Brendan Fraser takes swipe at flop Tom Cruise-helmed The Mummy reboot

Brendan Fraser has taken a swipe at Tom Cruise‘s critically-panned The Mummy reboot in a candid new interview.

The actor, 53, who starred as adventurer Rick O’Connell in three of the hit franchise’s movies, mentioned the 2017 field workplace flop ‘lacked the enjoyable’ seen in 1999’s The Mummy, 2001’s The Mummy Returns and 2008’s The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.

Brendan, who’s hotly-tipped for awards season success along with his position in The Whale, informed Selection:  ‘It’s laborious to make that film. The ingredient that we had going for our Mummy, which I did not see within the new one, was enjoyable. 

‘That was what was missing in that incarnation. It was an excessive amount of of a straight-ahead horror film. The Mummy ought to be a thrill trip, however not terrifying and scary.’

The star mentioned he could be open to reprising his position because the fearless Rick, saying: ‘I do not understand how it will work. However I might be open to it, if somebody got here up with the suitable idea.’

Oscar-nominee Cruise had hoped to breathe new life into The Mummy franchise, nevertheless it was lambasted by critics and ended up shedding Common Studios between $60-100million.

In distinction, 1999’s The Mummy made $416.4million in opposition to an $80million price range. 

IndieWire’s David Ehrlich wrote on the time: ‘All of that is to say that not solely is The Mummy the worst film that Tom Cruise has ever made, it is also clearly the worst film that Tom Cruise has ever made — it stands out like a flat word on a grand piano.’

Elsewhere within the interview, Brendan mentioned the choice to shelve the $100million Batgirl movie, during which he starred as Ted Carson/Firefly. 

Warner Bros scrapped the origin movie – which starred Leslie Grace within the titular position – after it acquired poor take a look at opinions. It had been slated to be launched on HBO Max later this yr. 

Brendan mentioned: ‘It is tragic. It does not engender belief amongst filmmakers and the studio. Leslie Grace was unbelievable. She’s a dynamo — only a spot-on performer. 

‘Every thing we shot was actual and thrilling and simply the antithesis of doing a simple digital, all-green-screen factor. 

‘They ran firetrucks round downtown Glasgow at 3 within the morning, they usually had flamethrowers. It was a big-budget film, however one which was simply stripped all the way down to the necessities.’ 

This comes after Brendan broke down in tears as he acquired a five-minute standing ovation on the London screening of his new film The Whale on Monday.

The emotional show comes amid a prolonged press tour for his new challenge, which marks his triumphant return to Hollywood after a prolonged battle with despair.

Brendan has mentioned this was sparked after he was ‘sexually assaulted’ by the previous president of the Hollywood Overseas Press Affiliation, Philip Berk, in 2003.

In a video shared by a visitor on the premiere, an emotional Brendan is seen bowing to rapturous applause from the viewers earlier than embracing director Darren Aronofsky and screenwriter Samuel D. Hunter who joined him on stage. 

‘Am I at Venice [Film Festival]? 5 min standing ovation for Brendan Fraser’s masterpiece efficiency in #TheWhale. He had the gang within the palm of his hand your entire film. My coronary heart is in my throat,’ the viewers member wrote alongside the video.  

Brendan was proudly supported by his glamorous associate Jeanne Moore as he graced the crimson carpet for the UK premiere on the seventh day of the BFI London Movie Competition. 

The Whale, which can be launched in cinemas in December, acquired its first premiere on the Venice Movie Competition final month, and is shortly incomes rave opinions in addition to Oscars buzz for its lead star.

In footage shared on social media following the movie’s Venice screening final month, Brendan fought again tears as he acquired one other prolonged standing ovation. 

Fraser shot to stardom when he was solid in kids’s favorite movie franchises George of the Jungle and The Mummy.

His chiselled physique earnt him a place as a Hollywood heartthrob as he thrashed across the units performing stunts in high-action roles. However Fraser revealed in a later interview the toll the stunts had taken on his physique.

Alongside his bodily accidents, Brendan additionally revealed in a 2018 GQ interview that he believed he had been blacklisted from Hollywood after he claimed he had been sexually assaulted by the previous president of the Hollywood Overseas Press Affiliation, Philip Berk, in 2003. 

After Fraser reported the declare to the HFPA he mentioned he believed he might have been ‘blacklisted’ and was not often invited again to the Golden Globe awards.

Fraser mentioned the incident had triggered him to ‘retreat’ as he spiraled into despair. He described feeling ‘undeserving’ as the last decade wore on, main him to take roles he was much less happy with. 

In the meantime, his marriage was additionally falling aside. He divorced Afton in 2007 after 9 years of marriage and three sons collectively, Griffin, Leland and Holden. As a part of the settlement, he was ordered to pay $50,000 a month in spousal help.

Nonetheless in 2013 he sought an modification to the settlement asking to pay much less, claiming he wasn’t incomes the identical huge cheques he had acquired within the Nineties throughout his heyday and could not afford the funds.

The Whale marks Brendan’s first Hollywood challenge in virtually ten years and Brendan’s first lead position in a film since straight-to-DVD thriller Breakout in 2013, main many followers to imagine that is his comeback. 

The Whale is a psychological drama which noticed Brendan bear a bodily transformation, as he performs a 600-pound homosexual man confined to a wheelchair, a task for which he additionally needed to put on prosthetics.