At 57, Brendan Fraser is preparing to step back into one of the roles that helped define an entire era of blockbuster filmmaking.
More than a quarter of a century after audiences first watched him charge through the Egyptian desert as Rick O’Connell in 1999’s The Mummy, Fraser is officially returning to the franchise. And this time, he will not be making the journey alone.
Rachel Weisz is also returning, bringing Rick and Evelyn O’Connell back together on the big screen in a reunion that many fans once assumed would never happen.
Universal Pictures currently lists the next installment of The Mummy franchise for theatrical release on October 15, 2027, while industry reports have confirmed Fraser and Weisz as the returning stars. The project will be directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, the filmmaking duo known collectively as Radio Silence.
For longtime fans, those facts alone would be enough to generate enormous excitement.
But Fraser’s recent public appearances have added another layer to the anticipation.
Appearing noticeably leaner while promoting his World War II drama Pressure, Fraser has inevitably reminded fans of the physical presence he brought to Rick O’Connell decades ago. Photographs cannot tell us exactly how an actor is preparing for a role, and it would be premature to treat a red-carpet appearance as proof of a specific physical transformation for The Mummy. What we do know, however, is that Fraser himself has openly discussed getting back into action-ready condition.
And his comments make it clear that he understands exactly what returning to Rick O’Connell means.
“Get This 57-Year-Old Gear in Shape”
In May 2026, Fraser discussed the new Mummy project during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Speaking with his familiar self-deprecating humor, he acknowledged that preparing to play an action hero at 57 is different from doing it in his thirties.
He joked that he was doing his best to “get this 57-year-old gear in shape.”
The comment was funny, but it also carried some weight.
Rick O’Connell was never a character who stood around while other people handled the action. He ran through collapsing ruins, fought supernatural enemies, fired weapons while sprinting across battlefields, rode horses, climbed structures and survived situations that would have eliminated a less fortunate adventurer several times over.
Fraser’s physicality was an essential part of the character.
That makes his preparation for another Mummy film more than a simple question of appearance. Returning to Rick means rediscovering the character’s movement, timing, humor and physical confidence while approaching the demands of action filmmaking from a very different stage of life.
Fraser has already indicated that he is preparing seriously.
He also suggested that the new movie intends to reconnect with what audiences loved about the earlier films.
“We’re gonna get the band back together,” Fraser told Fallon, according to Variety’s reporting on the interview.
That phrase may be the most important clue about the spirit of the project.
Because The Mummy was never really about one person.
Why Rick O’Connell Worked
When The Mummy arrived in theaters in May 1999, Fraser was already familiar to movie audiences. But Rick O’Connell became one of the performances that permanently defined his screen persona.
Rick was technically an action hero, but he was not presented as an invincible machine.
He could be confident one second and completely overwhelmed the next. He could fire two guns while charging into danger, then react to some new supernatural horror with the expression of a man wondering how his life had become this ridiculous.
That combination mattered.
Fraser had the physical presence necessary for a traditional adventure hero, but he also possessed an unusual gift for comedy. Rick could look heroic without taking himself too seriously.
The result was a protagonist who felt closer to the swashbuckling heroes of classic adventure cinema than the grim action characters who would dominate many later blockbusters.
He was brave, but not humorless.
Capable, but not infallible.
Romantic, but often awkward.
And most importantly, he was fun to watch.
That tone helped Stephen Sommers’ The Mummy distinguish itself from the horror legacy associated with Universal’s classic monster.
Instead of treating the mummy solely as a creature designed to frighten audiences, the 1999 film transformed the concept into a large-scale adventure combining horror imagery, romance, comedy, fantasy and action.
Universal’s own description of the film captures that mixture: Fraser’s adventurer Rick O’Connell teams up with librarian Evelyn and an archaeological expedition after they accidentally resurrect the ancient priest Imhotep.
Audiences responded.
According to box-office data compiled by The Numbers, the 1999 film earned more than $418 million worldwide against a reported production budget of approximately $80 million.
That success turned what could have been a one-off adventure into a franchise.