tom cruise

Most cinephiles have heard that old Gene Siskel chestnut about a movie needing to be more interesting than a dinner table conversation between its stars. I would like to add the following qualifier to that adage: any Tom Cruise movie should be more interesting than a behind-the-scenes interview on Cruise performing some of the film’s biggest stunts. Cruise’s attention to detail for action sequences is legendary, and while I may not have enjoyed The Mummy, I’ve honestly had a blast watching Cruise talk about the filmmaking process in every video that Universal Pictures has released.

Tom Cruise’s The Mummy is the beginning of a new Dark Universe for Universal Studios, and as such is tasked with connecting this film to a bunch of other ones in the franchise. The Creature from the Black Lagoon, the Bride of Frankenstein, the Invisible Man, and a bunch of others will soon be hitting the big screen, all under the Dark Universe umbrella. So, what fits them all together? The plot device — I mean, the Prodigium, of course.

“Witness the beginning of a dark universe!” The new trailer for The Mummy is going all-in on this Universal Monsters cinematic universe idea. (And also throwing shade at Dracula Untold. Wasn’t that the beginning of this thing? Poor Luke Evans.)

If we’re being honest with each other, I’m not typically a big fan of behind-the-scenes videos and features. These days they all seem the same: an actor jumps in front of a blue background and lands on a blue foam pad, and everyone stands up and smiles at each other for a job well done. My one big exception is Tom Cruise movies. Cruise’s action films are a testament to doing things the hard way, so every highlight reel of the actor slamming into cars, hitting his head against walls, or getting punched in the face is a testament to a dying trade.

To understand why I’m more excited than most for The Mummy, it’s important to make a list of all the things that I’m a sucker for. Tom Cruise movies? Check. Trailers or commercials that use the Rolling Stones’ ‘Paint it Black’ as a musical cue? Check-check. Movies where soldiers fight monsters? Check-check-check. In fact, if you do the math, the only thing on my Hollywood wishlist that the second The Mummy trailer doesn’t deliver is a John Wick-style gunfight, and there’s still time. One of those might still find its way into the final movie.

Universal’s The Mummy will soon be upon us, poised to unleash its wrath of ancient magic, curses, and hopefully a lot less bloodthirsty scarabs than the Brendan Fraser version. While you wait for Sunday’s new trailer, please enjoy the new teaser above, as well as a brand-new poster featuring the terrifying Princess Ahmanet.

Is this what we're doing now? Rebooting movie franchises from the '90s that were only so-so to begin with?

Here is the mathematical formula to create a Tom Cruise Movie™.

If you have ever seen at least a couple of Tom Cruise movies, it will come as no surprise to you when I say the guy likes to run onscreen. Like, a lot. It’s his version of Humphrey Bogart’s overcoat or John Wayne’s hat. It’s his calling card, his signature. It wouldn’t be a true Tom Cruise film without it. His hair gets longer or shorter, he gets older and gains a couple of wrinkles. But the running never changes.

We’ve heard about Top Gun 2 for several years now, but with the passing of original director Tony Scott and Tom Cruise’s consistently busy schedule, it’s hard to believe that it might actually happen. We may be closer to that long-developing sequel than ever before, as Cruise has met with producer Jerry Bruckheimer about Top Gun 2, and there’s photographic evidence to prove it.

There were not many ways to get me excited in a Mummy reboot, the first in a planned series of connected movies linking The Wolfman, Dracula, Frankenstein and more, but Universal has found a way. Tom Cruise is in talks to star in The Mummy and is expected to take a major role in developing the new monster universe.

Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation was one of the best M:I outings yet, thanks in no small part to Christopher McQuarrie’s script and direction, as well as Rebecca Ferguson’s kick-ass supporting role. Paramount clearly recognizes a good thing when they’ve got it, as the studio is reportedly in talks with McQuarrie to return to both write and direct Mission: Impossible 6, with the option for Ferguson to reprise her role, if she wants it.