was leased.
designed the yeti
s and dragons, while Digital Domain
handled the battle scenes with Jet Li's terracotta warriors. The pool of water resembling diamonds took Rhythm and Hues 11 months to complete. The A.I. software Massive which was used for the Lord of the Rings films was used to create the undead battle scenes.
Design company Imaginary Forces created the opening title sequence and end titles. IF designers also shot real paint splatters and brushstrokes. To portray an "accurate and historic China," they turned to calligrapher T.Z. Yuan for ink brush writing.
. The soundtrack features numerous different Chinese and Middle Eastern ethnic instruments along with classic British folklore. The soundtrack was released on July 29 by Varèse Sarabande
records, two days before the film's initial release. Composer John Debney
(who had previously scored the music for the Mummy franchise's spin-off The Scorpion King
) provided additional re-scored material for most of the bigger action sequences. The Hollywood Studio Symphony recorded 30 minutes of Debney's music in a little under ten hours at the Fox Scoring Stage in July 2008, shortly before the film's release. The trailer prominently features the cues "Armada" by Two Steps From Hell and "DNA Reactor" by Pfeifer Broz. Music, the latter which also plays at the end of the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
trailer. It also plays Vampire Hunters by Wojciech Kilar, which was used in the trailer for the first film
.
The soundtrack features "The Flower Duet
" by Léo Delibes
from his opera Lakmé
.
by IDW Publishing
, was published to promote the film. The comic explores the relationship between Rick and his son Alex.
Sierra Entertainment
made a game version
of The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor for Wii
, PlayStation 2
, and Nintendo DS
, which was released on July 22, 2008 in North America to mostly negative reviews. Gameloft
made game version
of The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor for mobile phones.
was released. The film had a wide release of 3,760 theatres in North America on August 1, 2008.
The film was the top-grossing film the day it opened, earning $15.2 million (The Dark Knight
was in second place with $12 million) on Friday. However, the film did not become number one overall in the box office on opening weekend, claiming only $40.4 million, which allowed The Dark Knight
to claim the top spot for the third week in a row with $42.6 million.
The film however scored a bigger success at the international box office where it opened at the first position in 26 of the 28 released markets over the weekend and grossed over $59.5 million in the three-day period. It substantially outpaced comparable openings for 1999's The Mummy ($16.7 million) and 2001's The Mummy Returns ($21.5 million) in the same markets. The film also set opening records for the distributor in Korea (drawing $13.3 million), Russia ($12.7 million), Spain ($6.7 million), and Thailand. As of October 10, 2008, the film's domestic total stands at $102,491,776, with a much stronger international intake of $298,636,863. This brings its worldwide total to $401,128,639.
, based on 165 reviews. Metacritic
reported, based on 33 reviews, an average rating of 31 out of 100.
Roger Ebert
, of the Chicago Sun-Times
, gave the film a positive review, awarding it three out of four stars. Ebert remarked, "Now why did I like this movie? It was just plain dumb fun, is why." Ebert also stated that it is the best in the series. Nathan Rabin of The Onion
s A.V. Club
stated that the film "succeeds largely through sheer excess", albeit within a context that "plods along mechanically through its first hour." William Arnold of Seattle Post-Intelligencer
gave a mildly positive review, saying that "anyone in the market for an overblown and totally mindless adventure-comedy will certainly get his money's worth." Dallas movie reviewer Casey C. Corpier said that the film was almost as enjoyable as the original and liked the fact that it delivered what it advertised.
Kenneth Turan
of the Los Angeles Times
said the film "has some good things [but] does not have enough of them to make the third time the charm." Ken Fox of TV Guide
called the film "passable popcorn fare." Jennie Punter of The Globe and Mail
said the film is "kind of fun, but the twists and turns are all too familiar." Michael Sragow of the Baltimore Sun said the film is "like an Indiana Jones
movie without rhythm, wit or personality, just a desperate, headlong pace."
stated in an interview that another Mummy film will "absolutely" be made, and that she has already signed on. Actor Luke Ford
is signed on for a total of three movies. The cliff-hanger ending of the third "Mummy" film states that more mummies were found in Peru
, leaving a set-up for another sequel.
on December 16, 2008. It has sold 2,554,022 DVD units which translated to $41,768,192 in revenue. This does not include Blu-ray sales or DVD rentals.
Action film
Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases...
adventure film
Adventure film
Adventure films are a genre of film.Unlike pure, low-budget action films they often use their action scenes preferably to display and explore exotic locations in an energetic way....
and sequel to The Mummy
The Mummy (1999 film)
The Mummy is a 1999 American adventure film written and directed by Stephen Sommers and starring Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah and Kevin J. O'Connor, with Arnold Vosloo in the title role as the reanimated mummy. The film features substantial dialogue in ancient Egyptian language, spoken...
(1999) and The Mummy Returns
The Mummy Returns
The Mummy Returns is a 2001 American adventure film written and directed by Stephen Sommers, starring Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Arnold Vosloo, Oded Fehr, Patricia Velásquez and Freddie Boath. The film is a sequel to the 1999 film The Mummy...
(2001). The film stars Brendan Fraser
Brendan Fraser
Brendan James Fraser is a Canadian-American film and stage actor. Fraser portrayed Rick O'Connell in the three-part Mummy film series , and is known for his comedic and fantasy film leading roles in major Hollywood films, including Encino Man , George of the Jungle , Dudley Do-Right , Monkeybone ,...
, Maria Bello
Maria Bello
Maria Elena Bello is an American actress and singer known for her appearances in the movies Coyote Ugly, The Jane Austen Book Club, Permanent Midnight, Thank You for Smoking, A History of Violence, Payback, and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. For television she is known for her role as Dr...
, John Hannah
John Hannah (actor)
John David Hannah is a Scottish actor of film and television. He has appeared in Stephen Sommers' Mummy Series, Richard Curtis' Four Weddings and a Funeral and Sliding Doors with Gwyneth Paltrow...
, Luke Ford
Luke Ford (actor)
Luke Ford is a Canadian-born Australian actor.-Early life:Ford was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada but raised in Sydney, Australia. He attended Parramatta Marist High School in Westmead, Sydney, and once worked at the Winston Hills Hotel, and a short stint at Universal Magazines in...
, and Jet Li
Jet Li
The fame gained by his sports winnings led to a career as a martial arts film star, beginning in mainland China and then continuing into Hong Kong. Li acquired his screen name in 1982 in the Philippines when a publicity company thought his real name was too hard to pronounce...
, and was released on August 1, 2008 in the United States. The film was directed by Rob Cohen
Rob Cohen
Robert "Rob" Cohen is an American film director, producer and writer.-Early life:Cohen was born in Cornwall, New York. He was raised and spent his childhood in the Town of Newburgh and graduated from Newburgh Free Academy in 1967...
, written by Alfred Gough
Alfred Gough
Alfred Gough III is an American screenwriter and producer.-Early life and career:Born in Leonardtown, Maryland, Gough graduated from St. Mary's Ryken High School and The Catholic University of America...
and Miles Millar
Miles Millar
-Early life and Career:Millar was educated at Claremont Fan Court School, and is a graduate of Christ's College, Cambridge, where he was Chairman of Cambridge University Conservative Association.....
, and produced by Stephen Sommers
Stephen Sommers
Stephen Sommers is an American screenwriter and film director, best known for The Mummy and its sequel, The Mummy Returns. He also directed Disney's live action version of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, the action/horror film Van Helsing, and the 2009 film G.I...
(director of the previous two installments), Bob Ducsay
Bob Ducsay
Bob Ducsay is a film editor, screenwriter and producer who has worked on over 20 film and television productions. He is best known for his work with his friend Stephen Sommers. He has edited all of Sommers' films and has served as a producer on some....
, Sean Daniel
Sean Daniel
Sean Peter Daniel is an American film producer.Daniel was born in New York City, New York, the son of Beverly and Jeremy Daniel, a public relations executive. Daniel was a studio executive at Universal Studios for twelve years including five years as President of Production...
, and James Jacks
James Jacks
James Jacks is a film producer who has in recent years produced several high-budget films. His credits include:*The Mummy*Dazed and Confused*Tombstone*Down to Earth*The Hunted*The Scorpion King*The Mummy Returns...
. This film departed from the previous Egyptian setting.
The story has Rick O'Connell's son Alex, now an adult, discovering the tomb of The First Emperor of China
Emperor of China
The Emperor of China refers to any sovereign of Imperial China reigning between the founding of Qin Dynasty of China, united by the King of Qin in 221 BCE, and the fall of Yuan Shikai's Empire of China in 1916. When referred to as the Son of Heaven , a title that predates the Qin unification, the...
, Emperor Han. This leads Rick and his wife Evelyn to travel to China
Republic of China (1912–1949)
In 1911, after over two thousand years of imperial rule, a republic was established in China and the monarchy overthrown by a group of revolutionaries. The Qing Dynasty, having just experienced a century of instability, suffered from both internal rebellion and foreign imperialism...
, where an evil Chinese general causes the resurrection of the Emperor. The Emperor then tries to break an ancient curse set on him by the witch Zi Yuan so he can use his magical powers to bring his army back to life to conquer the world. The emperor, "Emperor Han" in the film, is based on Qin Shi Huangdi of the Qin Dynasty
Qin Dynasty
The Qin Dynasty was the first imperial dynasty of China, lasting from 221 to 207 BC. The Qin state derived its name from its heartland of Qin, in modern-day Shaanxi. The strength of the Qin state was greatly increased by the legalist reforms of Shang Yang in the 4th century BC, during the Warring...
, and the first emperor of China, not the first Emperor of the Han Dynasty
Han Dynasty
The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...
, Emperor Gaozu of Han.
Plot
In the past, China was torn by a series of wars. A brutal and tyrannical warlord named Han (Jet LiJet Li
The fame gained by his sports winnings led to a career as a martial arts film star, beginning in mainland China and then continuing into Hong Kong. Li acquired his screen name in 1982 in the Philippines when a publicity company thought his real name was too hard to pronounce...
) unites what was several kingdoms into one single massive empire. He conquers his enemies and becomes The Dragon Emperor. As his first act as Emperor, he orders the construction of the Great Wall of China
Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in northern China, built originally to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire against intrusions by various nomadic groups...
, burying his former enemies beneath it and cursing their souls to hold it up for all eternity. The Emperor's mystics
Mysticism
Mysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...
teach him supernatural mastery over the Five Elements (Fire
Fire
Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material in the chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. Slower oxidative processes like rusting or digestion are not included by this definition....
, Water
Water
Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
, Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
, Wood
Wood
Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...
and Metal
Metal
A metal , is an element, compound, or alloy that is a good conductor of both electricity and heat. Metals are usually malleable and shiny, that is they reflect most of incident light...
). Years pass, and Emperor Han begins to grow fearful that all he has accomplished will be lost upon his death. He hears of a witch, Zi Yuan (Yeoh
Michelle Yeoh
Michelle Yeoh Choo-Kheng is a Hong Kong-based Malaysian Chinese actress, well known for performing her own stunts in the action films that brought her to fame in the early 1990s....
), who is said to know the secret of immortality. Han sends his right-hand man, General Ming Guo (Wong
Russell Wong
Russell Girard Wong is an American actor and photographer, as well as the brother of actor/model Michael Wong.-Biography:...
), to find Zi Yuan and bring her to the palace. Ming finds Zi Yuan and they fall in love, resulting in jealousy from the Emperor, who desired Zi Yuan for himself. After Zi Yuan supposedly casts a spell on the Emperor in Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
, a language he does not understand, he has Ming torn apart by horses and impales Zi Yuan with a sword, terribly wounding her. She then reveals that she had foreseen these events and has cast a powerful curse on Emperor Han and his army, instead of making him immortal. The Emperor is gruesomely burned alive and imprisoned within a shell of terracotta, as is his army, transforming them into the Terracotta Army
Terracotta Army
The Terracotta Army or the "Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses", is a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China...
. Zi Yuan escapes.
In 1946, 13 years after the events of The Mummy Returns
The Mummy Returns
The Mummy Returns is a 2001 American adventure film written and directed by Stephen Sommers, starring Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Arnold Vosloo, Oded Fehr, Patricia Velásquez and Freddie Boath. The film is a sequel to the 1999 film The Mummy...
, Alex O'Connell (Ford
Luke Ford (actor)
Luke Ford is a Canadian-born Australian actor.-Early life:Ford was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada but raised in Sydney, Australia. He attended Parramatta Marist High School in Westmead, Sydney, and once worked at the Winston Hills Hotel, and a short stint at Universal Magazines in...
), son to Rick (Fraser
Brendan Fraser
Brendan James Fraser is a Canadian-American film and stage actor. Fraser portrayed Rick O'Connell in the three-part Mummy film series , and is known for his comedic and fantasy film leading roles in major Hollywood films, including Encino Man , George of the Jungle , Dudley Do-Right , Monkeybone ,...
) and Evelyn (Bello
Maria Bello
Maria Elena Bello is an American actress and singer known for her appearances in the movies Coyote Ugly, The Jane Austen Book Club, Permanent Midnight, Thank You for Smoking, A History of Violence, Payback, and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. For television she is known for her role as Dr...
), locates Emperor Han's tomb with the financial backing of Professor Roger Wilson (Calder
David Calder (actor)
David Calder is a British actor.Calder was born in Portsmouth, England, and trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. His most high profile TV roles include Det. Insp...
), an archaeology professor. There, three assistants are killed by various traps (corrosive gases, arrows and a razor disk). Alex is then attacked by an unknown woman, but succeeds in bringing the Emperor's coffin to Shanghai. Meanwhile, the British government entrusts the O'Connells to take the Eye Of Shangri-La
Shangri-La
Shangri-La is a fictional place described in the 1933 novel Lost Horizon by British author James Hilton. Hilton describes Shangri-La as a mystical, harmonious valley, gently guided from a lamasery, enclosed in the western end of the Kunlun Mountains...
back to China as a good faith gesture to the Chinese. It is later revealed that Wilson is in league with a rogue military faction led by General Yang (Wong Chau-Sang) and his second-in-command
Second-in-command
The Second-in-Command is the deputy commander of any British Army or Royal Marines unit, from battalion or regiment downwards. He or she is thus the equivalent of an Executive Officer in the United States Army...
, Choi (Meng), who see the Emperor as the only one who can bring order and greatness back to China. The mysterious woman from the tomb attacks the mummified Emperor in his coffin, which turns out to be a decoy. By accident, the magical fluid within the Eye lands on the statue of the carriage driver, which is revealed to be the actual body of the Emperor. The Emperor is brought back to life, although he remains trapped in his terracotta undead
Undead
Undead is a collective name for fictional, mythological, or legendary beings that are deceased and yet behave as if alive. Undead may be incorporeal, such as ghosts, or corporeal, such as vampires and zombies...
form. Han accepts the service of Choi and Yang but kills Wilson by seering decapitation. The woman from the excavation site, Lin (Leong
Isabella Leong
Isabella Leong Lok-Sze is a Hong Kong-based actress and former singer.- Career :Her father was a descendant of a prominent Macanese family of Portuguese-English heritage, and her mother is Chinese...
), attempts to kill the Emperor with a magical dagger, the only weapon that can destroy him.
Along with Evelyn's brother Jonathan Carnahan (Hannah
John Hannah (actor)
John David Hannah is a Scottish actor of film and television. He has appeared in Stephen Sommers' Mummy Series, Richard Curtis' Four Weddings and a Funeral and Sliding Doors with Gwyneth Paltrow...
), who owns a Shanghai nightclub, the O'Connells and Lin travels to a tower in the Himalayas
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
that will reveal the path to Shangri-La when the Eye is placed on top of it. With the help of the Yeti
Yeti
The Yeti or Abominable Snowman is an ape-like cryptid said to inhabit the Himalayan region of Nepal, and Tibet. The names Yeti and Meh-Teh are commonly used by the people indigenous to the region, and are part of their history and mythology...
s summoned by Lin, the group hold off Yang's soldiers, but cannot prevent the Emperor from learning the location of Shangri-La. The Emperor then tries to kill Alex but Rick jumps in the path of the sword, saving his son but fatally wounding himself in the process.
An avalanche triggered by Alex via a thrown grenade attached to some dynamite allows them to reach Shangri-La before Han and meet with Zi Yuan. After Lin vouches for the O'Connells, the ancient witch quickly heals Rick's wound. It is revealed that Lin is Zi Yuan's 2000-year-old daughter, both rendered immortal due to the power of the magic waters of Shangri-La. The magical dagger which Lin carries is the same dagger that the Emperor used to try to kill Zi Yuan two thousand years ago, with a powerful curse placed on it by Zi Yuan herself. Zi Yuan also reveals that she would have died if she had not been saved by the Yetis, and warns Alex that if the Emperor is allowed to drink from the Pool of Eternal Life, he will not only be able to raise his army, but be granted the power to transform into ancient and fearsome Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
animal spirits
Animism
Animism refers to the belief that non-human entities are spiritual beings, or at least embody some kind of life-principle....
. Alex and Lin have grown attached to each other, but Lin pushes the relationship away due to her immortality; after watching Zi Yuan mourn General Ming for centuries, she does not want to fall in love with Alex only to watch him grow old and die.
The Emperor eventually arrives and attacks them in Shangri-La and takes the dagger, breaks free of his terracotta form and bathes in the waters, which restores his human form and youth, replenishes his powers, and gives him the ability to shapeshift. He transforms into a gigantic three-headed dragon
Dragon
A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
, kidnaps Lin, and flies to his tomb where he raises the Terracotta Army, now aided by General Yang's soldiers. The Emperor announces his plans to conquer the entire world and that once he leads his army across the Great Wall, they will be invincible. The O'Connells and Zi Yuan pursue the Emperor to the Great Wall where Zi Yuan sacrifices her and Lin's immortality to revive the workers killed and buried beneath The Great Wall, creating an undead army of her own, led by a vengeful, revived General Ming. The Army of the Dead, with aid from the group's modern weapons and air support, fights the Terracotta Army while Zi Yuan battles the Emperor; she is mortally wounded but succeeds in securing the dagger. Alex rescues the bound and gagged Lin.
The gang finally catches up, and Lin grieves after they find Zi Yuan dying soon after. Then, Emperor Han transforms into a horned Ogre and goes beneath the Great Wall in order to use his elemental
Elemental
An elemental is a mythological being first appearing in the alchemical works of Paracelsus in the 16th century. Traditionally, there are four types:*gnomes, earth elementals*undines , water elementals*sylphs, air elementals...
powers to negate Zi Yuan's spell and draw Ming's army back underneath it. However, he is stopped by Alex. Yang and Choi are pushed into moving gears by Evelyn and Lin when they attempt to interfere, crushing and killing them both. Rick and Alex tackle the Emperor with the dagger but are severely outmatched, not just by his magical powers and transformation into an ogre
Ogre
An ogre is a large, cruel, monstrous, and hideous humanoid monster, featured in mythology, folklore, and fiction. Ogres are often depicted in fairy tales and folklore as feeding on human beings, and have appeared in many classic works of literature...
, but by his martial arts skills, and the dagger is broken. Rick challenges the Emperor to a fair fight, and the Emperor agrees to fight Rick without powers. Rick manages to plunge the broken dagger hilt into the Emperor's chest while Alex stabs him with the tip of the blade from behind, simultaneously piercing his heart from both sides, releasing the dagger's curse; the Emperor is consumed from the inside out by a fury of molten lava, killing him. With The Emperor defeated, his army crumbles and turns to dust. Ming's army celebrates briefly before finally moving on to a peaceful afterlife.
The O'Connells return to Shanghai, where Alex and Lin fall in love again. Rick and Evelyn, and Alex and Lin, share kisses during a slow dance at a bar. Jonathan decides to move to Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
with the Eye of Shangri-La, which he has stolen himself, as he hopes there's no mummies in Peru. Unfortunately, an ending caption appears, explaining that shortly after his arrival, mummies were discovered in Peru.
Cast
- Brendan FraserBrendan FraserBrendan James Fraser is a Canadian-American film and stage actor. Fraser portrayed Rick O'Connell in the three-part Mummy film series , and is known for his comedic and fantasy film leading roles in major Hollywood films, including Encino Man , George of the Jungle , Dudley Do-Right , Monkeybone ,...
as Rick O'Connell - Jet LiJet LiThe fame gained by his sports winnings led to a career as a martial arts film star, beginning in mainland China and then continuing into Hong Kong. Li acquired his screen name in 1982 in the Philippines when a publicity company thought his real name was too hard to pronounce...
as Emperor Han - Maria BelloMaria BelloMaria Elena Bello is an American actress and singer known for her appearances in the movies Coyote Ugly, The Jane Austen Book Club, Permanent Midnight, Thank You for Smoking, A History of Violence, Payback, and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. For television she is known for her role as Dr...
as Evelyn Carnahan O'Connell - John HannahJohn Hannah (actor)John David Hannah is a Scottish actor of film and television. He has appeared in Stephen Sommers' Mummy Series, Richard Curtis' Four Weddings and a Funeral and Sliding Doors with Gwyneth Paltrow...
as Jonathan Carnahan - Luke FordLuke Ford (actor)Luke Ford is a Canadian-born Australian actor.-Early life:Ford was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada but raised in Sydney, Australia. He attended Parramatta Marist High School in Westmead, Sydney, and once worked at the Winston Hills Hotel, and a short stint at Universal Magazines in...
as Alex O'Connell - Michelle YeohMichelle YeohMichelle Yeoh Choo-Kheng is a Hong Kong-based Malaysian Chinese actress, well known for performing her own stunts in the action films that brought her to fame in the early 1990s....
as Zi Yuan - Anthony Wong Chau-Sang as General Yang
- Liam Cunningham as Mad Dog Maguire
- David CalderDavid Calder (actor)David Calder is a British actor.Calder was born in Portsmouth, England, and trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. His most high profile TV roles include Det. Insp...
as Prof. Roger Wilson - Russell WongRussell WongRussell Girard Wong is an American actor and photographer, as well as the brother of actor/model Michael Wong.-Biography:...
as General Ming Guo
Production
In November 2001, director Stephen SommersStephen Sommers
Stephen Sommers is an American screenwriter and film director, best known for The Mummy and its sequel, The Mummy Returns. He also directed Disney's live action version of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, the action/horror film Van Helsing, and the 2009 film G.I...
, who directed the previous Mummy films, said about directing a third Mummy film, "There is a demand for it, but most of the gang would only be up for it again if we could find a way to make it bigger and better." In May 2004, Sommers expressed his doubts about having the energy to make a third Mummy, though the cast of previous films had expressed interest in returning. In December 2005, a review of a script written by Alfred Gough
Alfred Gough
Alfred Gough III is an American screenwriter and producer.-Early life and career:Born in Leonardtown, Maryland, Gough graduated from St. Mary's Ryken High School and The Catholic University of America...
and Miles Millar
Miles Millar
-Early life and Career:Millar was educated at Claremont Fan Court School, and is a graduate of Christ's College, Cambridge, where he was Chairman of Cambridge University Conservative Association.....
was about a Chinese mummy (China's first emperor, who wants to take over the world with his army of accursed warriors in 1940).
The idea of the emperor and his army is based on the real-life Qin emperor
Qin Dynasty
The Qin Dynasty was the first imperial dynasty of China, lasting from 221 to 207 BC. The Qin state derived its name from its heartland of Qin, in modern-day Shaanxi. The strength of the Qin state was greatly increased by the legalist reforms of Shang Yang in the 4th century BC, during the Warring...
Qin Shi Huang
Qin Shi Huang
Qin Shi Huang , personal name Ying Zheng , was king of the Chinese State of Qin from 246 BC to 221 BC during the Warring States Period. He became the first emperor of a unified China in 221 BC...
, who was buried amidst thousands of crafted and fired terra cotta
Terra cotta
Terracotta, Terra cotta or Terra-cotta is a clay-based unglazed ceramic, although the term can also be applied to glazed ceramics where the fired body is porous and red in color...
soldiers, called the Terracotta Army
Terracotta Army
The Terracotta Army or the "Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses", is a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China...
, dated at latest to 210 BC. (Incidentally, the Terracotta Army is actually mentioned at the end of the novelization as something that will be discovered in the future, although its relation to the emperor's army, or rather how the destroyed army made it into the site is left unexplained.)
Casting
In March 2006, actor Oded FehrOded Fehr
Oded Fehr is an Israeli film and television actor now based in the United States. He is known for his appearance as Ardeth Bay in the 1999 remake of The Mummy and its sequel The Mummy Returns, as well as Carlos Olivera in Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Resident Evil: Extinction and Resident Evil:...
, who played Ardeth Bay in the first two Mummy movies, said Sommers had told him a third film was in development and being written, with only Brendan Fraser
Brendan Fraser
Brendan James Fraser is a Canadian-American film and stage actor. Fraser portrayed Rick O'Connell in the three-part Mummy film series , and is known for his comedic and fantasy film leading roles in major Hollywood films, including Encino Man , George of the Jungle , Dudley Do-Right , Monkeybone ,...
and Rachel Weisz
Rachel Weisz
Rachel Hannah Weisz born 7 March 1970)is an English-American film and theatre actress and former fashion model. She started her acting career at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where she co-founded the theatrical group Cambridge Talking Tongues...
's characters returning for the sequel. The following September, director Joe Johnston
Joe Johnston
Joseph Eggleston "Joe" Johnston II is an American film director and former effects artist best known for such effects-driven movies as Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Jumanji, The Rocketeer, Jurassic Park III, the period drama October Sky, The Wolfman, and Captain America: The First Avenger.- Life and...
was offered the helm by Universal Pictures
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
, who hoped to start filming early in 2007. Later in the month, Weisz expressed interest in reprising her role.
In January 2007, Universal announced that Stephen Sommers, director of the first two Mummy films, would not be attached to direct the third film. It was then announced that Universal entered talks with director Rob Cohen
Rob Cohen
Robert "Rob" Cohen is an American film director, producer and writer.-Early life:Cohen was born in Cornwall, New York. He was raised and spent his childhood in the Town of Newburgh and graduated from Newburgh Free Academy in 1967...
to take over directing duties from Sommers as the director of the third Mummy. Later in the month, the story was revealed to center around Brendan Fraser
Brendan Fraser
Brendan James Fraser is a Canadian-American film and stage actor. Fraser portrayed Rick O'Connell in the three-part Mummy film series , and is known for his comedic and fantasy film leading roles in major Hollywood films, including Encino Man , George of the Jungle , Dudley Do-Right , Monkeybone ,...
's and Rachel Weisz
Rachel Weisz
Rachel Hannah Weisz born 7 March 1970)is an English-American film and theatre actress and former fashion model. She started her acting career at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where she co-founded the theatrical group Cambridge Talking Tongues...
's characters, as well as their now grown-up son. Negotiations with the actors were in progress at that time. In February, casting began for the role of Alex O'Connell. In addition, John Hannah
John Hannah (actor)
John David Hannah is a Scottish actor of film and television. He has appeared in Stephen Sommers' Mummy Series, Richard Curtis' Four Weddings and a Funeral and Sliding Doors with Gwyneth Paltrow...
reprised his role as Jonathan. Also in February, director Rob Cohen
Rob Cohen
Robert "Rob" Cohen is an American film director, producer and writer.-Early life:Cohen was born in Cornwall, New York. He was raised and spent his childhood in the Town of Newburgh and graduated from Newburgh Free Academy in 1967...
mentioned that Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh would star in the film although the official confirmation was not published until May.
In April, Brendan Fraser re-joined the cast for The Mummy 3. Weisz did not, citing "problems with the script" in addition to having just given birth to her son. The film was shot in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
and China. The film was reported to be titled The Mummy 3: Curse Of The Dragon. In April, Luke Ford was cast as Alex O'Connell, and in May, Maria Bello
Maria Bello
Maria Elena Bello is an American actress and singer known for her appearances in the movies Coyote Ugly, The Jane Austen Book Club, Permanent Midnight, Thank You for Smoking, A History of Violence, Payback, and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. For television she is known for her role as Dr...
was cast to replace Weisz in the role of Evelyn. Bello commented during an interview that the new "Evy" is different from the original "Evy". "She has the same name, but she is quite a different character," said Bello. At a news conference in Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, Bello told the audience that "Rob Cohen has 'created a new Evelyn ... in the first two Mummy movies she was all actiony and lovely, but this Evelyn might be a little more ... forceful in terms of her martial art skills and shooting skills'".
Filming
Principal photography started at Mel’s Cite du Cinema in Montreal. There, the Eye of Shangri-la scenes were shot by production designer Nigel Phelps. The team then shot on the courtyard set of gateway to Shangri-la. The courtyard was dressed with fake snow, created by effects supervisor Bruce Steinheimer’s team.At the ADF stage in the city, Phelps’s team created sets of the Terra Cotta mausoleum. Set decorator, Anne Kuljian designed 20 different statue heads that were sculpted by 3D Arts team and interchanged between shots. One soldier and horse statue was bought from China, and copies of it as well as "The Dragon Emperor" were made (Jet Li's statue was sculpted by Lucie Fournier, Tino Petronzio, and Nick Petronzio in a workshop in Montreal). Propmaster Kim Wai Chung supervised the making of the horses’ bridles and mausoleum ornaments in China. Meanwhile at Mel’s, the brutal battle between the Emperor and Rick was filmed, the first scene shot with Jet Li
Jet Li
The fame gained by his sports winnings led to a career as a martial arts film star, beginning in mainland China and then continuing into Hong Kong. Li acquired his screen name in 1982 in the Philippines when a publicity company thought his real name was too hard to pronounce...
.
On October 15, 2007, the team moved to China. At Shanghai Studios, a set depicting the city in 1940s was used for the chase sequence and was shot in 3 weeks. General Yang’s camp was filmed in a Ming village near Tian Mo. At the studio, Chinese cultural advisers aided Cohen in order to depict the Qin Dynasty language and ceremonies. The O'Connell family's drama scenes were shot in an Egyptian-themed nightclub suitably named "Imhotep's".
The crew frequently had to halt in and near Shanghai when soldiers marched. The setting of desert battlefield was actually a training facility for the Chinese army that was leased.
Effects
The visual effects were done by two Los Angeles-based VFX houses. Rhythm and Hues StudiosRhythm and Hues Studios
Rhythm & Hues Studios is a visual effects studio serving the major film studios. It is known for its computer-generated 3D character animation. Recognized as one of the top facilities of its kind in the world, Rhythm & Hues has contributed to more than 150 feature films...
designed the yeti
Yeti
The Yeti or Abominable Snowman is an ape-like cryptid said to inhabit the Himalayan region of Nepal, and Tibet. The names Yeti and Meh-Teh are commonly used by the people indigenous to the region, and are part of their history and mythology...
s and dragons, while Digital Domain
Digital Domain
Digital Domain is a visual effects and animation company founded by film director James Cameron, Stan Winston and Scott Ross. It is based in Venice, Los Angeles, California...
handled the battle scenes with Jet Li's terracotta warriors. The pool of water resembling diamonds took Rhythm and Hues 11 months to complete. The A.I. software Massive which was used for the Lord of the Rings films was used to create the undead battle scenes.
Design company Imaginary Forces created the opening title sequence and end titles. IF designers also shot real paint splatters and brushstrokes. To portray an "accurate and historic China," they turned to calligrapher T.Z. Yuan for ink brush writing.
Music
The bulk of the score in the film was composed by veteran composer Randy EdelmanRandy Edelman
Randy Edelman is an American film and TV score composer.-Life and career:Edelman was born in Paterson, New Jersey. He was raised in Teaneck, New Jersey, the son of a first-grade teacher and an accountant. He attended the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music before heading to New York where he played...
. The soundtrack features numerous different Chinese and Middle Eastern ethnic instruments along with classic British folklore. The soundtrack was released on July 29 by Varèse Sarabande
Varèse Sarabande
Varèse Sarabande is an American record label, distributed by Universal Music Group, which specializes in film scores and original cast recordings. It aims to reissue rare or unavailable albums as well as newer releases by artists no longer under a contract...
records, two days before the film's initial release. Composer John Debney
John Debney
John C. Debney is an American film composer. He received an Academy Award nomination for his score for Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ...
(who had previously scored the music for the Mummy franchise's spin-off The Scorpion King
The Scorpion King
The Scorpion King is a 2002 American action film directed by Chuck Russell, starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Kelly Hu, Grant Heslov, and Michael Clarke Duncan...
) provided additional re-scored material for most of the bigger action sequences. The Hollywood Studio Symphony recorded 30 minutes of Debney's music in a little under ten hours at the Fox Scoring Stage in July 2008, shortly before the film's release. The trailer prominently features the cues "Armada" by Two Steps From Hell and "DNA Reactor" by Pfeifer Broz. Music, the latter which also plays at the end of the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the fifth in the Harry Potter series written by J. K. Rowling, and was published on 21 June 2003 by Bloomsbury in the United Kingdom, Scholastic in the United States, and Raincoast in Canada...
trailer. It also plays Vampire Hunters by Wojciech Kilar, which was used in the trailer for the first film
The Mummy (1999 film)
The Mummy is a 1999 American adventure film written and directed by Stephen Sommers and starring Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah and Kevin J. O'Connor, with Arnold Vosloo in the title role as the reanimated mummy. The film features substantial dialogue in ancient Egyptian language, spoken...
.
The soundtrack features "The Flower Duet
The Flower Duet
The Flower Duet is a famous duet for sopranos from Léo Delibes' opera Lakmé, first performed in Paris in 1883. The duet takes place in Act 1 of the three act opera, between characters Lakmé, the daughter of a Brahmin priest, and her servant Mallika, as they go to gather flowers by a river...
" by Léo Delibes
Léo Delibes
Clément Philibert Léo Delibes was a French composer of ballets, operas, and other works for the stage...
from his opera Lakmé
Lakmé
Lakmé is an opera in three acts by Léo Delibes to a French libretto by Edmond Gondinet and Philippe Gille. Delibes wrote the score during 1881–82 with its first performance on 14 April 1883 at the Opéra Comique in Paris. Set in British India in the mid 19th century, Lakmé is based on the 1880 novel...
.
Marketing
The Mummy Movie Prequel: The Rise & Fall of Xango's Ax, a comic book limited seriesLimited series
A limited series is a comic book series with a set number of installments. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is determined before production and it differs from a one shot in that it is composed of multiple issues....
by IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing, also known as Idea + Design Works, LLC and IDW, is an American publisher of comic books and comic strip collections. The company was founded in 1999 and has been awarded the title "Publisher of the Year Under 5% Market Share" for the years 2004, 2005 and 2006 by Diamond Comic...
, was published to promote the film. The comic explores the relationship between Rick and his son Alex.
Sierra Entertainment
Sierra Entertainment
Sierra Entertainment Inc. was an American video-game developer and publisher founded in 1979 as On-Line Systems by Ken and Roberta Williams...
made a game version
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (video game)
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is a third-person action-adventure video game adaption of film of the same name. The PlayStation 2 and Wii versions of the game were developed by Eurocom, while the Nintendo DS version was developed by Artificial Mind and Movement . The game was published by...
of The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor for Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
, PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
, and Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
, which was released on July 22, 2008 in North America to mostly negative reviews. Gameloft
Gameloft
Gameloft SA is a major French computer and video game developer and publisher headquartered in Paris, France. The company also has subsidiaries in 31 countries around the world....
made game version
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (video game)
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is a third-person action-adventure video game adaption of film of the same name. The PlayStation 2 and Wii versions of the game were developed by Eurocom, while the Nintendo DS version was developed by Artificial Mind and Movement . The game was published by...
of The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor for mobile phones.
Box office performance
The film premiered in Moscow on July 24, 2008. With it, the first official trailer of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood PrinceHarry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is a 2009 fantasy film directed by David Yates and based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. It is the sixth instalment in the Harry Potter film series, written by Steve Kloves and produced by David Heyman and David Barron...
was released. The film had a wide release of 3,760 theatres in North America on August 1, 2008.
The film was the top-grossing film the day it opened, earning $15.2 million (The Dark Knight
The Dark Knight (film)
The Dark Knight is a 2008 superhero film directed, produced and co-written by Christopher Nolan. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, the film is part of Nolan's Batman film series and a sequel to 2005's Batman Begins...
was in second place with $12 million) on Friday. However, the film did not become number one overall in the box office on opening weekend, claiming only $40.4 million, which allowed The Dark Knight
The Dark Knight (film)
The Dark Knight is a 2008 superhero film directed, produced and co-written by Christopher Nolan. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, the film is part of Nolan's Batman film series and a sequel to 2005's Batman Begins...
to claim the top spot for the third week in a row with $42.6 million.
The film however scored a bigger success at the international box office where it opened at the first position in 26 of the 28 released markets over the weekend and grossed over $59.5 million in the three-day period. It substantially outpaced comparable openings for 1999's The Mummy ($16.7 million) and 2001's The Mummy Returns ($21.5 million) in the same markets. The film also set opening records for the distributor in Korea (drawing $13.3 million), Russia ($12.7 million), Spain ($6.7 million), and Thailand. As of October 10, 2008, the film's domestic total stands at $102,491,776, with a much stronger international intake of $298,636,863. This brings its worldwide total to $401,128,639.
Critical reception
Critical reaction to The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor was generally negative. The movie scored a 13% rating on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, based on 165 reviews. Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
reported, based on 33 reviews, an average rating of 31 out of 100.
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
, of the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
, gave the film a positive review, awarding it three out of four stars. Ebert remarked, "Now why did I like this movie? It was just plain dumb fun, is why." Ebert also stated that it is the best in the series. Nathan Rabin of The Onion
The Onion
The Onion is an American news satire organization. It is an entertainment newspaper and a website featuring satirical articles reporting on international, national, and local news, in addition to a non-satirical entertainment section known as The A.V. Club...
s A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
stated that the film "succeeds largely through sheer excess", albeit within a context that "plods along mechanically through its first hour." William Arnold of Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is an online newspaper and former print newspaper covering Seattle, Washington, United States, and the surrounding metropolitan area...
gave a mildly positive review, saying that "anyone in the market for an overblown and totally mindless adventure-comedy will certainly get his money's worth." Dallas movie reviewer Casey C. Corpier said that the film was almost as enjoyable as the original and liked the fact that it delivered what it advertised.
Kenneth Turan
Kenneth Turan
Kenneth Turan is an American film critic and Lecturer in the Master of Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California.-Background:...
of the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
said the film "has some good things [but] does not have enough of them to make the third time the charm." Ken Fox of TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
called the film "passable popcorn fare." Jennie Punter of The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...
said the film is "kind of fun, but the twists and turns are all too familiar." Michael Sragow of the Baltimore Sun said the film is "like an Indiana Jones
Indiana Jones
Colonel Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr., Ph.D. is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Indiana Jones franchise. George Lucas and Steven Spielberg created the character in homage to the action heroes of 1930s film serials...
movie without rhythm, wit or personality, just a desperate, headlong pace."
Sequel
Actress Maria BelloMaria Bello
Maria Elena Bello is an American actress and singer known for her appearances in the movies Coyote Ugly, The Jane Austen Book Club, Permanent Midnight, Thank You for Smoking, A History of Violence, Payback, and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. For television she is known for her role as Dr...
stated in an interview that another Mummy film will "absolutely" be made, and that she has already signed on. Actor Luke Ford
Luke Ford (actor)
Luke Ford is a Canadian-born Australian actor.-Early life:Ford was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada but raised in Sydney, Australia. He attended Parramatta Marist High School in Westmead, Sydney, and once worked at the Winston Hills Hotel, and a short stint at Universal Magazines in...
is signed on for a total of three movies. The cliff-hanger ending of the third "Mummy" film states that more mummies were found in Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, leaving a set-up for another sequel.
DVD sales
The film was released on DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
on December 16, 2008. It has sold 2,554,022 DVD units which translated to $41,768,192 in revenue. This does not include Blu-ray sales or DVD rentals.