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- Автор сценария:
- Ллойд Фонвилль
- Кевин Джарр
- Стивен Соммерс
- Джон Л. Балдерстон
- Нина Путнэм
- Ричард Шэйер
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- Режиссер:
- Стивен Соммерс
На бескрайних просторах египетской пустыни компания сорвиголов разных национальностей рыщет в поисках несметных сокровищ фараона, над которыми тяготеет жуткое древнее проклятие. Рядом с кладом покоится мумия коварного жреца, жестоко казненного за ужасное убийство могущественного правителя Египта. Золотоискатели потревожили многовековой покой гробницы, и мумия встает из могилы, чтобы погрузить мир в царство кошмара…
СКАЧАТЬ
THE MUMMY
By Stephen Sommers
The UNIVERSAL PICTURES globe spins. Then comes to a stop on
the African continent.
A golden papyrus MAP of ANCIENT EGYPT rises up.
WE PUSH IN on it, towards a CITY along the Nile, it's name
written in hierarchic.
WE KEEP PUSHING IN until the golden map turns to golden sand
and we find ourselves DESCENDING on this ancient Egyptian
city. Only it's not ancient.
SUPERIMPOSED across the SCREEN are the WORDS:
THEBES - 2,134 B.C
Accompanied by a NARRATOR with a very thick Egyptian accent:
NARRATOR
Thebes. City of the Living. Crown
jewel of Pharaoh Seti the First.
The CAMERA sets-down in an open plaza. An Arabian horse-drawn
CHARIOT comes barreling right at us, driven by PHARAOH SETI;
an aristocratic, virile old man. The chariot WIPES FRAME.
INT. ANCK-SU-NAMUN'S BALCONY WINDOW - PALACE - DUSK
Glaring out over the city at the setting sun is a handsome,
muscular MAN with intense, evil eyes. This is IMHOTEP.
NARRATOR
Home of Imhotep, High Priest of
Osiris, Keeper of the Dead.
A gorgeous, olive-skinned goddess enters the outer foyer. It
takes us a moment to realize that the skin-tight dress she's
wearing isn't a dress at all, but rather her entire naked
body has been PAINTED in the ancient Egyptian manner She's a
stunning sight to behold. This is ANCK-SU-NAMUN.
NARRATOR (CONT'D)
Birthplace of Anck-su-namun.
Pharaoh's Mistress. No other man
was allowed to touch her.
She makes her way through the ornate statuary. The CAMERA
comes to a stop on a CRACKED STONE FACE. A BEAT. And then
it's eyes suddenly POP OPEN. It's really a strange looking
TATTOOED MAN. Several more of these hideous, bald MEN stand
nearby. They are the PRIESTS of Osiris. Imhotep's guys. Their
eyes watch Anck-su-namun vanish through the bedroom curtains.
Anck-su-namun embraces Imhotep, they kiss passionately,
feverishly. Imhotep's hands roam over her perfect body,
smearing the paint.
The Narrator's VOICE fills with lust:
NARRATOR (CONT'D)
But for our love, we were willing
to risk life itself.
And we realize that the Narrator is actually Imhotep himself
on the other-side of the curtains, the bald Priests rush over
and close the doors. But just as they do, the doors suddenly
BURST OPEN. Pharaoh angrily strides in, looks at the Priests.
The following DIALOGUE is in ANCIENT EGYPTIAN -- SUBTITLED.
PHARAOH
What are you doing here?
The Priests back away, scared shitless, obviously his arrival
was unexpected. Pharaoh strides for the curtains. Throws them
back. Anck-su-namun stands alone. Gives him a sexy smile.
Pharaoh sees the smeared body paint. Points his finger.
PHARAOH (CONT'D)
WHO HAS TOUCHED YOU?!
From behind him, his sword is ripped out of its scabbard.
Pharaoh spins around. It's Imhotep. Pharaoh is shocked.
PHARAOH (CONT'D)
Imhotep? .... My priest.
Behind him, Anck-su-namun lifts a dagger and plunges it into
his back. Pharaoh SCREAMS. Imhotep raises Pharaoh's sword.
The hideous bald Priests SLAM the doors and bolt them tight.
Through the curtains, they see the SHADOWS of Anck-su-namun
and Imhotep stab away at Pharaoh.
Suddenly, the doors are RAMMED from the other side --WHAM!
Imhotep and Anck-su-namun turn and look.
--WHAM! The doors are RAMMED again.
The two lovers share desperate looks.
--WHAM! The bald Priests run up and grab Imhotep and try and
pull him towards the balcony.
PRIESTS
Pharaoh's bodyguards!
Imhotep tries to break free, but Anck-su-namun rips Pharaoh's
sword out of his hand and pushes him towards the balcony.
ANCK-SU-NAMM
You must go. Save yourself. Only
you can resurrect me.
Imhotep's face fills with despair. The DOORS EXPLODE OPEN.
MEN with BLUE-TINTED SKIN and strange PUZZLE-TATTOOS over
their bodies stride in, armed to the teeth. These are the
MUMIA.
The Priests hustle Imhotep out onto the dark balcony just as
the Mumia rip through the curtains. Anck-su-namun points at
Pharaoh and hisses--
ANCK-SU-NAMUN
My body is no longer his temple!
She PLUNGES the sword into her own heart. out on the balcony,
Imhotep's mouth opens into a horrible silent scream...
NARRATOR/IMHOTEP
For murdering Pharaoh, Anck-su
namun's body was to be cursed. And
it was I, the High Priest, whose
duty it was to curse it.
EXT. SAND DUNES - NIGHT
Imhotep leads-a TORCH-LIT procession across the dunes. Anck
su-namun's mummy is carried by NUBIAN SLAVES. They put her
down in the sand along with FIVE JEWEL ENCRUSTED JARS.
IMHOTEP
Her body was mummified, her vital
organs removed and placed in sacred
canopic jars
Imhotep, filled with dread, reads from a "BOOK" made out of
pure GOLD. THIS IS THE BOOK OF THE LIVING.
IMHOTEP (CONT'D)
The Book of The Living contained
sacred incantations that would send
the evil dead on a journey into the
dark underworld.
Strange LIGHT suddenly FLASHES across Anck-su-namun's body
and across the faces of the slaves and the EGYPTIAN SOLDIERS
Suddenly, everyone's fear-filled eyes all rise, as if
watching Anck-su-namun's body rising.
Then one last HUGE FLASH, accompanied by a BLAST OF WIND, and
it's over. Anck-su-namun's body now lies twisted on the
ground.
Imhotep's Priests place the body into a stone sarcophagus.
The Nubian slaves lower it into a hole and bury it with sand
Imhotep then signals to the Soldiers, who throw their spears
at the Nubians. Killing them.
INHOTEP
The slaves were killed....
Imhotep's knife-wielding Priests attack the now unarmed
Soldiers, hacking at them in the flickering darkness as
Imhotep and the Mumia solemnly watches.
IMHOTEP
.... and the soldiers who killed
them were also slain, so that no
unholy person should ever know the
exact location of the burial site.
The Mumia walk off across the sand and then, one by one, the
Priests stop their frenzied stabbing and stare off at the
vanishing Mumia.
As the last Mumia disappears over a distant dune, Imhotep
nods, and the Priests leap onto Anck-su-namun's grave and
begin digging it back up with their hands.
EXT. SAHARA DESERT - NIGHT
CHARIOTS race out into the moonlit desert. Imhotep leads the
way. A "hearse" carries Anck-su-namun's mummy.
THE MAP OF ANCIENT EGYPT FADES UP.
The chariots race across the map.
IMHOTEP
But there was another book, The
Book Of The Dead, which was never
to-be opened, never to be read, for
it contained the incantations that
could bring a dead body back to
life a most unholy thing.
The chariots arrive at a place marked on the map in hieratic.
They race up the stone ramp and in through the city gates.
SUPERIMPOSED across the SCREEN are the WORDS: HAMUNAPTRA -
City of the Dead
IMHOTEP (CONT'D)
It was hidden at Hamunaptra, City
of the Dead, inside the statue of
Anubis, so that no such sacrilege
might ever disgrace Egypt.
EXT. HAMUNAPTRA - ANUBIS SITE - NIGHT
Imhotep pulls an ORNATE CHEST out of a SECRET COMPARTMENT
inside the giant STATUE OF ANUBIS. He opens the chest and
lifts out THE BOOK OF THE DEAD, made of black stone.
IMHOTEP
But for my love of Anck-su-namun I
was willing to defy the gods.
INT- UNDERGROUND NECROPOLIS - NIGHT
Big hairy RATS scurry through the mausoleums and over the
headstones of this very large, scary, UNDERGROUND CEMETERY. A
DETRITUS MOAT surrounds the cemetery, --muck made out of
filthy water and human remains. Skulls bob in the goop.
The Priests have gathered in a circle. Their hooded, lifeless
eyes seem dead to this world. Their bald heads rock back and
forth as they CHANT, a quiet eerie HUM. Heinous creatures.
In the middle of the circle is a strange, twisted ALTAR.
Imhotep has unwrapped Anck-su-namun's gorgeous, lifeless body
and placed her five sacred canopic jars around her.
IMHOTEP
Anck-su-namun's vital organs were
still fresh, so a human sacrifice
would not need be made
As Imhotep begins to read from The Book of The Dead, a large
SWIRLING HOLE starts to open in the detritus bog.
Several Priests look over at it, frightened, then quickly
look back down and resume CHANTING.
A strange MIST wafts up out of the swirling hole and over to
the jars, it passes through them and into Anck-su-namun's
body. One of the jars SHUDDERS, the heart inside begins to
BEAT. The CHANTING PRIESTS, SWIRLING HOLE, WAFTING MIST,
BEATING HEART and IMHOTEP'S READINGS are reaching a
crescendo. Anck-su-namun's EYES suddenly FLY OPEN.
IMHOTEP (CONT'D)
Anck-su-namun soul had come back
from the dead! Now all that was
needed, was to return her organs to
their rightful place within her
body.
Imhotep lifts a sacrificial knife above Anck-su-namun's
breast, about to plunge it down.
The CHANTING, SWIRLING and BEATING heart CLIMAX. And that's
when the Mumia BURST IN and storm through the startled
Priests.
The HEAD MUMIA SMASHES the jar with the beating heart. The
MIST instantly sucks back out of Anck-su-namun's body and
IMPLODES back into the swirling hole.
Anck-su-namun's eyes close. Dying once again. Imhotep SCREAMS
in rage. The Mumia grab him and his Priests.
IMHOTEP (CONT'D)
My Priests were condemned to be
mummified alive.
INT. EMBALMER'S CHAMBER (necropolis re-vamp) - NIGHT
Inside a TORCH-LIT CHAMBER, Imhotep is held by Anubis-headed
EMBALMERS. He cringes at the flickering, impressionistic
glimpses of his Priests being embalmed and mummified alive.
The horrid-looking Embalmers, using knives, needles and
thread, calmly perform their ghastly surgery on the SCREAMING
Priests, who are going insane from the procedure.
A red hot POKER is pulled out of a pit of burning coals. A
Priest's head is wedged between two strong boards. His eyes
widen in terror as an Embalmer moves to insert the red hot
poker up his nose.
But just before he does, WE QUICKLY CUT TO IMHOTEP'S FACE,
horrified, as OFF CAMERA, the Priest SCREAMS. WE GO WIDE on
the chamber.
All twenty-one of Imhotep's Priests squirm inside their
wrappings. Imhotep is forced to his knees. His arms are held
back. His mouth is pried open.
IMHOTEP (CONT'D)
As for me, I was condemned to
endure the HOM-DAI. The worst of
all ancient curses. One so
horrible, it had never before been
bestowed.
Using a pair of tongs, an Embalmer slowly pulls Imhotep's
TONGUE out of his mouth, then places a very sharp knife on
top of it. WE-GO TIGHT on IMHOTEP'S EYES as his tongue is
apparently cut out.
The Embalmer flings Imhotep's tongue onto the floor. The
Mumia's dogs attack and quickly eat it. Imhotep is WRAPPED.
Only his mouth, nostrils and fear-filled eyes are left free
of the slimy bandages. Detritus muck boils inside a black
cauldron. Embalmers scoop out the fetid muck and apply it to
Imhotep's wrappings as he squirms.
He's then laid in a wooden COFFIN inside a stone SARCOPHAGUS.
An Embalmer with a BUCKET steps up and looks into the coffin.
Imhotep's wild eyes stare back. The Embalmer empties the
bucket over Imhotep's chest: dozens of SCARABS, disgusting
dung beetles. They scurry across Imhotep's SCREAMING face.
Some vanish into his tongue-less mouth and up his nostrils.
INHOTEP
By eating the sacred scarabs, I
would be cursed to stay alive
forever. And by eating me, they
were cursed just the same.
The lid to the coffin is SLAMMED SHUT. Then, using a strange
four-sided KEY, the Head Mumia locks the coffin lid tight.
The heavy sarcophagus lid is shoved into place and with a
loud WHOOSH seals itself airtight. Once again, the Head Mumia
uses the strange key, locking the sarcophagus lid tight.
IMHOTEP
I was to remain sealed inside my
sarcophagus, the undead for all of
eternity.
The blue-skinned, strangely tattooed man carefully collapses
the sides of the key, --turning it into a little puzzle BOX.
INHOTEP
They would never allow me to be
released. For I would arise a
walking disease, a plague upon
mankind, an unholy flesh-eater,
with the strength of ages, power
over the sands, and the glory of
invincibility.
Imhotep's sarcophagus is dropped into a DETRITUS PIT. The
disgusting muck SPLASHES up, drools down it's sides, and then
is mysteriously sucked into it's seams, vanishing clean.
INHOTEP (CONT'D)
And if I could raise my beloved
Anck-su-namun from her place in
hell, together, we would be an
unstoppable infection upon this
world. The Apocalypse. The End.
Imhotep's horrifying tongue-less SCREAMS can be heard coming
from inside his sarcophagus as grave diggers shovel dirt onto
it.
THE MAIN TITLE IS SUPERIMPOSED ON THE SCREAM: THE MUMMY.
The heavily armed Mumia stand guard around Imhotep's grave.
Looking down on the burial site is the huge statue of ANUBIS,
the jackal-headed god of death. It stares at us. Then begins
to DECAY before our very eyes, aging 4,159 years in only
seconds.
And then we find ourselves and the decrepit, half-buried
statue of Anubis out in the middle of the desert.
EXT. SAHARA - HAMANAPTRA RUINS (1925) - DAY
Imhotep's horrifying SCREAMS become the SCREAMS of a TUAREG
HORSEMAN. Racing across the desert with two thousand of his
warrior brethren. Armed to the teeth. SUPERIMPOSED across the
SCREEN are the WORDS: TEE SARKRA - 1925
A mile across the scorching desert TWO HUNDRED FRENCH FOREIGN
LEGIONNAIRES scurry through the ruins, preparing for the
onslaught.
OUR HERO is up on the wall. His Kepi sits at a jaunty angle.
Dashing and handsome. This is RICK O'CONNELL. He looks out at
the massive SCREAMING horde galloping at him.
O'CONNELL
I knew this was gonna be a lousy
day.
A doughy little Frenchman joins him as he makes his way
across the top of the wall. This is BENI.
BENI
Personally, I would like to
surrender. Why can we not just
surrender?
O'CONNELL
Shut-up and gimme your bandolier.
Beni pulls off his cartridge belt. Hands it to O'Connell.
BENI
Then let's run away. Right now.
While we can still make it.
O'Connell throws it on, crisscrossing his own bandolier.
O'CONNELL
Now gimme your revolver, you'll
never use it anyway.
Beni pulls out his pistol and chucks it to O'Connell
BENI
Then let's play dead, huh? Nobody
ever does that anymore.
O'Connell slides it into his belt, next to his own revolver
O'CONNELL
Now go find me a big stick.
BENI
In the desert? What for?
O'Connell turns and goes nose-to-nose with him.
O'CONNELL
So I can tie it to your back, you
appear to be without a spine.
The horde of warriors THUNDERS forward. Now a half mile out.
Scimitars RATTLING. O'Connell and Beni run through the ruins.
O'CONNELL (CONT'D)
How'd a guy like you end up in the
Legion anyways?
BENI
I got caught robbing a synagogue.
Lots of good stuff in them holy
places; churches, temples, mosques,
and who's guarding them?
O'CONNELL
Altar boys?
BENI
Exactly! I speak seven languages,
including Hebrew, so my specialty
was synagogues. How about you? Kill
somebody?
Beni trips and accidentally tackles O'Connell to the ground.
O'Connell gives him a nasty look.
O'CONNELL
No, but I'm considering it.
They get up and run out the gate and down the stone ramp
BENI
What then? Robbery? Extortion?
Kidnapping!
O'CONNELL
None of the above, thank you
BENI
Then what the hell are you doing
here!?
They both skid to a stop at the front line as they see the
horde of warriors.-The SOUND of CHARGING HORSES is deafening.
O'Connell gives Beni a big cheesy smile.
O'CONNELL
I was just looking for a good time.
And that's when the cowardly Legionnaire Colonel suddenly
panics, cuts and runs. O'Connell instantly stiffens.
O'CONNELL (CONT'D)
Oh shit Steady!
Gives the men around him courage. But onward comes the horde
Hoofs pounding the sand. Several more Legionnaires take off.
O'CONNELL (CONT'D)
STEADY!
(to himself)
What the hell am I sayin'?
The Tuaregs let loose with those horrifying oooo-loo-loog
SCREAMS. More Legionnaires haul-ass. Beni is one of them.
O'CONNELL (CONT'D)
STEADY!!
(to himself)
What the hell am I doin'?
The Tuaregs set their rifles and take aim. O'Connell steels
himself, cocks and locks. The cartridge in his mouth suddenly
snaps, he spits it into the sand. Another BEAT. And then--
O'CONNELL (CONT'D)
FIRE!
The Legionnaires on the ground FIRE. The rifles report with a
CRASH. The BLAST blows dozens of Tuaregs clean off their
mounts. The prone Legionnaires quickly begin to reload.
O'CONNELL (CONT'D)
FIRE!
The kneeling Legionnaires FIRE. More Tuaregs bite the sand.
The remaining warriors OPEN FIRE. THUNDER and SMOKE rip the
hot air. A third of the Legionnaires are killed instantly.
O'CONNELL (CONT'D)
FIRE!
The remaining standing Legionnaires FIRE. Tuaregs spin off
their mounts. Crash to the sand. And then the entire Tuareg
force plows into the ruins and through the Legionnaires.
O'Connell grabs the barrel of his rifle and starts CLUBBING
riders off their steeds, fighting like a man possessed.
Beni on the other hand, is bellycrawling across the sand,
whimpering in full retreat as Legionnaires fall dead all
around him. He crawls through the front gate.
O'Connell throws his rifle down and goes for his guns. He
cross-draws, gun in each hand, starts blowing riders off
their mounts.
Beni crawls faster, and then he spots an open TEMPLE DOORWAY
amongst the rocks. He gets up and sprints for the door as the
last of the Legionnaires are shot off their feet behind him.
O'Connell's guns go empty.
O'CONNELL (CONT'D)
Son-of-a-bitch.
He turns and runs like hell, right through the front gate.
Four Tuareg warriors on massive Arabians haul-ass after him.
O'Connell hurdles a stone column, hits the ground running. He
spots Beni inside the Temple doorway, trying to close the
heavy sandstone door.
O'CONNELL (CONT'D)
Hey! Beni! Wait up!
Beni has no intention of waiting up, he pushes harder.
O'CONNELL (CONT'D)
What are ya doing?! Wait up!
O'Connell runs faster. Beni pushes harder. The four Horsemen
LEAP the big column and CHARGE after him. HOOFS POUNDING.
O'CONNELL (CONT'D)
Don't you close that door! DON'T
YOU CLOSE THAT DOOR!
Beni closes the door just as O'Connell reaches it. O'Connell
SLAMS his body into the door. It doesn't budge
O'CONNELL (CONT'D)
I'm gonna get you for this!
He turns and bolts off around the rocks. Running for his
life, weaving through the ruins. The Arabians getting closer
and closer. The POUNDING hoofs getting LOUDER and LOUDER.
O'Connell finally spins around and faces his attackers. The
four massive horses crash to a stop in front of him. The
vicious Tuaregs raise their rifles to finish him off.
O'Connell just stands there, exhausted and beaten, then he
slowly lifts his right hand and gives them the bird.
And that's when the horses go ape-shit.
All four of them REAR UP. Two of the Riders are THROWN to the
ground.
The horses SCREECH and BELLOW and SNORT in fear, then buck
like fury and haul-ass away as if the devil himself had
scared them. The thrown Riders get up and race off after
their mounts.
O'Connell just stands there, stunned, then he lifts his right
hand and checks out his middle finger. And then he feels the
evil himself, and turns around.
--The shattered, decrepit statue of Anubis stares back at
him. Suddenly, the sand begins to shift under O'Connell's
feet. He starts to back away, keeping his eyes on the
transforming sand, it looks like huge snakes are wiggling and
writhing beneath it, forming lines and shapes --drawing a
picture. O'Connell quickly turns and runs off through the
ruins.
The sand stops moving, and we can now see that, drawn in the
sand, is a picture of IMHOTEP'S SCREAMING FACE.
EXT. RIDGE - DAY
Up on a ridge, A GROUP OF RIDERS watch O'Connell stumble
clear of the decrepit city. O'Connell feels their presence
and looks up.
Very different from the Tuaregs, they have BLUE TINTED SKIN
and faces covered in strange PUZZLE-TATTOOS. The Mumia. Still
watching Imhotep's grave after all this time. The MUMIA
LEADER is a huge, fierce Man in black robes, with dual
scimitars across his waist. His face is both handsome and
horrible, blue and tattooed. Meet ARDETH BAY. His dark eyes
watch O'Connell stagger off into the open desert...
EXT. CAIRO - DAY
Cairo, a city so old the stars have actually changed their
positions in the sky since it's birth. A city teeming with
every form of life. A strange, mysterious, wonderful city. WE
SUPERIMPOSE it's name across the SCREEN:
CAIRO
INT. CAIRO MUSEUM OF ANTIQUITIES - DAY
Deep in the bowels of the museum lie the STACKS. Rows upon
rows of towering bookshelves. Filled with literature on the
Antiquities. Standing at the top of a tall ladder between two
of these rows and leaning against one of the bookshelves, is
a rather uninteresting British GIRL: eye-glasses, hair-in-a
bun, long boring dress, your typical prudish nightmare. This
is EVELYN CARNARVON. We're going to fall in love with her.
Evelyn pulls a book out from a stack under her arm, blows the
dust off it, then places it on a shelf with other books whose
titles all begin with the letter "O". Then she grabs another
book out from under her arm and reads the title.
EVELYN
Tuthmosis? .... Now how did you get
up here?
Carefully, so as not to lose her balance, she looks over her
shoulder to the bookshelf behind her, where all the titles
begin with the letter 'T'. Then she looks down. It's a long
way to the bottom.
Evelyn gently sets the other books down on the top shelf,
then turns and gingerly starts to reach across the aisle with
the Tuthmosis book. It's a little too far, so she stretches,
reaching, holding the top of the ladder with her fingertips,
she's almost got it, closer now closer. And that's when the
ladder pulls away from the shelf.
Evelyn YELPS, flings the Tuthmosis book and grabs the top of
the ladder, which stands straight up. Evelyn holds her
breath, swaying precariously, a long BEAT, and then she loses
her balance, the ladder swings around and Evelyn starts
stiltwalking down the aisle.
EVELYN (CONT'D)
OHEIUGM! ! AHHHHHH!
The ladder crosses the aisle, does an about face and heads
back the way it came. Evelyn clings to the top, struggling
for balance. The ladder teeters out into the main aisle and
picks up speed.
Evelyn SCREAMS as it does a 180, spins into another aisle and
finally crashes to a stop at the top of a bookshelf.
Evelyn holds her breath, then SIGHS HEAVILY. And that's when
the bookshelf falls away from her and CRASHES into the next
bookshelf. Evelyn slides down the ladder and plops to the
floor.
She looks up just as the domino effect kicks-in: each
bookshelf crashing into the next. And onward it goes.
Bookshelf after bookshelf. Thousands of volumes flinging off
shelves and scattering across the floor. It finally ends as
the last shelf CRASHES into a wall.
Evelyn's eyes are closed. She opens one eye. Looks left. Then
right. Then opens the other eye and stares at the huge mess.
EVELYN (CONT'D)
Oops.
The Egyptian CURATOR storms in.
CURATOR
Look at this! Sons of the Messiah!
Give me frogs, flies, locusts,
Anything but this! Compared to you,
the other plagues were a joy!
Evelyn quickly gets up and starts gathering books.
EVELYN
I'm sorry, it was an accident.
CURATOR
When Ramesses destroyed Syria, it
was an accident. You are a
catastrophe! Why do I put up with
you?
Evelyn turns to him, trying to contain herself.
EVELYN
You put up with me, because I can
read and write ancient Egyptian,
decipher hieroglyphs and hieratic,
and I'm the only person within a
thousand miles who knows how to
properly code and catalogue this
library.
CURATOR
Who needs smart women? I put up
with you because your mother and
father were our finest patrons,
Allah rest their souls. Now
straighten up this mess!
The Curator storms out. Evelyn just stands there, steaming.
And then she hears a NOISE and quickly turns around. A BEAT.
EVELYN
Hello?
Quiet. Eerie. And then she hears it again, like feet, slowly
shuffling across the floor, coming from a nearby gallery.
EVELYN (CONT'D)
Abdul? Mohammed? Bob?
Evelyn walks through the stacks and enters--
INT. THE RAMESSEUM
Filled with treasures and plunder from the Middle Kingdom,
it's very dark and quiet in here, the only LIGHT is from
FLICKERING TORCHES at either end of the spooky gallery.
The NOISE again!
From the far side of the room. Feet, slowly shuffling,
plodding across the floor.
Evelyn grabs a torch. Looks around,-at a statue of Anubis,
another of Horus, they stare down at Evelyn, who is starting
to get scared now. She walks down the aisle. Past a closed
sarcophagus. Past cases of ancient artifacts. Past another
sarcophagus, --only this one is OPEN!
Evelyn freezes, swallows hard, nervously looks around to see
who could have opened it. Then she slowly leans forward with
the torch, and peers inside.
--A hideous rotted MUMMY sits up and SCREECHES at her!
Evelyn SCREAMS, drops the torch and backs away, scared out of
her wits. And then, coming from inside the sarcophagus, she
hears a Man LAUGHING. Her eyes narrow as a foppish cad crawls
out from behind the Mummy, laughing his ass off, half drunk.
EVELYN
You... ! YOU... !
JONATHAN
Drunkard? Fool? Rat-bastard? Please
call me something original.
Meet JONATHAN CARNARVON. As he crawls out of the sarcophagus,
Evelyn pulls a cigarette out of the mummy's mouth.
EVELYN
Have you no respect for the dead?
JONATHAN
Right now, I only wish to join
them.
He grins drunkenly. Evelyn punches him hard in the chest.
EVELYN
Well I wish you'd do it sooner
rather than later, before you ruin
my career the way you've ruined
yours.
JONATHAN
My dear, sweet, baby sister, I'll
have you know, that at this moment
my career is on a high note.
He BELCHES, then falls back and sits on the edge of a tomb.
EVELYN
High note? Ha! For five years
you've been scrounging around
Egypt, and what have you to show
for it? Nothing.
Jonathan excitedly starts scrounging around in his jacket.
JONATHAN
Oh yes I do! I have something right
here!
EVELYN
Oh no, not another worthless
trinket, Jonathan, if I bring one
more piece of junk to the Curator
to try and sell for you.
Jonathan pulls out a small, ancient BOX; the collapsed KEY to
Imhotep's sarcophagus and coffin. Evelyn is instantly
curious, she grabs the box out of his hand.
EVELYN (CONT'D)
Where did you get this?
Jonathan knows her weaknesses, gives her a mischievous
smile.
JONATHAN
On a dig, down in Thebes.
Evelyn rolls the box around in her hands, mumbling to herself
as she translates the hieratics and hieroglyphs covering it.
Jonathan licks his lips in anticipation.
JONATHAN (CONT'D)
My whole life I've never found
anything, Evy Tell me I've found
something.
Evelyn's fingers play with the various little slats on the
box, shifting them this way and that way, it's like a puzzle
box. Then suddenly, it UNFOLDS ITSELF, almost-mechanically,
turning itself into the KEY. Sitting inside the open key/box
is a folded piece of GOLDEN PAPYRUS. An ANCIENT MAP.
EVELYN
Jonathan?
JONATHAN
Yes?
EVELYN
I think you found something.
INT. CURATOR'S OFFICE - DAY
The Curator sits at his desk, staring through a jeweler's
eyepiece at the key/box. Evelyn hovers behind him, excited.
EVELYN
See the cartouche there, it's the
official royal seal of Seti the
First, I'm sure of it
CURATOR
Perhaps
Jonathan leans in from across the desk.
JONATHAN
Two questions. Who the hell is Seti
the First? And was he rich?
EVELYN
He was the last Pharaoh of the Old
Kingdom, said to be the wealthiest
Pharaoh of them all.
JONATHAN
Alright, good, that's good. I like
this fellow, like him very much.
The Curator picks up the MAP. It's actually the exact same
map that we established in the opening scenes of the movie.
EVELYN
I've already dated it, this map is
almost four thousand years old. And
the hieratics over here....
(Inhales deeply)
It's Hamunaptra.
The Curator freezes, suddenly very nervous, then he recovers
CURATOR
My dear girl, don't be ridiculous,
we are scholars, not treasure
hunters. Hamunaptra is a myth.
JONATHAN
Are we talking about the
Hamunaptra?
EVELYN
Yes. The City of The Dead. Where
the early Pharaohs were said to
have hidden the wealth of Egypt.
JONATHAN
Right, right, in a big underground
treasure chamber. Everybody knows
the story. The entire necropolis
was rigged to sink into the sand.
On Pharaoh's command, a flick of
the switch! And the whole place
could disappear beneath the dunes.
EVELYN
All we know is that the city
mysteriously vanished around 2,134
B.C.
The Curator holds the map closer to the burning CANDLE
LAMP.
CURATOR
As the Americans would say: it's
all fairy tales and hokum.
The map 'accidentally,' CATCHES ON FIRE. The Curator throws
it to the floor. Jonathan drops to his knees and quickly puts
it out. Lifts it up. The left third of the map is now
missing.
JONATHM
You burned it! You burned off the
part with the lost city!
CURATOR
It's for the best, I'm sure. Many
men have wasted their lives in the
foolish pursuit of Hamunaptra, no
one has ever found it, most have
never returned.
JONATHAN (DEVASTATED)
You killed my map.
CURATOR
I'm sure it was a fake, anyway, I'm
surprised at you, Miss Carnarvon,
to be so fooled.
The Curator reaches for the key/box. Evelyn quickly snatches
it off the desk and gives him a very angry, suspicious look.
EXT. CAIRO PRISON - GALLOWS COURTYARD - DAY
Cairo prison. One of the worst hell holes on earth. Every low
life form of scumbag can be found here.
The WARDEN, a first rate scumbag himself, escorts Evelyn and
Jonathan across the gallows courtyard.
Evelyn whispers to Jonathan.
EVELYN
You told me you found it on a dig
down in Thebes!
JONATHAN
I was mistaken.
EVELYN
Lied to me!
JONATHM
I lie to everybody, what makes you
so special?
EVELYN
I'm your sister.
JONATHAN
That just makes you more gullible.
EVELYN
You stole it from a drunk at the
local Casbah?!
JONATHAN
Picked his pocket, actually
EXT. VISITORIS PEN - DAY
The Warden ushers Evelyn and Jonathan into the holding
pen.
EVELYN
And what is he in prison for?
WARDEN
I did not know, so when I heard you
were coming, I asked him that
myself.
EVELYN
And what did he say?
WARDEN
He said,....he was just looking for
a good time.
The interior cell door BURSTS OPEN. O'Connell is in chains,
dragged by FOUR GUARDS, they shove him up to the cell bars.
From the looks of it, he's been here awhile; his face is half
hidden by long hair, a scraggly beard and many new bruises.
Evelyn looks at him, disgusted by his appearance.
EVELYN
But he's just a filthy criminal?
JONATHAN (CRINGING)
Way to go, Evy.
O'Connell gives Evelyn the once over, then looks at
Jonathan.
O'CONNELL
So who's the broad?
EVELYN
Broad?!
JONATHAN
She's my sister, actually.
O'CONNELL
Yeah? Well...I'm sure she's not a
total loss.
Evelyn is stunned and furious. The Warden heads out the
door.
WARDEN
I'll be back in a moment.
O'CONNELL (SARCASTIC)
I tremble with anticipation.
A Guard CLUBS O'Connell across the head, O'Connell's face
bounces off the metal bars. He shows no pain, but just looks
back and gives the Guard a nasty look. Evelyn steps closer.
EVELYN
We uh,...found .... your puzzle
box, and we've come to ask you
about it.
O'CONNELL
No.
EVELYN
No?
O'CONNELL
No. ...You came to ask me about
Hamunaptra.
Evelyn and Jonathan quickly look around, hoping the guards
didn't hear him. They step closer. Evelyn plays coy.
EVELYN
How do you know the box pertains to
Hamunaptra?
O'CONNELL
Because that's where I found it. I
was there.
Evelyn is dumbstruck. But Jonathan looks suspicious
JONATHAN
How do we know that's not a load of
pig swallow?
O'Connell looks closer at Jonathan, a glint of
recognition.
O'CONNELL
Hey...don't I know you?
JONATHAN
Um, well, you see....
O'Connell's FIST comes flying through the bars, hits Jonathan
square in the jaw, DECKS HIM. He hits the floor. Out cold.
A Guard CLUBS O'Connell. His head bounces off the bars again.
He shows no pain, but gives the Guard another nasty look.
Evelyn looks down at her brother, then back at O'Connell.
EVELYN
You were actually at Hamunaptra?
O'CONNELL
I just decked your brother
EVELYN
Yes, well, (shrugs) I know my
brother.
O'Connell almost smiles. There's a bit of spark to this
girl.
O'CONNELL
Yeah, I was there.
EVELYN
You swear?
O'CONNELL
Every damn day
EVELYN
No, I mean--
O'CONNELL
--I know what you mean. I was
there, alright. Seti's place. The
City Of The Dead.
EVELYN
What did you find? What did you
see?
O'CONNELL
I found sand. I saw death.
The warden enters. Evelyn quickly leans closer to O'Connell.
EVELYN
Could you tell me how to get there?
The exact location?
O'CONNELL
Want to know?
Evelyn leans in even closer
EVELYN
Yes.
O'CONNELL
Really want to know?
She leans her face right up to the bars, nervous and
excited.
EVELYN
Yes.
O'Connell steps forward and KISSES her full on the lips.
O'CONNELL
Then get me the hell outta here.
Evelyn is stunned. A Guard CLUBS him, his face bounces off
the bars again, but before he can react the Guards GRAB him,
YANK him away from the bars and DRAG him out of the room.
EVELYN
Where are they taking him?
WARDEN
To be hanged.
Evelyn is shocked. The warden shows-off his green teeth
WARDEN (CONT'D)
Apparently, he had a very good
time.
EXT. GALLOWS COURTYARD - DAY
Hundreds of filthy PRISONERS stare down onto the gallows as
the hangman's noose is draped over O'Connell's head and
cinched tight around his neck.
Evelyn follows the warden onto a balcony above the gallows.
The prisoners all go dead quiet at the sight of her; like
jackals staring at fresh meat.
WARDEN
No women allowed.
EVELYN
I am an English woman.
This seems to confuse the Warden, he shrugs and sits down.
O'Connell looks up as Evelyn plops down beside the Warden
EVELYN (CONT'D)
I will give you one hundred pounds
to spare his life.
WARDEN
I would pay one hundred pounds just
to see him hang.
EVELYN
Two hundred pounds.
WARDEN
Proceed!
EVELYN
Three hundred pounds!
O'Connell can hear every word, he looks hopeful. Other than
Evelyn, you could hear a pin drop. The HANGMAN turns to him
HANGMAN
Any last requests, pig?
O'CONNELL
Yeah, I'd like ya to let me go.
The Hangman grabs the lever to the trapdoor.
EVELYN
FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS!
The Warden sets his greasy, lecherous hand on Evelyn's leg.
WARDEN
And what else?
Evelyn is revolted, she quickly shoves his hand away.
Insulted, the Warden angrily turns and gestures to the
Hangman, who pulls the lever. The trapdoor DROPS AWAY.
EVELYN
NOOO!
O'Connell DROPS through the hole. The rope pays-out. Then
JERKS TAUGHT. O'Connell's body SNAPS at the end of the rope.
But he's still alive, because--
WARDEN
His neck did not break! Good! Now
we watch him strangle to death.
The prisoners go ape-shit, SCREAMING and SHOUTING in anger.
The GUARDS look around, nervous.
O'Connell struggles at the end of the rope, gagging. Evelyn
is horrified, she quickly turns to the warden, leans forward
and whispers in his ear.
EVELYN
He knows the location to
Hamunaptra. The warden spins around
and faces her
WARDEN
You lie.
EVELYN
I would never!
At the end of the rope, O'Connell is choking and gagging and
turning several shades of red. The Warden stares at Evelyn.
WARDEN
Are you saying this filthy godless
son of a pig knows where to find
The City Of The Dead? Truly?
EVELYN
Yes and if you cut him down, we
will give you ten percent.
WARDEN
Fifty percent.
EVELYN
Twenty.
WARDEN
Forty.
Evelyn hesitates, bites her lip. O'Connell's eyes bulge as he
looks up at her, he can't believe this girl.
O'CONNELL
Give .... give him .... give him
GLAAAA--!
EVELYN
Twenty-five percent, and not one
single farthing more.
The warden flashes a big green smile, then YELLS in Arabic A
scimitar SLASHES the air. The rope is CUT.
O'Connell CRASHES to the ground. Half dead. Rolls over.
GAGGING. All of the prisoners BURST INTO CHEERS.
O'Connell looks up at Evelyn. She smiles broadly and waves
down at him.
CURATOR'S OFFICE - NIGHT
CANDLE LIGHT FLICKERS across the Curator's face.
CURATOR
She must die
Standing in the shadows across from his desk are THREE MUMIA:
blue tinted skin, hideous facial tattoos, --the works. One of
the Mumia has a rusty metal HOOK for a hand. He shrugs.
HOOK
She is like all the others. She
will die in the desert.
CURATOR
No! She has seen too much. She
knows too much.
The Curator leans across his desk, fear in his eyes.
CURATOR (CONT'D)
Not only does she have a map, but
she has the key.
Spooks the hell out of the Mumia guys.
HOOK
The key!? She has the lost key!?
CURATOR
Yes. No one has ever had so much,
been so close. We must stop her, or
it will be the end of us all.
HOOK
Then we will kill her, we will kill
her and all those with her.
CURATOR
And burn the map and retrieve the
key.
HOOK
It will be done. But what of the
American expedition? They leave
tomorrow as well.
CURATOR
Forget the bumbling Americans, they
will be like all the others.
without the map to guide them, how
can they possibly find Hamunaptra?
EXT. GIZA PORT - DAY
SMASH CUT TO: our old traitorous friend BENI.
BENI
It is three days down the Nile,
then two days by camel, sahibs.
WE CRANE BACK: to reveal Beni standing on the bow of a
PASSENGER BARGE. Surrounded by DANIELS, HENDERSON and BURNS,
DANIELS
For all the money we're paying you,
something better god-damned well be
under that sand.
WE KEEP CRANING BACK: as Henderson slaps Daniels on the back.
HENDERSON
"Hamunaptra," Daniels, that's all
ya gotta keep sayin, to yourself,
"Hamunaptra."
Now we see all of GIZA PORT: Team of explorers swarm the
docks. Across the Nile, the PYRAMIDS spike the sky. Evelyn
and Jonathan walk along the boardwalk besieged by HAWKERS
selling everything from toy tombs to King Tut action figures.
EVELYN
Do you really think he'll show up?
JONATHAN
Undoubtedly, I know the breed, he
may be a cowboy, but his word is
his word.
EVELYN
Personally, I think he's filthy,
rude and a complete scoundrel. I
don't like him one bit.
O'CONNELL (O.S.)
Anyone I know?
They both turn. O'Connell walks up; shaved, showered, spit
and polished, with a new haircut and clothes. He looks more
dashing and handsome than ever. Evelyn is suitably impressed.
EVELYN
Oh .... um,...hello.
Jonathan grabs O'Connell's arm and shakes his hand.
JONATHAN
Smashing day for the start of an
adventure, eh, O'Connell?
O'Connell quickly checks his pockets.
O'CONNELL
Yeah, sure, smashing.
He finds his wallet and relaxes. DIRECTLY ABOVE HIM: on the
bow of the barge, Burns wipes his bifocals and turns to Beni.
BURNS
You're sure Hamunaptra is out
there?
BENI
Along with the scorched bones of my
entire garrison, sahib.
And that's when Beni spots O'Connell. Beni shakes his head,
as if seeing a mirage, then starts backing away from the men.
BENI (CONT'D)
A thousand pardons, my good sahibs
but there is much work to be done.
Beni quickly scurries off, vanishing down into the hold.
BACK DOWN WITH: Evelyn, recovering, she clears her throat.
EVELYN
Mister O'Connell, can you look me
in the eye, and guarantee me this
is not some sort of flimflam?
Because if it is, I'm warning you--
--O'Connell steps up close to Evelyn, invading her space
looks her straight in the eye. Evelyn doesn't back away.
O'CONNELL
All I can tell you, miss, is that
my Colonel found that map in an
ancient fortress, and the whole
damn garrison believed in it so
much, that without orders, we
marched halfway across Libya and
into Egypt to find that city. Like
I told ya, all I saw was sand.
Everybody else was wiped-out by
Tuareg warriors. I'll take your
bags.
O'Connell takes her bags and heads up the gangplank and onto
THE SAME PASSENGER BARGE THAT BENI AND THE AMERICANS ARE ON.
Evelyn's eyes follow him, a bit wistfully. Jonathan sees it.
JONATHAN
Yes, yes, you're right, filthy,
rude, a complete scoundrel, nothing
to like there at all.
Evelyn gives him a look. Jonathan just grins. And that's when
the warden suddenly brushes past, tipping his raggedy hat.
WARDEN
A bright good morning to all.
EVELYN
What are you doing here?
WARDEN
I have come to protect my
investment, thank you very much.
And up the plank he goes. Evelyn and Jonathan share a look.
WE GO WIDE AGAIN: as the barge pulls out and heads down the
Nile.
WE TILT UP: to the SUN, which then DISSOLVES into--
EXT. RIVER NILE - NIGHT
--The MOON, shining down on the desert.
The THREE VICIOUS MUMIA quietly glide a narrow skiff out onto
the river. The one with the hook sits in the middle of the
skiff, the other two row, heading for the PASSENGER BARGE
coming their way.
EXT. THE BAR AT THE BOW - NIGHT
Jonathan and the three Americans are playing poker. O'Connell
comes out a door carrying a GUNNY-SACK.
JONATHAN
Sit down, O'Connell, sit down, we
could use another good player.
O'CONNELL
I only gamble with my life, never
my money.
DANIELS
Never? What if I were to wager five
hundred dollars says we get to
Hamunaptra before you?
O'Connell returns Daniel's cocky look.
O'CONNELL
Yer on.
Burns slips on his dirty bifocals.
BURNS
What makes you so confident, sir?
O'CONNELL
What makes you?
Henderson spits a wad of chew into a spittoon.
HENDERSON
We got us a man who's actually been
there.
O'Connell's poker face drops, perplexed. Same with Jonathan
JONATHAN
I say, what a coincidence, why--
O'Connell 'accidentally' hits him in the ribs with the gunny
sack, shutting him up. Jonathan quickly covers.
JONATHAN (CONT'D)
--whose deal is it? Is it my deal?
I thought I just dealt?
EXT. BARGE - NIGHT
Evelyn sits on a table, staring out over the passing river.
The gunny-sack DROPS onto the table, startling her.
O'CONNELL
Sorry, didn't mean to scare ya
ELVELYN
The only thing that scares me,
Mister O'Connell, are your manners,
O'CONNELL
Still angry that I kissed ya, huh?
EVELYN
If you call that a kiss.
O'Connell reaches into the gunny-sack and starts pulling out
revolvers, pistols, hunting knives, a massive elephant gun,
and a half dozen carefully wrapped sticks of dynamite.
EVELYN (CONT'D)
Did I miss something? Are we going
into battle?
O'CONNELL
The last time I was at that place
everybody I was with died.
This takes the smile off Evelyn's face. O'Connell starts
dismantling and cleaning the guns.
O'CONNELL (CONT'D)
There's something out there, you
know, something under that sand.
EVELYN
Yes, I'm hoping to find a certain
artifact, a book, actually, my
brother thinks there's treasure.
What do you think is out there?
O'Connell looks into Evelyn's eyes.
O'CONNELL
Evil. The Tuaregs and the Bedouin
believe that Hamunaptra is cursed,
they call it, "the doorway to
hell".
EVELYN
Ahmar is Ossirion. "Passageway to
the underworld", actually.
She gives him a know-it-all grin.
EVELYN (CONT'D)
I don't believe in fairy tales and
hokum, Mister 0'Connell, but I do
believe that one of the most famous
books in history is buried out
there, The Book Of The Living It's
what first interested me in Egypt
as a child. It's why I came here,
sort of a life's pursuit.
O'CONNELL
And the fact that they say it's
made out of pure gold, makes no
nevermind to you, right?
Evelyn is surprised by his knowledge.
EVELYN
You know your history.
O'CONNELL
I know my treasure.
Evelyn gets up to go, then she hesitates, nervous, she turns
back to O'Connell, and as matter-of-fact as possible says:
EVELYN
By the way, ...why did you kiss me?
O'Connell, cleaning his guns, just shrugs his shoulders
O'CONNELL
I was about to be hanged, seemed
like a good idea at the time.
Evelyn's eyes widen, furious, she turns and storms off.
O'Connell looks up, watching her leave, a bit perplexed
O'CONNELL (CONT'D)
What? .... Wha'd I say?
Then he hears someone SNICKERING under the table.
He quickly reaches down, grabs that someone and lifts him up.
It's Beni.
BENI
My very good friend! What a
surprise
O'CONNELL
Why if it ain't my little buddy,
Beni. I outta kill you.
O'Connell sticks a knife under Beni's throat. Beni swallows
hard, then tries to weasel his way out with a big grin.
BENI
You never were any good with the
ladies, O'Connell.
O'CONNELL
So you're the one leading the
Americans, I shoulda figured. So
what's the scam? You get 'em out in
the middle of the desert then leave
'em to rot?
BENI
Unfortunately no, these Americans
are smart, they pay me only half
now, half when I get them back to
Cairo, so I must go all the way.
O'Connell pulls the knife away. Beni relaxes, rubs his neck.
BENI (CONT'D)
You never believed in Hamunaptra,
O'Connell. Why are you going back?
The devil himself lives out there.
They look as they hear Evelyn YELP. A single CAMEL in the
HORSE PADDOCK takes another bite at her. She YELPS again and
backs away. O'Connell grins as Evelyn flees down the deck.
O'CONNELL
The girl saved my life, figured it
was the least I could do, keep her
out of trouble.
BENI
You always did have more balls than
brains.
O'Connell's eyes narrow at the insult, he looks back at Beni
O'CONNELL
Let's make us even, shall we?
BENI
Even?
O'Connell grabs him and chucks him over the side of the
barge. Beni SPLASHES into the river. O'Connell takes his
gunny-sack and starts walking off down the deck.
BENI(O.S) (CONT'D)
O'Connell! I am going to kill you
for this!
O'CONNELL
Sounds familiar.
And that's when he spots THREE SETS OF WET FOOTPRINTS, coming
up over the railing from the river and heading down the deck.
O'Connell quickly looks around, immediately on the alert.
INT. EVELYN'S CABIN - NIGHT
Evelyn, wearing a nightgown, stands in front of a mirror. She
gives her head a good shake, letting her hair fall loose over
her bare shoulders. Then she turns around, RIGHT THERE IS ONE
OF THE HIDEOUS MUMIA! It's Hook. He slams his hand over her
mouth and lifts up his hook, ready to strike.
HOOK
Where is the map?
Evelyn's terrified eyes glance down. Hook looks over, sees
the map lying next to a flickering candle on a nearby table,
HOOK (CONT'D)
And the key? Where is the key?
Evelyn's eyes look confused. She shakes her head. Hook grins,
HOOK (CONT'D)
Then I'll find it myself.
He cocks his hook, about to kill her. And that's when the
door is KICKED OPEN.
O'Connell BURSTS IN, gun in each hand. Hook spins Evelyn
around and holds her out in front of him. O'Connell looks at
her.
O'CONNELL
Friend of yours?
Evelyn's eyes widen. And that's when the candle on the table
FLICKERS. Everything happens at once.
READ FAST: O'Connell spins around just as a window BURSTS
OPEN. A Mumia leans in. FIRES A GUN. Woodchips BLAST OFF the
wall next to O'Connell's head. He returns FIRE. Kills the
Mumia. The Mumia falls back. FIRING BLINDLY.
A LANTERN in the room is BLASTED. Kerosene SPLASHES across
the wall. BURSTS INTO FLAMES. Evelyn grabs the candle on the
table and JAMS IT back over her shoulder, right into Hook's
EYE. He SCREECHES in pain and lets her go. O'Connell grabs
her and YANKS her out of the FLAMING ROOM.
HALLWAY - NIGHT
O'Connell pulls Evelyn down the hall, she tries to jerk free.
EVELYN
The map! We need the map!
He shoves her up against a wall.
O'CONNELL
Relax! I'm the map!
(taps his forehead)
It's all up here.
EVELYN
Oh that's comforting.
O'Connell gives her a look, then pulls her forward
O'CONNELL
C'mon, there's still one more of
those guys around here somewhere.
EVELYN'S FLAMING ROOM - NIGHT
Hot melted wax covers Hook's face as he holds his sore eye
and struggles to the door. Then he notices the key/box on the
floor. He bends over to pick it up. And that's when the door
is KICKED OPEN again, it hits him in the ass and knocks him
into the fire. Jonathan leans in. Sees nothing but flames.
JONATHAN
EVY!!
Then he sees the key/box on the floor and picks it up, A HAND
suddenly snatches the key/box away from him.
JONATHAN (CONT'D)
Hey that's mine--- it's Hook.
His backside is now ON FIRE. He lifts his pistol. Jonathan
quickly backpedals out the door as Hook OPENS FIRE.
EXT. CAMEL PADDOCK - NIGHT
O'Connell and Evelyn race out onto the deck near the horse
paddock. People are SCREAMING and SHOUTING, lots of panic.
BLAM! A chunk of the wall is BLOWN OFF next to Evelyn's head.
O'Connell pivots and FIRES BACK. It's the last Mumia, on the
other side of the paddock. He and O'Connell exchange GUNFIRE.
Another LANTERN BURSTS INTO FLAMES. O'Connell SHOOTS OFF the
paddock lock. The horses go nuts.
O'Connell FIRES over their heads. They CHARGE FORWARD and
CRASH through the door. The Mumia SCREAMS as the horses
STAMPEDE over him. FLAMES sweep up the walls and race across
the roof. Half the barge is now ON FIRE. O'Connell throws the
gunny-sack over his shoulder.
O'CONNELL
Can you swim?
EVELYN
Well of course I can swim, if the
occasion calls for it.
O'CONNELL
Trust me,
He picks her up and throws her over the side
O'CONNELL (CONT'D)
The occasion calls for it.
Evelyn SPLASHES into the water. O'Connell dives in after her.
EXT. BARGE BOW - NIGHT
Jonathan runs out onto the bow, sees the three Americans,
guns in every hand, fanning their pistols, SHOOTING
everything in sight. Jonathan just shakes his head.
JONATHAN
Americans.
Hook suddenly stumbles up behind him --now a FLAMING TORCH.
Jonathan turns around, Hook grabs him by the throat with his
FLAMING ARM and pins him to the cabin wall.
Jonathan's eyes widen as he sees a hook rising up inside the
FLAMES about to strike him.
The Americans pivot and OPEN FIRE. Blow Hook over the
railing. Jonathan turns to the Americans and smiles.
JONATHAN (CONT'D)
I say! Good show!
Then he points his thumb at himself
JONATHAN (CONT'D)
And did I panic?
He lifts up his other hand --he has the key/box back.
JONATHAN (CONT'D)
I think not.
And that's when the horses STAMPEDE onto the bow. Jonathan
dives over one side, the three Americans dive over the other.
NILE RIVERBANK - NIGHT
O'Connell, Evelyn, Jonathan and the Warden wade out of the
water.
Evelyn's nightgown clings tight to her body as she wrings it
out. She looks good. O'Connell notices.
Everybody else, including the horses, is getting out on the
far shore O'Connell spots Beni running up to the Americans.
BENI
Hey O'Connell! Looks to me like I
got all the horses!
O'CONNELL
Hey Beni! Looks to me like you're
on the wrong side of the river!
Beni looks up at the stars, then angrily KICKS the sand
CURSING. The FLAMING barge drifts off, slowly sinking...
BEDOUIN TRADING POST - DAY
O'Connell barters in ARABIC with a CAMEL TRADER at a trading
post. Jonathan forks over some cash. The Trader hands them
the reins of four ugly old camels.
JONATHAN
I can't believe the price of these
fleabags.
O'CONNELL
We coulda had 'em for free, all we
had to do was give 'em your sister.
JONATHAN
Yes, awfully tempting, wasn't it?
O'CONNELL
Awfully.
And that's when Evelyn steps out of a trading tent. She's
changed into a gorgeous, tightly fitted, Bedouin dress.
O'CONNELL (CONT'D)
Then again....
SAHARA DESERT SAND DUNES - DAY
O'Connell, Evelyn, Jonathan and the warden are on camels in
the middle of the frying pan; the endless, sunbaked Sahara.
JONATHAN
Never did like camels. Filthy
buggers. They smell, they bite,
they spit. Disgusting.
The warden savagely attacks a chicken wing with his vile
green teeth. Flies buzz around his head. He sucks at his
gums, then spits out some gristle. O'Connell watches him.
O'CONNELL
Yeah, disgusting.
Evelyn is having the time of her life on top of her camel.
EVELYN
Well I think they're cute.
WE DO SEVERAL TIME DISSOLVES: showing the majesty of the
desert, and our heroes getting deeper and deeper into it.
FRYING PAN - NIGHT
The MOON shines down an four lone camel rider's trekking
across the vast wasteland. Jonathan is sound asleep, his head
bobbing comically to the rhythm of his camel.
On the camel next to him, the Warden SNORES LOUDLY.
Up in front of them, Evelyn slowly starts to slide off her
saddle. O'Connell reaches over and stops her, then gently
pushes her back up onto her saddle, never waking her.
For a long moment, his eyes watch Evelyn, and then he looks
up at a distant ridge--
--where Ardeth Bay and a group of MUMIA RIDERS are pacing
them.
EXT. GIANT SAND DUNE - ENDLESS HORIZON - DAY
The dawning sun hasn't yet crested the distant horizon as
Jonathan and the Warden ride alongside a giant sand dune.
JONATHAN
And you snore!
WARDEN
I do not snore!
JONATHAN
All night you snored!
WARDEN
I have never snored!
Up in front of them, O'Connell looks at Evelyn.
O'CONNELL
We're almost there.
EVELYN
Are you sure?
O'Connell looks down at the ground.
O'CONNELL
Pretty sure.
The others look down and see DOZENS OF SKELETONS sticking out
of the ground. Bleached and eaten away. Some of the skeletons
look like they're trying to crawl up out of the desert floor.
JONATHAN
What in bloody hell is this?
The Warden shivers in fear.
WARDEN
Other seekers of Hamunaptra.
The American Expedition rides out from behind the far end of
the dune. The Americans are accompanied by TWO DOZEN NATIVE
DIGGERS and an Arab EGYPTOLOGIST. Beni rides lead on a camel,
the rest ride horses.
BENI
Good morning, my friend! O'Connell
just nods.
The two parties come to a stop a hundred feet apart.
O'Connell turns and stares out across the endless horizon.
Beni does likewise. The Americans look puzzled.
DANIELS
Well, what the hell we doin'?
BENI
Patience, my good sahib, patience.
Henderson looks over at O'Connell.
HENDERSON
First one to the city, O'Connell!
Five hundred! Cash bucks!
O'Connell and Beni just stare out at the flat nothingness.
Evelyn and Jonathan share a look. And then, the SUN starts to
rise in the distance, breaking the flat horizon.
O'CONNELL
Get ready.
Evelyn can feel the suspense and the majesty of the moment.
EVELYN
For what?
O'CONNELL
we're about to be shown the way.
Far off to the right, a HUGE SHAPE begins to rise with the
sun. A VOLCANO. O'Connell and Beni watch it, expressionless.
Daniels, Henderson and Burns share a look, and then--
DANIELS/HENDERSON/BURNS
HEYA!
The Americans take off. Racing towards the rising volcano.
DANIELS
SEE YA THERE, O'CONNELL!
Evelyn and Jonathan give O'Connell anxious, sarcastic looks.
JONATHAN
Ah, begging your pardon, but
shouldn't we be going?
EVELYN
After all, you rode us night and
day to win that bet.
O'Connell doesn't say a word, staring hard. Beni watches the
Americans and spits into the sand.
BENI
Fools.
And then suddenly, the volcano SHIFTS ACROSS THE HORIZON.
Passing across the sun as it goes. --It's a MIRAGE.
The Americans crash their horses to a stop and race the other
way, after the volcano. Evelyn and Jonathan smile, amazed.
The volcano SHIFTS AGAIN, floating across the watery horizon.
The Americans crash to a stop again and chase after the
volcano. All three of them confused and CURSING.
O'Connell and Beni just stare, waiting.
The volcano SHIFTS AGAIN. And the Americans crash to a stop
again. Burns is THROWN from his horse. Henderson angrily rips
his hat off and chucks it to the ground. Daniels just curses
as they give up the chase. The volcano comes to a stop on the
far left of the horizon. The Americans are on the far right.
Nothing moves.
A BEAT.
And then O'Connell grins. So does Beni. They share a look.
And then SWAT their camels and RACE AWAY.
Everybody else hauls-ass after them. O'Connell and Beni are
neck-and-neck. And then Evelyn comes galloping up, hair
flying in the wind. Beni takes out his camel whip and starts
WHIPPING O'Connell. Trying to knock him off his camel. Once.
CRACK! Twice. CRACK! But on the third try O'Connell grabs the
whip and JERKS Beni off his camel. Beni SLAMS to the ground
and TUMBLES. Evelyn and O'Connell race across the desert.
Evelyn has never felt so alive. She LAUGHS. O'Connell grins;
he likes this girl. Beni stumbles to his feet, then quickly
dances out of the way as Jonathan and all the other riders
stampede past him. Evelyn beats O'Connell to the stone ramp,
racing hard.
O'CONNELL
Evelyn! Slow down!
Evelyn ignores him as she races up the ramp towards the gate.
O'CONNELL (CONT'D)
SLOW DOWN, EVELYN! SLOW DOWN!
THERE'S A REALLY BIG--
INT. HAMUNAPTRA - DAY
--Evelyn goes ass-over-teacups through the air and crash
lands in a sand dune. She sits up, stunned, sandy hair in her
eyes. O'Connell stops at the edge of the ramp next to her
camel.
O'CONNELL
Never mind.
The Americans ride up and look in wonder at the ruins inside
the volcano. O'Connell gives them a big, shit-eating grin.
O'CONNELL (CONT'D)
You boys owe me five hundred
dollars.
EXT. HAMUNAPTRA - DAY
Under the guidance of the Egyptologist, the Diggers are busy
hauling rock and dirt out of the Temple doorway. The three
Americans are playing poker.
Beni smokes a hookah and swats flies. Dozens of stray CAMELS
roam the decrepit city; dusty backpacks and old saddlebags
still slung over their humps.
DANIELS
Where'd all these camels come from?
BENI
They belong to the dead. They will
wait years for their masters to
return before leaving.
EXT. OUR HEROES DIG - DAY
O'Connell, Evelyn, Jonathan and the Warden are working next
to a narrow CREVICE, which weaves it's way through the ruins.
O'Connell ties a rope around a pillar and throws the rest of
the coils into the crevice, about to rappel down. Jonathan
bends over to have a look, his ass hits something, he YELPS
and backs away. It's the decrepit FACE OF ANUBIS.
JONATHAN
That thing gives me the creeps.
O'CONNELL
Be nice. That thing saved my life.
Evelyn is positioning ancient MIRRORS along the crevice.
EVELYN
That "thing" gets me excited
O'CONNELL
(sarcastic)
The things that get you excited.
EVELYN
According to Bembridge Scholars,
inside the statue of Anubis was a
secret compartment, perhaps
containing The Book Of The Living.
O'CONNELL
What are those mirrors for?
EVELYN
Ancient Egyptian trick. You'll see.
O'Connell shrugs, then rappels down into the crevice
INT. EMBALMER'S CHAMBER - DAY
O'Connell waves a TORCH as Jonathan, Evelyn and the warden
drop down next to him. Evelyn peers into the spooky darkness.
EVELYN
Do you realize, we are standing
inside a room that no one has
entered in over four thousand
years.
WARDEN
Who cares? I don't see no treasure.
O'CONNELL
You're welcome to my share of the
spider webs.
JONATHAN
And it stinks to high heaven in
here.
Evelyn just rolls her eyes.
EVELYN
Cretins.
Jonathan sniffs the foul air, then he looks at the warden and
realizes where the smell is coming from. He stops sniffing.
Evelyn brushes COBWEBS away from a METAL DISK on the wall,
then repositions it on it's pedestal, aiming it at a RAY OF
LIGHT shining in from the outer mirrors --THE RAY OF LIGHT
HITS THE DISK AND QUICKLY SHOOTS AROUND THE ROOM FROM ONE
DISK TO ANOTHER UNTIL THE WHOLE CHAMBER IS LIT UP. LIGHT RAYS
SHOOT OFF DOWN THE PASSAGEWAYS. It's the embalmer's chamber.
O'CONNELL
That is a neat trick.
EVELYN
Oh my god, It's a preparation room.
O'CONNELL
Preparation for what?
EVELYN
For entering the afterlife.
O'Connell quickly draws his gun. Jonathan gently nudges him,
JONATHAN
Mummies, my good son, this is where
they made the mummies.
Evelyn heads down a narrow passageway. The others follow.
INT. LABYRINTH - DAY
O'Connell, Evelyn and Jonathan crouch as they make their way
through a narrow, COBWEB INFESTED LABYRINTH. The short, squat
Warden can stand straight up.
Then they hear something and freeze.
It sounds like somebody is clawing inside the walls. They
share looks. Then slowly move forward. Getting darker and
darker as they go. The strange sound getting louder and
louder. And then it stops.
Evelyn holds her breath. Jonathan licks his lips. O'Connell
cocks his pistol.
The Warden FARTS. O'Connell, Jonathan and Evelyn glare at
him.
ANUBIS CHAMBER - DAY
They slowly creep out of the labyrinth and up to the foot of
an enormous half-buried statue. The lower half of Anubis.
Then they hear the sound again, coming closer now, from the
other side of the statue. And closer. O'Connell pulls Evelyn
behind him. And closer. O'Connell raises his gun. And CLOSER!
O'Connell LEAPS OUT. --THREE HORRIBLE SWEATY FACES LUNGE AT
HIM. O'Connell REACTS. But doesn't pull the trigger because
it's just the Americans, their guns are up, cocked and aimed.
HENDERSON
Ya scared the bejeezus out of us,
O'Connell.
O'CONNELL
Likewise.
But nobody lowers their guns. Daniels grins, the tough one.
DANIELS
This here is our statue...friend.
O'CONNELL
Don't see your name on it...pal.
And that's when Beni, five Diggers and the Egyptologist step
out of the shadows --all holding guns aimed at O'Connell.
BENI
Ten to one, O'Connell, your odds
are no-so-good.
O'CONNELL
I've had worse
Jonathan clenches a tiny derringer.
JONATHAN
Yes, me too,
O'Connell gives him a sideways glance. Beni cocks his gun,
grinning, he wants it to happen. The tension thickens. Then
Evelyn gently takes O'Connell's gun hand and pulls it down.
EVELYN
Let's be nice, children, if we're
going to play together, we must
learn to share.
Evelyn pulls O'Connell away. Jonathan and the Warden follow.
Beni and the Americans slowly lower their guns, laughing. The
Egyptologist excitedly begins translating the hieroglyphs.
INT. IMHOTEPIS CHAMBER - DAY
O'Connell and Jonathan are using sledge-hammers against the
ceiling. Evelyn is gently chipping away with a tiny chisel.
EVELYN
According to my calculations, we
should be right under the statue.
We'll come up right between his
legs.
(she blushes and laughs)
Oh my.
JONATHAN
And when those dirty Yanks go to
sleep--
(looks at O'Connell)
No offense.
O'CONNELL
None taken
JONATHAN
--We'll sneak up and steal that
book right out from under them.
O'CONNELL
And you're sure you can find the
secret compartment?
EVELYN
Yes, if their Egyptologist hasn't
already found it.
Jonathan looks around.
JONATHAN
I say, what's our smelly little
friend got himself up to?
INT. SCARAB CHAMBER - DAY
The Warden crawls into a DARK CHAMBER and LIGHTS A TORCH. A
mural wall comes alive. Embedded into it are dozens of black
amethyst SCARABS; glittering images of the sacred beetles.
Awestruck, the Warden pulls out a pocket knife and starts
prying away at one of the precious bugs.
INT. ANUBIS' CHAMBER - DAY
Beni and the Americans hover around the Egyptologist, who's
found the SECRET COMPARTMENT inside Anubis.
The Egyptologist brushes sand away from the seam . Henderson
steps forward and grabs the seam --the Egyptologist quickly
stops him.
EGYPTOLOGIST
Seti was no fool.
Henderson sees the intense look in the Egyptologist's eyes
HENDERSON
Yeah, sure....
He looks back at the native Diggers.
HENDERSON (CONT'D)
We'll let them open it.
The Egyptologist nods, then YELLS IN EGYPTIAN at the Diggers.
The Diggers hesitate, filled with fear. Daniels pulls out his
gun, aims it at three of the Diggers. The three Diggers
hesitantly step forward with crowbars and stick them into the
seams. The other Diggers back away, scared shitless.
Beni and the Americans exchange looks, and then they back
away as well.
INT. IMHOTEPIS CHAMBER - DAY
Three Heroes are still digging into the ceiling.
O'CONNELL
Lemme get this straight, they stuck
a sharp, red hot poker up your
nose, cut your brain into small
pieces, then ripped it all out
through your nostrils?
JONATHAN
OWCH! That's really got to hurt.
EVELYN
It's called mummification. You're
dead when they do this.
JONATHAN
Still....
O'CONNELL
Yeah, that'd bring you back to
life.
EVELYN
You two are worse than a couple of
schoolboys.
And that's when a huge chunk of the roof suddenly GIVES OUT.
O'Connell GRABS Evelyn and JERKS her clear. Jonathan DIVES
for the far wall. A MASSIVE STONE CASEMENT DROPS OUT OF THE
CEILING AND CRASHES to the floor. DUST FLIES. Fills the room.
INT. ANLIBIS CHAMBER -
Having heard the crash, Beni and the Americans have their
guns pointed at the floor. The Egyptologist could care less,
he looks at the Diggers, gripping their crowbars, and YELLS--
EGYPTOLOGIST
FENI!
The three Diggers PULL HARD. The ancient seams start to give,
The Egyptologist YELLS again. The Diggers PULL HARDER. The
compartment starts to loosen. Again he YELLS. The Diggers
give one final pull and--
--AN INTENSE BURST OF LIQUID SPRAYS OUT OF THE SEAM. HITS THE
THREE DIGGERS. MELTS THEIR SKIN CLEAN OFF. They SCREAM. Dying
horribly. HALF SKELETAL by the time they hit the ground...
INT. IMHOTEPIS CHAMBER - DAY
The dust is starting to clear. O'Connell, Evelyn and Jonathan
slowly get up and step over to the massive stone casement. We
immediately recognize it as IMHOTEP'S SARCOPHAGUS.
EVELYN
Oh my god, ...it looks like, it
looks like a sarcophagus.
O'CONNELL
Why would they bury somebody in the
ceiling?
EVELYN
They didn't, they buried him at the
foot of Anubis. He was either
someone of great importance or he
did something very naughty.
INT. SCARAB CHAMBER - DAY
The Warden drops an amethyst-scarab into his pouch, then
greedily-starts prying away at another.
It rips off, he drops it into his pouch --only he misses, and
this scarab quietly falls to the sandy floor without the
Warden noticing.
CLOSE ON: the scarab on the floor. It begins to TRANSFORM.
The amethyst starts to glow. Something inside starts to
WIGGLE; as if the amethyst were some sort of strange cocoon.
Then it splits open and a real live hideous SCARAB--BEETLE
scurries out.
It races over to the warden's shoe, quickly burrows into the
leather and vanishes inside.
The Warden's eyes FLY OPEN. He starts to SCREAM, drops his
knife and frantically starts clawing away at his pant leg,
higher and higher until he rips open his shirt revealing a
large, hideous LUMP, BURROWING UNDER HIS SKIN. IT BURROWS
IT'S WAY UP HIS FAT BELLY AND ACROSS HIS HAIRY CHEST. The
Warden claws and scratches at it, trying to stop it. The lump
BURROWS UP HIS NECK.
The Warden starts GAGGING and COUGHING. And then the scarab
lump VANISHES INTO HIS HEAD.
INT. IMHOTEPIS CHAMBER - DAY
Our Heroes clear the dirt off the top of the sarcophagus,
revealing a single, ominous hieroglyph. Evelyn stares at it
Jonathan impatiently strums his fingers across the lid.
JONATHAN
Well? .... Who is it?
Evelyn stares at the hieroglyph, confused and concerned.
EVELYN
'He that shall not be named.
O'Connell dusts off the huge LOCK.
O'CONNELL
There's some sort of lock here. You
say these thing's are made of
granite with a steel interior?
EVELYN
Quarried granite with a cobalt
lining.
JONATHAN
Whoever's in here, sure wasn't
getting out.
O'CONNELL
No kiddin', without a key, it'll
take us a month to crack this
thing,
EVELYN
A key! That's it! That's what he
was talking about.
O'CONNELL
Who was talking about what?
Evelyn starts rummaging through the pack on Jonathan's back.
EVELYN
The man on the barge. The one with
the hook, he was looking for a key.
Evelyn pulls out the key/box. Jonathan tries to take it back,
JONATHAN
Hey that's mine!
Evelyn slaps his hand and quickly unfolds the box -- it's now
shaped exactly like the LOCK'S KEYHOLE. Evelyn smiles.
And that's when they hear the Warden's SCREAMS echoing
through the labyrinth. All three of them turn and take-off
running.
INT. LABYRINTH - DAY
The Warden is SCREAMING and dancing insanely around the
labyrinth, totally freaked from the extreme pain in his head.
O'Connell,
Evelyn and Jonathan run up just as the Warden starts RIPPING
his own hair out of his head.
O'Connell and Jonathan grab at the Warden's hands, but he's
far too crazed, he shoves them aside, runs full bore down the
length of the labyrinth and SLAMS his head straight into a
rock wall. The Warden drops to the ground. Dead as lead.
Eyes wide open. O'Connell, Evelyn and Jonathan just stand
there staring, breathing hard, wide-eyed themselves...
EXT. BASE CAMP - NIGHT
Evelyn and Jonathan are nuzzled up to a campfire.
EVELYN
What do you suppose killed him?
JONATHAN
Did you ever see him eat?
O'Connell comes up over some rocks.
O'CONNELL
Seems the Americans had a little
misadventure of their own today,
three of their diggers were killed.
EVELYN
How?
O'CONNELL
Salt acid. Pressurized salt acid.
Some sort of ancient booby-trap.
JONATHAN
Maybe this place really is cursed.
A GUST OF WIND blows through the camp. The campfire FLICKERS
O'Connell and Jonathan share a nervous look. Evelyn laughs.
EVELYN
Foo!
O'CONNELL
Don't believe in curses, huh?
EVELYN
No. I believe if I can see it and I
can touch it, then it's real.
That's what I believe.
O'Connell cocks his rifle, KA-CHANK! Gives her a big grin.
O'CONNELL
I believe in being prepared.
Jonathan opens the Warden's POUCH, the one that held the
scarabs. He reaches in, starts scrounging around.
WE SLOWLY PUSH IN. Waiting for the attack. THE MUSIC BUILDS.
And then, --Jonathan SCREAMS in pain and RIPS his hand back
out of the pouch. O'Connell and Evelyn both jump.
O'CONNELL/EVELYN
WHAT?! WHAT IS IT?!
Jonathan sucks his finger, then reaches back into the pouch
and pulls out a LIQUOR BOTTLE, the top has been chipped off.
JONATHAN
Seagrams!
Jonathan smiles at the bottle, then turns the pouch inside-
out and shakes it, nothing but SAND is inside it.
JONATHAN (CONT'D)
Well, he may have been a stinky
fellow,....but he had good taste
Jonathan takes a swig. O'Connell and Evelyn laugh, guiltily
And then O'Connell suddenly kneels down and sticks his ear to
the sand. Evelyn and Jonathan watch him. A BEAT.
And then a BARRAGE OF GUNFIRE IS HEARD coming from the
American camp.
O'Connell jumps up and throws the elephant gun to Evelyn.
O'CONNELL
Stay here!
He takes off running through the ruins. Evelyn immediately
gets up and runs after him. Jonathan grabs a gun, holds the
bottle of Seagrams; tight and dashes after her.
JONATHAN
Evy! Excuse me! But didn't the man
just say--!
EXT. AMERICAN CAMP - NIGHT
The American camp is under siege. Two dozen MUMIA RIDERS
gallop through. FIRING RIFLES. Several Diggers are killed as
they run. The Americans leap out of their tents FIRING. Kill
multiple Riders. Daniels is shot, spins and falls, keeps
SHOOTING. Henderson and Burns run to his aid, BLASTING AWAY.
O'Connell races through the ruins and SLAMS right into Beni,
who is obviously trying to high-tail-it out of there.
O'CONNELL
Goin' somewhere?
BENI
Just looking for you, O'Connell! I
wanted to be with my friend!
O'Connell drags him back towards the American camp.
O'CONNELL
C'mon, friend.
BENI
(struggling)
Why do you like to fight so much?
O'CONNELL
'Cause I look good doin, it.
Ardeth Bay gallops through the camp, cutting Diggers down
with his scimitar.
O'Connell runs up on top of some rocks, LEAPS OUT and TACKLES
him off his horse. The two men SLAM to the ground.
O'Connell spins up onto one knee and FIRES, point blank.
Blows the scimitar out of Ardeth Bay's hand. O'Connell is
about to shoot again when a horse rides up between them. A
scimitar swoops down, almost takes O'Connell's head off,
misses him by an inch. O'Connell leaps up and blows the Rider
off his mount. The horse BOLTS.
--But Ardeth Bay is gone.
Evelyn hides behind some rocks, watching the scene, suddenly,
she hears something coming up behind her and spins around. A
vicious tattooed Mumia Rider races at her. Evelyn quickly
backpedals over the rocks, terrified.
The Mumia Rider raises his scimitar, about to strike. Evelyn
SCREAMS, trips over a rock and FIRES the elephant gun, -
BLAM! Blows the Rider off his mount and CATAPULTS him twenty
feet back into some ruins. At the same time, the kick blows
Evelyn off her feet and over a ridge.
She FLAILS through the air and lands in a sand dune. Jonathan
and some - Diggers are holding their own near the temple
door. Four Riders come CHARGING right at them. Jonathan takes
a swig off the Seagrams.
JONATHAN
Let 'em have it, boys!
Jonathan and the Diggers OPEN FIRE. When the smoke clears,
the Riders are either dead or gone. Jonathan grins.
JONATHAN (CONT'D)
I say, bloody good show.
And then several more Mumia leap off the temple and land
behind them. Jonathan and the remaining Diggers spin around
and suddenly find themselves in hand-to-hand combat.
O'Connell is quickly loading his pistol. He hears something
THUNDERING UP behind him. He spins around just as Ardeth Bay
on a horse swings his scimitar. O'Connell instinctively
raises his hands to protect his face, the scimitar STRIKES!
Hits his gun --CHING!
O'Connell's gun flips away. Disarmed, O'Connell dives and
rolls and suddenly comes up with a stick of dynamite in his
hand. He shoves the fuse into a fire. It IGNITES. He faces
Ardeth Bay, towering above him. The two men lock eyes. The
fuse continues to burn down.
Ardeth Bay points his scimitar at O'Connell's head.
ARDETH BAY
LEAVE THIS PLACE! .... LEAVE THIS
PLACE OR DIE!
Ardeth Bay GALLOPS OFF. The remaining Mumia Riders race after
him, vanishing into the night. O'Connell watches them leave,
then turns to the burning fuse....and blows it out.
Evelyn staggers up, looking very shaken. O'Connell gently
takes her and holds her close.
O'CONNELL
You alright?
Evelyn looks up into his strong eyes. It's the first time
he's shown genuine concern for her. And she likes it. He's
also holding her a little too close. And she likes that too.
EVELYN
Yes, ...fine, ...thank you.
Beni crawls out from under some pillars as Henderson and
Burns help Daniels to his feet.
DANIELS
See! That proves it! Old Seti's
fortune's gotta be under this sand!
HENDERSON
For them to protect it like this,
you just know there's got to be
treasure down there.
O'Connell looks up into the surrounding ridges, unsatisfied.
O'CONNELL
These men are a desert people they
value water, not gold.
Evelyn looks at O'Connell, suddenly very worried.
EVELYN
Where's Jonathan?
EXT. BASE CAMP - NIGHT
Jonathan falls into FRAME. Hits the ground. Eyes wide open.
Mouth agape. Clearly dead. A BEAT. And then his eyes close
and his mouth widens into a goofy smile. Shit-faced drunk.
O'Connell and Evelyn laugh, both half-in-the-bag themselves,
the bottle of Seagrams is almost gone. O'Connell offers the
bottle to Evelyn, she waves it away, slurring badly--
EVELYN
Unlike my brother, sir, I know when
to say no.
O'Connell polishes off the bottle and chucks it away.
O'CONNELL
Unlike your brother, Miss, you I
don't get. You're a whole new brew.
EVELYN
I know, you're wondering, what's a
place like me doing in a girl like
this?
O'CONNELL
Something like that.
EVELYN
Egypt is in my blood. My father was
a famous explorer, he loved Egypt
so much that he married an Egyptian
my mother! Who was quite an
adventurer herself.
O'CONNELL
Okay, I get your father, I get your
mother and I get your brother, but
what are you doing here?
Evelyn is insulted, she staggers to her feet.
EVELYN
I may not be an explorer, or an
adventurer, or a treasure hunter,
or a gunfighter! Mister O'Connell
But I'm proud of what I am.
O'CONNELL
And what is that?
Evelyn plops back down beside him, really drunk, she grins
and proudly lifts her head high.
EVELYN
..... am a librarian!
She leans in, very close to his face, looks him in the eyes,
EVELYN (CONT'D)
I'm going to kiss you, Mister
O'Connell.
O'CONNELL
No you're not.
EVELYN
I'm not?
O'CONNELL
Not unless you call me Rick
EVELYN
Why would I do that?
O'CONNELL
Because that's my name.
She gives him a goofy smile. He leans forward and KISSES HER.
Evelyn's eyes slowly close. And then she passes out, slumping
into his arms. O'Connell looks down at her, and just smiles.
INT. IMHOTEPIS CHAMBER - DAY
Evelyn's HAND slips the KEY into the sarcophagus, lock and
turns it. A series of STRANGE MECHANICAL-LIKE SOUNDS are
heard, and then the sarcophagus unlocks with a GIANT HISS.
O'Connell, Evelyn and Jonathan all look very, very hungover.
They start to slide the heavy lid off the sarcophagus.
PUSHING, SHOVING and GROANING, the lid budging, inch by inch.
EVELYN
I can't believe I allowed the two
of you to get me drunk.
JONATHAN
Don't blame me, I don't even
remember being there.
EVELYN
Well neither do I, thank you.
O'Connell gives her a hurt look.
O'CONNELL
You don't?
Evelyn gives O'Connell a nervous look.
EVELYN
No . .... Why? .... Should I?
O'CONNELL
Gee, yeah, you told me it was the
best time you ever had.
O'Connell gives her a big cheesy smile. Evelyn's face drops,
appalled and embarrassed. And that's when the lid FALLS OFF
and LOUDLY CRASHES to the ground.
All three of them instantly grab their sore heads and MOAN.
INT. ANUBIS' CHAMBER - DAY
Several fear-filled, sweaty-faced Diggers reach into the
secret compartment. Henderson and Burns hold guns on them.
Daniels has his arm in a sling. The Diggers slowly pull out
the ORNATE CHEST. They set the chest down on the sandy floor.
Beni watches as the Egyptologist translates the hieratics.
EGYPTOLOGIST
There is a curse upon this chest.
DANIELS
Curse my ass.
HENDERSON
Yeah, who cares.
The Egyptologist gives them the evil-eye.
EGYPTOLOGIST
In these hallowed grounds, that
which was set forth in ancient
times, is as strong today, as it
was then.
HENDERSON
Yeah, yeah, okay, what's it?
The Egyptologist slowly and carefully reads the inscription:
EGYPTOLOGIST
"Death will come on swift wings to
whomever opens this chest".
A GUST OF WIND blows through the chamber. TORCHES FLICKER All
the Diggers suddenly turn tail and run off SCREAMING. The
Americans look at each other, suddenly very nervous.
EGYPTOLOGIST (CONT'D)
It says, there is one, the undead,
who if brought back to life, is
bound by sacred law to consummate
this curse.
HENDERSON
Yeah, well, let's just make sure we
don't bring anybody back from the
dead then, huh?
The three Americans laugh.
EGYPTOLOGIST
He will kill all who open this
chest, ...and assimilate their
organs and fluids.
DANIELS
Assimilate their organs and fluids?
Ya mean eat 'em?
EGYPTOLOGIST
And in so doing he will regenerate.
And no longer be the undead, but a
plague upon this earth.
The WIND WHISTLES. Torches FLICKER. VERY SPOOKY. Beni and the
Egyptologist share a fear-filled look. Henderson just shrugs.
HENDERSON
Ah hell, let's open it anyways,
INT. IMHOTEP'S CHAMBER - DAY
WHAM! Imhotep's wooden coffin is DROPPED to the ground next
to his stone sarcophagus. Evelyn is very excited.
EVELYN
Oh my god, love dreamed about this
ever since I was a little girl.
O'CONNELL
You dream about dead guys?
Evelyn just gives him a look, then starts brushing dirt and
cobwebs off the top of the coffin. Then she freezes.
EVELYN
Look, all the sacred spells have
been chiseled off. The hieratics
and hieroglyphs that protect the
deceased on his journey into the
afterlife, they've been removed.
This man was cursed....doomed.
O'Connell and Jonathan are too excited to care
O'CONNELL
Tough break.
JONATHAN
Yes, I'm all tears, now let's see
who's inside, shall we?
Evelyn can't believe these guys. Jonathan inserts the key/box
into the coffin's lock. Turns it. The lid cracks open with a
HISS. They all react to the FOUL STENCH.
Then O'Connell grabs the lid. It's stuck. He pulls with all
his might. Jonathan helps him. It starts to give way. Slowly.
Slowly. Slooooowly.
And then it suddenly POPS OPEN and THE MOST HIDEOUS, MAGGOT
INFESTED, ROTTEN CORPSE IMAGINABLE JUMPS UP!
O'CONNELL/EVELYN/JONATHAN
AHHHHH!!!
They all jump back. Scared to death. Imhotep is now the
'Elephant Man' of corpses; twisted and deformed. The years
have not been kind. He slumps back into his coffin.
INT. ANUBIS'-CHAMBER - DAY
Henderson and Daniels start to pry at the lid of the wooden
chest. Beni and the Egyptologist watch.
In the background, Beni starts backing away, filled with
fear, sweating buckets.
BENI
The curse ....beware the curse!
He turns and bolts from the chamber. Daniels spits.
DANIELS
Stupid superstitious bastard.
And that's when the seal breaks --A BLACK VAPOR BLASTS OUT OF
THE CHEST. Everybody vanishes into the strange cloud.
INT. IMHOTEPIS CHAMBER - DAY
O'Connell, Evelyn and Jonathan slowly creep forward and
carefully look back inside Imhotep's coffin, creeped-out.
O'CONNELL
Is he supposed to look like that?
EVELYN
No. I've never seen a mummy look
like this. He's, he's still...
JONATHAN
Juicy?
EVELYN
Yes. He's more than four thousand
years old and still decomposing.
O'CONNELL
And look at this.
O'Connell points at the inside of the COFFIN LID, where there
are FINGERNAIL SCRATCHES and DRIED BLOOD all over the inside.
EVELYN
Oh my god, he was buried alive,
This sends a chill through everyone. Evelyn leans in closer,
EVELYN (CONT'D)
And he left a message.
WE PUSH IN on a grouping of hieratics WRITTEN IN BLOOD.
EVELYN (CONT'D)
It says: 'Death is only the
beginning'.
Jonathan shivers. O'Connell looks around.
O'CONNELL
Where's my gun?
JONATHAN
What are you going to do? Shoot
him?
O'CONNELL
If he decides to wakes up, hell
yes!
INT. ANUBIS' CHAMBER - DAY
The vapor is settling. The Americans have their guns aimed at
the chest. The Egyptologist slowly steps up, reaches inside,
and lifts out a heavy burlap bag. Everyone's eyes widen in
excitement as he sticks his hand into the bag and slowly
pulls out the black BOOK OF THE DEAD, the same book Imhotep
used in his attempt to bring Anck-su-namun back to life.
EGYPTOLOGIST
I have heard told of this book, but
I never truly believed it existed.
This, good gentlemen, is a most
priceless treasure.
Henderson kicks the sandy floor in anger.
HENDERSON
I wouldn't trade ya for a brass
spittoon!
DANIELS
Yeah! It's supposed to be made
outta pure gold!
Daniels kicks the chest. It breaks open, unfolding to reveal
a lower compartment.
Inside, are Anck-su-namun's FIVE JEWEL ENCRUSTED CANOPIC JARS
(one is shattered and without jewels)
EXT. BASE CAMP - NIGHT
The two camps have now joined together. O'Connell and Beni
are roasting chunks of hairy meat over a fire. Jonathan
wrinkles his nose, disgusted by the smell.
JONATHAN
What is this stuff? It smells like
our late friend, the warden.
O'Connell and Beni both grin. Jonathan looks horrified.
JONATHAN (CONT'D)
You did not!? .... We're not!?
O'CONNELL
Rat gizzards. They smell bad and
taste worse, but that's the best
the desert has to offer.
The gloating Americans sit down, fondling their jeweled jars.
HENDERSON
Say O'Connell, whadaya think these
honey's'll fetch back home?
BURNS
We hear you gentlemen found
yerselves a nice gooey mummy.
Congratulations.
DANIELS
Ya know if ya dry him out, you can
sell him for firewood.
The Americans laugh. Evelyn walks up, sits down and drops a
pile of big dusty BUG SKELETONS onto the ground.
EVELYN
Scarabs, flesh eaters, I found them
inside our friend's coffin. They
can stay alive for years living off
the flesh of a corpse, or in this
case...
She shrugs, then looks at the roasting meat
EVELYN (CONT'D)
Famished.
O'Connell and Jonathan stare at the bug skeletons, disgusted.
O'CONNELL
Are you saying somebody threw these
things in with our guy, and they
slowly ate him alive?
EVELYN
Very slowly.
JONATHAN
He certainly was not a popular
fellow when they planted him.
O'CONNELL
Must of got a little too frisky
with the Pharaoh's daughter.
EVELYN
According to my readings, our
friend suffered the HOM-DAI, the
worst of all ancient Egyptian
curses, one reserved for only the
most evil blasphemers. In all of my
research, I've never read of this
curse actually having been
performed.
O'CONNELL
That bad huh?
EVELYN
Yes, they never used it because
they feared it so. It's written,
that if a victim of the HOM-DAI
should ever arise, he would bring
with him the ten plagues of Egypt.
O'CONNELL
The ten plagues? ... You mean all
ten plagues.
BENI
Like what that Moses guy did to
that Pharaoh guy?
EVELYN
That's one way of putting it.
JONATHAN
Let's see, there was frogs, flies,
locusts....
BURNS
Hail and fire.
HENDERSON
The sun turning black.
DANIELS
Water turning to blood.
JONATHAN
And my personal favorite: people
covered in boils and sores.
All the men share nervous looks, really spooked. Evelyn just
laughs at them, then pulls a meat stick out of the fire.
EVELYN
Fried gizzard anyone?
EXT. CAMP - LATER THAT NIGHT
Having just freshened up for bed, Evelyn exits the temple and
steps past the sleeping Diggers. She spots the Egyptologist,
his jeweled canopic jar snug under one arm, the Book Of The
Dead laying loose under the other.
Evelyn stares at the Book, nervously biting her lip, then she
sneaks over, carefully steals it, and quickly tip-toes away.
Lying on some blankets by the campfire, O'Connell rolls over
and sees Evelyn, sitting wide-eyed, staring at the Book.
O'CONNELL
You sure you outta be playin,
around with that?
EVELYN
It's just a book, no harm ever came
from a book.
Evelyn opens the cover. THE FIRE FLICKERS. She and O'Connell
share a nervous look, then Evelyn shrugs and starts reading.
EVELYN (CONT'D)
Ahm kum Ra. Ahm kum Dei.
Evelyn continues READING THE BOOK ALOUD IN ANCIENT EGYPTIAN.
INT. IMHOTEPIS CHAMBER - NIGHT
Evelyn's VOICE is OVERLAID as WE START WIDE on Imhotep's
chamber and SLOWLY PUSH IN on his sarcophagus.
WE PUSH IN over the lip of the coffin, then closer and closer
towards Imhotep's rotten, twisted head, until his putrid face
fills FRAME --and then suddenly his crusty eyelids Pop OPEN!
Revealing EMPTY SOCKETS. --BIG SCARY MUSIC STING.
EXT. BASE CAMP - NIGHT
The Egyptologist sits bolt upright. Quickly looks around,
sees Evelyn reading the Book. He gets up and runs for her.
EGYTOLOGIST
NO! NOOOO! YOU MUST NOT!
He skids to a stop as a strange, piercing WHINE is heard,
coming from out in the desert.
O'Connell and the others all leap to their feet.
The Americans run out of their tents.
The SOUND gets LOUDER and CLOSER. And then from out of the
darkness a HUGE WALL OF LOCUSTS SWIRLS into camp and envelops
everyone.
O'Connell grabs Evelyn, and with Jonathan at their side they
race for the crevice, trying to fend off the horrid vermin as
they go. Beni and the Americans run for the temple. The
Egyptologist is covered in locusts. He stares at The Book Of
The Dead, looking haunted.
EGYPTOLOGIST
What have we done?
The campfire is SUCKED UP INTO THE AIR.
INT. LABYRINTH CORRIDOR - NIGHT
O'Connell, Evelyn and Jonathan race down the labyrinth,
slapping at themselves and picking locusts out of their hair
JONATHAN
Did you see that!? Grasshoppers!
Billions of grasshoppers!
O'CONNELL
That's one of the plagues, right?
The grasshopper plague!
EVELYN
This is not a plague. It's
generational.
Every so many years the locusts of
Egypt have a population explosion
and they all take flight.
Evelyn steps forward, something SQUISHES. O'Connell lowers
his TORCH, --the entire floor is FILLED WITH SLIMY FROGS.
O'CONNELL
Okay, ....and what about frogs?
INT. LABYRINTH PASSAGEWAY - NIGHT
The Americans, Beni and the Diggers race into a passageway.
Burns is knocked down, his bifocals skitter across the
ground, they get CRUSHED in the stampede. Burns staggers to
his feet, squinting. BLURRY FIGURES vanish into the darkness,
BURNS
Daniels! Henderson!
INT. LABYRINTH CORRIDOR - NIGHT
The ground under O'Connell, Evelyn and Jonathan starts to
SHAKE. Then suddenly, right in front of them -- HUNDREDS OF
CHITTERING SCARAB-BEETLES BOIL UP OUT OF THE SAND. Start
scurrying towards them.
Evelyn SCREAMS. Jonathan SCREAMS. Even O'Connell almost
screams. They turn around and haul-ass.
INT. PASSAGEWAY - NIGHT
Burns staggers down a passageway, squinting, his hands out in
front of him, groping, trying not to bump into anything. Then
ten feet in front of him, a dark, blurry FIGURE steps out.
BURNS
Daniels? .... is that you?
Burns half-blindly staggers forward. The Figure doesn't move.
BURNS (CONT'D)
Henderson?
Burns TRIPS, stumbles forward, towards the Figure, his hands
reach out and SINK INTO IMHOTEPIS PUTRID CHEST CAVITY. Burns
jumps like a scalded cat, pulls his hands out and looks at
them, --HIS HANDS ARE COVERED IN MOLTEN FLESH ROT. He starts
to SCREAM. A SKELETAL HAND clamps over his mouth.
LABYRINTH STAIRCASE - NIGHT
O'Connell, Evelyn and Jonathan race up the staircase, just
ahead of the mass of SCURRYING, CHITTERING SCARABS.
O'Connell leaps out onto a pedestal. Jonathan jumps up next
to him. Evelyn jumps up into a grotto on the other side of
the narrow stairway. The horrible herd of vicious scarabs
scurries between them, their ear-piercing CRITTERS send
shivers up Evelyn's spine.
She leans back. THE WALL MOVES.
Evelyn falls backwards through an opening.
O'Connell and Jonathan watch the scarabs vanish up the
staircase. Then they look across the way. Evelyn is gone.
JONATHAN
EVY!?
SCARAB CHAMBER - NIGHT
Evelyn sits up, shakes the sand out of her hair, fearfully
looks around. It's almost PITCH BLACK. She gets up and feels
her way along the dark walls. She rounds a corner. A shaft of
MOONLIGHT filters in through a crack in the ceiling. A MAN
stands in the middle of the room. Evelyn walks towards him.
EVELYN
Oh thank goodness, you're one of
the Americans, aren't you?
Just as she reaches him he turns around. It's Burns. BOTH OF
HIS EYES ARE MISSING. He stares at her with vacant sockets.
Evelyn SCREAMS in horror and backs away, hyperventilating,
she bumps into something. She SCREAMS again and spins around
It's Imhotep. With two fresh EYEBALLS in his sockets. Evelyn
SCREAMS again and backs away into a wall. Her hair is down,
her face is dirty and sweaty, her blouse is ripped, her dress
is torn, she's never looked sexier.
Imhotep SQUINTS.
IMHOTEP
Anck-su-namun?
LABYRINTH STAIRCASE - NIGHT
O'Connell is feeling his way around inside the grotto
O'CONNELL
Damn-it! Must be a trap door around
here or somethin'.
And then they heat MEN SCREAMING, and suddenly, Henderson,
Daniels and one of the Diggers come running down the stairs.
HENDERSON
RUN, YOU SONS-A-BITCHES! RUUUUN!
O'Connell and Jonathan join them as they hear the herd of
CHITTERING scarabs coming their way. The Digger suddenly
trips and falls. O'Connell slows down, about to go back and
help him. But it's too late.
The Digger SCREAMS in horror as the herd of scarabs run over
him, eating straight through him, leaving behind the Digger's
half eaten skeleton.
Daniels Henderson and Jonathan react in horror. O'Connell's
already running, races right past them. The others turn and
haul-ass.
SCARAB CHAMBER - NIGHT
Imhotep steps forward, --the sand around him seems to
MAGNETIZE, swirling and dancing around his flaking skeletal
legs. Evelyn starts backing away, horrified, looks at Burns
EVELYN
Help me, ...please, ...help me.
Burns opens his mouth, but can only GURGLE and MOAN because
HIS TONGUE IS MISSING. Imhotep grabs him, throws him to the
ground and sets his skeletal foot on Burns' chest, like a big
game hunter standing on his kill. Imhotep then parts his
fetid lips -- A FRESH TONGUE FLAPS BETWEEN HIS ROTTED TEETH.
IMHOTEP
Kadeesh pharos Anck-su-namun!
Evelyn shivers in fear. Suddenly, O'Connell comes flying
around the corner and runs right up to her.
O'CONNELL
Would you quit playin, around!
Let's get outta here already!
O'Connell sees the look in her eyes and turns around, --at
the sight of Imhotep. O'Connell jumps back in fright.
O'CONNELL (CONT'D)
WHOA!
O'Connell and Evelyn start backing away down the wall.
Imhotep glides sideways with them, like a tiger cornering his
prey, the sand around him SWIRLS and DANCES.
Burns starts to crawl away, whimpering as he goes. Imhotep
suddenly stops and UNHINGES his skeletal jaw, his skinless
mouth stretches to an inhuman size, and he lets out a
horrific, primordial SHRIEK.
IMHOTEP
ANCK-SU-NAMUUUUUN!!!!
Evelyn SCREAMS. O'Connell shudders, then, embarrassed by his
fear, he opens his own mouth and ROARS right back at him--
O'CONNELL
Ahhhhhhhh!!
Then BLASTS him with the elephant gun -- BLAM! Through the
SMOKE AND FLAMMAGE we see Imhotep blown off his feet, his
ribcage half torn away. O'Connell grabs Evelyn and runs.
EXT. CREVICE - NIGHT
SAND and WIND whip through the ruins as O'Connell and Evelyn
stumble up out of the crevice and COME FACE-TO-FACE WITH TEN
ARMED MUMIA. The Mumia quickly raise their guns.
O'Connell and Evelyn quickly raise their hands. Jonathan,
Henderson, Daniels and the Egyptologist are already on their
knees, hands over their heads. Ardeth Bay steps forward.
ARDETH BAY
I told you to leave or die, you
refused, and now you may have
killed us all. For you have
unleashed the creature that we have
feared for more than four thousand
years.
O'CONNELL
Relax, I got him.
ARDETH BAY
No mortal weapons can kill this
creature. He is not of this world.
O'CONNELL
Are we talkin, about the same
creature? The walking corpse?
Really big mouth? Really bad
breath?
INT. ANUBIS' CHAMBER - NIGHT
Beni slowly backs up around Anubis, eyes wide, gun up. He
turns around, --IMHOTEP IS RIGHT THERE!
Beni SCREAMS, backs away and OPENS FIRE. Six GUNSHOTS
perforate Imhotep, but have no effect except to SPLATTER
molten flesh rot onto the back wall.
Beni retreats into a corner, scared shitless.
Imhotep moves forward, his one hand trying to stop the molten
mummy guts from oozing out of the large shotgun hole in his
side.
Beni drops his gun and grabs at the CHAINS around his neck,
'RELIGIOUS SYMBOLS AND ICONS dangle from each chain. Beni
holds the first one up: A CHRISTIAN CRUCIFIX. He quickly
makes the sign of-the cross and blesses himself in English:
BENI
May the good Lord protect and watch
over me as a shepherd watches over
his flock. And may Satan in all his
forms be vanquished forever.
It has no effect on Imhotep, who continues forward.
Beni quickly grabs at the other symbols and icons, holding
them out towards Imhotep, one after the other, trying to slow
his progress: an Islamic Sword and Crescent Moon necklace; a
Hindu Brahma medallion; a small Buddhist Bodhisattva statue.
All while blessing himself in Arabic, Hindi, Chinese and
Latin. Nothing works.
Imhotep's skeletal hand reaches for Beni's throat. Tears run
down Beni's cheeks he's so freaked.
And that's when he holds up THE STAR OF DAVID and blesses
himself in HEBREW. Imhotep stops in his tracks. His hand
lowers. His grotesque new eyeballs stare at Beni.
IMHOTEP (SUBTITLED)
The language of the slaves.
Looks at him quizzically. Imhotep takes a step back.
IMHOTEP (IN HEBREW - SUBTITLED)
(CONT'D)
I may have use for you. And the
rewards will be great.
Imhotep reaches into his tattered robe, and then holds out
his fetid hand, filled with squirming MAGGOTS.
Beni cringes, about to throw up, but then the maggots part -
revealing a tiny pile of little JEWELS. Beni's eyes widen.
Imhotep raises his other hand, it holds Anck-su-namun's
BROKEN CANOPIC JAR.
IMHOTEP (SUBTITLED) (CONT'D)
Where are the other sacred jars?
EXT . CREVICE - NIGHT
Several Mumia drag Burns up, he stares out with vacant
sockets. Daniels and Henderson are especially horrified.
DANIELS
You bastards!
HENDERSON
What did you do to him!?
ARDETH BAY
We saved him! Saved him before the
creature could finish his work Now
leave, all of you, quickly, before
he finishes you all.
JONATHAN
You're not going to kill us?
Evelyn ELBOWS Jonathan in the ribs.
ARDETH BAY
We must now hunt him down, and try
and find a way to kill him, before
he consumes the earth. Allah be
with us.
Ardeth Bay and the Mumia start heading down into the crevice.
O'Connell yells at them, trying to convince himself-
O'CONNELL
I told ya, I already got him!
Ardeth Bay stops and looks back, deadly serious.
ARDETH BAY
Know this, the creature will be
coming for you. He must consummate
the curse. And until he does, he
will never eat, he will never
sleep, and he will never stop.
Ardeth Bay turns and jumps down into the crevice,
EXT. RUINS - NIGHT
O'Connell and Jonathan boost Evelyn up onto a camel. Daniels
and Henderson throw Burns up onto another. The Egyptologist,
still clutching The Book Of The Dead, gets up on yet another.
They all head off into the dark, windblown desert ...
And then in the extreme foreground, A SKELETAL HAND SUDDENLY
PUNCHES UP OUT OF THE SAND, ACCOMPANIED BY THE MOST HORRIFIC,
PRIMORDIAL SHRIEK IMAGINABLE---
IMHOTEP
ANCK-SU-NAMUUUUUN!!!!
EXT. BRITISH FORT - CAIRO - DAY
A British flag flies over BRITISH SOLDIERS manning the front
gate. Our tired, disheveled Heroes saunter up on their dusty
camels. The Soldiers check their papers, then let them enter.
INT. EVELYN'S QUARTERS - DAY
A steamer trunk is slammed to the floor and thrown open.
O'Connell chucks a load of DRESSES into the trunk.
O'CONNELL
I thought you didn't believe in
this stuff!?
O'Connell heads for the closet. Evelyn UNPACKS the dresses
EVELYN
Having an encounter with a four
thousand year old walking-talking
corpse tends to convert one.
O'CONNELL
Forget it, we're out the door down
the hall and gone.
EVELYN
No, we are not,
O'Connell throws a handful of her underthings into the trunk,
O'CONNELL
Oh yes we are.
O'Connell continues to PACK Evelyn's clothes as she continues
to UNPACK them:
EVELYN
No we are not. We woke him up, and
we must try and stop him.
O'CONNELL
We?! What we?! You didn't read that
book. I told you not to play around
with that thing.
EVELYN
Alright then, Me, I, ...I read the
book, I woke him up and I intend to
stop him.
O'Connell angrily stretches a bra between his hands.
O'CONNELL
How!? You heard the man, no mortal
weapons can kill this guy.
Evelyn grabs the bra and throws it into a drawer.
EVELYN
Then we'll have to find some
immortal ones.
O'CONNELL
There goes that "we" again. Not me,
I am outta here!
O'Connell stuffs a pile of Evelyn's shoes into the trunk.
Evelyn KICKS the lid shut, slamming it on his fingers.
O'Connell YELPS and angrily storms around the room sucking
his fingers as Evelyn follows him.
EVELYN
According to that Book, once this
creature has been reborn, his curse
will spread, and as he grows in
strength, so will his curse grow,
infecting the people until the
whole of the earth is destroyed.
O'CONNELL
Yeah? So? Is that My problem?
EVELYN (INCREDULOUS)
It's everybody's problem!
O'CONNELL
Look lady, I appreciate you saving
my life and all, but when I signed
on, I agreed to take you out there
and bring you back, and I did, now
we're even, end of job, end of
story, contract terminated.
EVELYN
That's what I am to you? A
contract?
O'CONNELL
You can either tag along with me,
or you can stay here and play
around with Mister Maggot.
EVELYN
I'm staying.
O'CONNELL
FINE!
O'Connell storms out and SLAMS the door. A BEAT. Then the
door opens and O'Connell's hand reaches back in and throws a
handful of frilly panties to the floor. SLAM goes the door.
EXT. BRITISH FORT COMPOUND - DAY
O'Connell angrily strides through the compound. He sees Beni
coming up the path with a MAN dressed in hooded robes, his
face covered by an ornate death mask. Imhotep disguised.
O'CONNELL
Beni ya little stinkweed, where did
you slink off to?
BENI
You left me! You left me in the
desert to rot.
O'CONNELL
Oh yeah, ....sorry bout that
(gestures to Imhotep)
So who's this guy?
BENI
This is Prince Imhotep, High Priest
of Osiris.
O'CONNELL
Oh, hey, how ya doin'?
O'Connell sticks out his hand, --Imhotep instantly recoils
O'Connell gives him the once-over. Beni quickly covers.
BENI
The Prince does not like to be
touched by other humans. A Silly
eastern superstition, I'm afraid.
O'CONNELL
Yeah, well, we all got our little
problems today don't we?
BENI
He has come to help Mister Burns
Somehow I feel responsible.
O'CONNELL
Don't gimme that, you never had any
scruples.
BENI
Do you know where I can steal some?
O'Connell fake-punches him. Beni flinches. O'Connell gives
Imhotep a look as he strides off.
O'CONNELL
See ya around, Padre.
Imhotep's grotesque new eyes glare out from behind the mask.
INT. CASBAH - DAY
The proverbial den-of-iniquity. Hard men, hard women and hard
liquor. Lots of deals going down.
An OLDER GUY with a walrus mustache is drunk and talking to
some tough customers. He wears British WWI fighter pilot
gear. Meet WINSTON HAVLOCK.
WINSTON
I'm the last of the Royal Force
still stationed here, you know? All
the other laddies died in the air
and were buried in the sand.
The tough customers shove him away. Winston staggers over to
O'Connell and Jonathan at the bar, not missing a beat.
WINSTON (CONT'D)
Ever since the end of the Great
War, there hasn't been a single
challenge worthy of a man like me.
O'CONNELL
I've heard it before, Winston.
O'Connell shoves him away. Winston staggers back to Jonathan.
WINSTON
I just wish I would've chucked it
with the other laddies, gone down
in a flame of glory, instead of
sitting around here, rotting from
boredom and booze!
Jonathan shoves him towards another group of unlucky sods
Henderson and Daniels sidle up to the bar next to them.
Burns, now tongue-less, talks with a severe impediment
BURNS
The drawer there, spectacles.
(tries to laugh)
As you see, I won't be needing
them.
Imhotep opens the drawer and pulls out some bifocals. He puts
the bifocals on over his death mask, --and grins broadly, his
rotted teeth showing through the mouth hole.
BENI
Mister Burns, Prince Imhotep thanks
you for your spectacles, - and for
your eyes, ....and for your tongue.
The expression on Burns' face starts to change, very puzzled.
BENI (CONT'D)
But I am afraid more is needed, the
Prince says he must finish the job,
consummate the curse which you and
your friends have brought down upon
yourselves.
A look of pure fear registers on Burns, face. Beni quickly
backs away and runs out of the room. Imhotep picks up the
sacred canopic jar, then removes the death mask, revealing
his hideous, shattered CORPSE-SKULL.
INT. CASBAH - DAY
Three shot glasses clink together. O'Connell, Jonathan and
Henderson slug 'em down -- all three of them instantly SPIT
OUT the liquid. Half the bar SPITS OUT their drinks as well.
HENDERSON
Sweet Jesus! That tasted just like,
....like...
O'CONNELL
Blood.
They all look at each other, even more nervous.
JONATHAN
"And the rivers and waters of Egypt
went red and were as blood."
A look passes over O'Connell's face, a realization.
O'CONNELL
He's here
He sudden1y jumps away from the bar and runs for the door.
JONATHAN
Who's here!?
O'CONNELL
The guy! The Priest! THE MUMMY!
EXT. BRITISH FORT COMPOUND - DAY
LIGHTNING FLASHES as O'Connell races across the compound,
knocking several Soldiers out of his way, panic stricken.
O'CONNELL
Evelyn!! EVELYYYYNN!!!
EXT. BRITISH FORT COURTYARD - DAY
Evelyn calmly steps into a courtyard carrying a handful of
books. A BLAST OF THUNDER AND LIGHTNING scares her. She drops
half the books. Then a HAND GRABS HER! She jumps again and
drops the rest of the books. It's O'Connell, breathing hard.
O'CONNELL
We got problems.
And that's when a barrage of HAIL AND FIRE slams into the
courtyard. O'Connell and Evelyn jump back.
A water fountain bursts into STEAM. A wooden trellis catches
FIRE.
O'Connell and Evelyn run under the eaves as SOLDIERS,
SERVANTS and CAMELS run in every direction, trying to avoid
the maelstrom.
O'CONNELL (CONT'D)
He's here! I saw him! That thing is
here!
EVELYN
The creature!? Are you sure!?
O'Connell gives her an incredulous
look and gestures at the HAIL and
FIRE.
O'CONNELL
Pretty sure!
The HAIL and FIRE come to a stop. Everything goes dead quiet.
O'Connell and Evelyn freeze. And then a BLOOD CURDLING SCREAM
is heard coming from the living quarters directly above them.
O'Connell and Evelyn race up the stairs.
INT. BURNS' QUARTERS - DAY
O'Connell and Evelyn race into the room, past the Servant who
is running out SCREAMING. They skid to a stop as they spot
Burns, or what's left of him, lying dead on the floor --HIS
BODY IS SHRIVELLED TO HALF IT'S SIZE. Drained of all organs
and liquids.
O'Connell and Evelyn are shocked. Then they hear a LOUD MOAN
and notice Imhotep standing on the far side of the room.
O'Connell draws his gun.
Imhotep is REGENERATING: A thick skin FORMS over powerful new
musculature. His tendons RIPPLE. His bones BULGE and REFORM.
His mouth opens to an inhuman size as he MOANS and CRIES OUT,
in severe pain. And then it's over. And he looks like an
incredibly muscular, corpse-like vision from hell. The
'Terminator' Mummy.
O'Connell and Evelyn are stunned.
O'CONNELL
we are in serious trouble.
Imhotep starts to move towards them, staring at Evelyn.
O'CONNELL (CONT'D)
Back off, creep
Imhotep keeps coming. O'Connell OPENS FIRE. BLASTING Imhotep
Bullets RIP through his body. Imhotep doesn't seem to mind.
Jonathan, Henderson and Daniels run into the room. They're
all stunned at the sight of Imhotep.
O'Connell steps forward, throws a RIGHT HOOK, punches Imhotep
in the face -- HIS FIST GOES THROUGH IMHOTEP'S SKULL AND GETS
STUCK DEEP INSIDE HIS HEAD. O'Connell stares at it, shocked,
then quickly YANKS his fist back out.
The area of Imhotep's face that came into contact with
O'Connell's fist quickly DEGENERATES and DECAYS, right down
to the bone, as if O'Connell's hand instantly infected it.
Imhotep angrily turns, grabs O'Connell, and with no effort,
THROWS him across the room and into Jonathan and the others
knocking them down.
Imhotep looks at his hand, the one that just grabbed
O'Connell, --IT STARTS TO SHRIVEL and DECAY. He quickly turns
to Evelyn. Evelyn backs away into a wall, terrorized. Imhotep
steps up to her.
IMHOTEP (SUBTITLED)
You saved me from the undead. For
this, I shall make you immortal.
He leans in, about to kiss her with his decayed face. And
that's when a WHITE CAT jumps onto the piano, HISSING.
Imhotep SHRIEKS. The balcony doors BLOW OPEN.
Imhotep spins into a BLAST OF WIND AND SAND and SWIRLS out
the doors. Gone.
O'Connell, Evelyn, Jonathan and Daniels stand transfixed.
Henderson kneels next to Burns, shriveled body, horrified.
HENDERSON
The curse the curse
INT. MUSEUM OF ANTIQUITIES - DAY
O'Connell, Jonathan, Henderson and Daniels follow Evelyn
across the Ramesseum.
EVELYN
There's only one person I know who
can possibly give us some answers.
They round a corner and come upon the Curator -- who is
talking with Ardeth Bay. Everybody stops.
EVERYBODY
YOU!
O'Connell and the American's quickly draw their guns. Ardeth
Bay just scowls. The Curator nods his head.
CURATOR
Miss Carnavon. Gentlemen.
EVELYN
What is he doing here?
CURATOR
Do you truly wish to know or would
you prefer to just shoot us?
Everybody tenses, guns up. Then O'Connell uncocks his .38.
O'CONNELL
I just saw my fist vanish into some
guy's head.
He slides his gun back into his shoulder-holster.
O'CONNELL (CONT'D)
I'm willin, to go on a little
faith, here.
CURATOR
You will not believe it
O'CONNELL
Try me.
INT. RAMESSEUM - MOMENTS LATER
Everyone is assembled around the tomb display of Seti The
First. We recognize his chariot and sword. The Curator sits
on Seti's throne.
CURATOR
We are part of an ancient secret
society, the cult-of-the-Mumia, and
we have a sacred mission, passed
down through thirty-nine
generations. For over four thousand
years we have guarded The City Of
The Dead. We are sworn at manhood
to do any and all in our power to
stop the High Priest Imhotep from
being reborn into this world.
ARDETH RAY
And because of you, we have failed.
EVELYN (APPALLED)
And you think this justifies
killing innocent people!?
CURATOR
To have stopped this creature? Yes!
O'CONNELL
Okay, let's cut to the chase. He's
afraid of cats, what's that about?
CURATOR
According to the ancients, cat's
are the guardians at the gates of
the underworld. Imhotep will fear
them until he is fully regenerated,
and then he will fear nothing.
Daniels is totally wigged-out, he looks at O'Connell.
DANIELS
Right! And ya know how he gets
fully regenerated?! By killing
everybody who opened that chest and
sucking us dry! That's how!
CURATOR
Yes, the creature must first try
and regenerate, and then he will
attempt to resurrect the one he has
loved for more than four thousand
years.
EVELYN
Anck-su-namun.
The Curator and Ardeth Bay look at Evelyn, thunderstruck.
EVELYN (CONT'D)
In the necropolis, when I saw him,
alive...walking, he called me Anck
su-namun. And then in Mister Burns'
quarters he tried to kiss me.
CURATOR
It is because it was you who read
from the Book. He has chosen you to
be the human sacrifice needed to
regenerate the body of Anck-su
namun.
Jonathan scratches his ear with the barrel of his pistol.
JONATHAN
This is not good. Not good at all
Ardeth Bay has been staring out a wall of windows.
ARDETH BAY
Tonight is the full moon. The moon
of Osiris. It will begin tonight.
Everyone follows Ardeth Bay's eyes, through the windows we
can see the SUN -- which is now going into a FULL ECLIPSE.
JONATHAN
"...and he stretched forth his
hands towards the heavens, and
there was darkness throughout the
land of Egypt."
EXT. BRITISH FORT - WINDOW - DAY FOR NIGHT
O'Connell looks out a window at the British Soldiers manning
the walls. Above and beyond them -- is the BLACK SUN.
EXT. EVELYN'S FOYER - DAY FOR NIGHT
Evelyn and Jonathan are pacing the foyer
EVELYN
We must stop him from regenerating.
She turns to Daniels and Henderson
EVELYN (CONT'D)
Who opened that chest?
HENDERSON
Well, there was me and Daniels here
and then poor Burns of course, oh
yeah, and that Egyptologist fella.
O'Connell turns from the window.
O'CONNELL
What about my buddy, Beni?
DANIELS
Naw, he scrammed outta there,
EVELYN
We must find the Egyptologist and
bring him back here to the safety
of the fort, before the creature
can get to him.
O'Connell looks at Evelyn, Daniels and Henderson.
O'CONNELL
Okay, ...Evelyn, you wait here, you
two come with me.
All three of them pounce on him at once--
HENDERSON
The hell with that! I'm not goin'
nowhere! We're safe here.
DANIELS
Yeah, I'm not leavin, this fort for
nothin'.
EVELYN
Who put you in charge? You can't
just leave me behind like some old
suitcase. I'm the one responsible
for this mess and I intend to be
the one to clean it up.
O'Connell just shakes his head and SIGHS. Totally put-upon.
Then he takes Evelyn, shoves her into the bedroom, slams the
door and locks it with a skeleton key. From inside her room
we can hear Evelyn POUNDING on the door and YELLING.
O'Connell throws the skeleton key to Daniels.
O'CONNELL
Keep an eye on her. If you leave
her door, I'll rip your spleen out.
C'mon, Jonathan.
Jonathan swallows hard and points to himself
JONATHAN
Me?
CAIRO ALLEYWAYS - BAZAAR - DAY FOR NIGHT
The Egyptologist stumbles through the dark alleys, looking
haunted. He clutches the Book of The Dead in one hand and his
SACRED CANOPIC JAR in the other.
Imhotep is stalking him.
A STREET VENDOR turns and sees Imhotep's horribly decayed
face. He reacts and scurries away. Imhotep lifts his robe,
covers his face, and moves in on the Egyptologist, who is
heading into the bazaar. WE PAN UP TO--
THE EGYPTOLOGIST'S OFFICE - DAY FOR NIGHT
Beni is RANSACKING the joint, pulling out drawers and files
and throwing them on the floor. He finds a silver pocket
watch, shakes it, then throws it into his pocket, then he
starts tipping over bookcases and clearing shelves.
O'CONNELL(O.S.)
well, well, well.
Beni spins around. O'Connell and Jonathan stand in the door.
O'CONNELL (CONT'D)
Lemme guess, spring cleaning?
Beni turns and runs for an open window. O'Connell grabs a
chair, FLINGS IT into his path. Beni TRIPS and CRASHES into a
wall. O'Connell strides over, grabs him and lifts him up the
wall. Beni's feet dangle off the floor.
O'CONNELL (CONT'D)
Where's your new friend?
BENI
What friend? You're my only friend.
O'Connell quickly slides his knife up under Beni's chin
O'CONNELL
Then you got no excuse for living.
What the hell you doin, being
buddies with this creep, Beni?
What's in it for you?
BENI
It is better to be the right hand
of the Devil,....than in his path.
As long as I serve him, I am
immune.
O'CONNELL
Immune from what?
BENI
You shall see.
O'CONNELL
What are you looking for? Lie, and
I'll slit your throat.
O'Connell shoves the knife deeper into Beni's skin.
BENI
The book! The black book they found
at Hamunaptra! Imhotep wants it
back. Said to me it would be worth
it's weight in diamonds.
O'CONNELL
What does he want the book for?
BENI (SHRUGS)
Something about bringing his dead
girly-friend back to life He needs
the book....
(looks at Jonathan)
And your sister.
O'Connell looks at Jonathan.
Beni seizes the moment and KNEES O'Connell in the balls.
O'Connell doubles over and collapses. Beni leaps out the
window. Jonathan cringes.
JONATHAN
That looked rather painful
O'CONNELL (WINCING)
Ya know, ever since I met you, my
luck has been for crap.
JONATHAN
Yes, I know, I do that to people.
And that's when they hear a BLOOD CURDLING SCREAM coming from
down in the bazaar. O'Connell and Jonathan scramble to the
window and look out--
EXT. BAZAAR - DAY FOR NIGHT
Down in the bazaar, people are SCREAMING and quickly backing
away from the SHRIVELLED CORPSE OF THE EGYPTOLOGIST. A
partially decayed HAND reaches down and takes the sacred
canopic jar out of the Egyptologist's shriveled hand.
It's Imhotep, having regenerated even further. He looks up
and catches eyes with O'Connell. Imhotep grins, then UNHINGES
his jaw, his mouth stretches to an inhuman size, and then a
huge SWARM OF FLIES comes out of his mouth and races straight
up at O'Connell and Jonathan.
They both SLAM the shutters.
The flies SLAM into the closed window and immediately spread
throughout the bazaar. Sending people SCREAMING and running.
EGYPTOLOGISTS OFFICE - DAY FOR NIGHT
O'Connell and Jonathan look at each other, panicked
O'CONNELL
Damn-it! That's two down and only
two to go.
JONATHAN
And then he'll be coming after Evy.
They turn and race out of the
office.
BRITISH FORT - WINDOW --NIGHT
Daniels stares out a window, watching the British Guards at
the front gate. More Soldiers march the encircling parapet.
SOLDIER
Ten O'clock! All is well!
The lights and MUSIC from the Casbah come up from below
INT. EVELYN'S FOYER - NIGHT
Daniels turns from the window. Henderson sits in a chair next
to Evelyn's door, chain smoking. Both look wired with fear.
DANIELS
The hell with this. I'm goin,
downstairs to get me a drink. You
want somethin,?
HENDERSON
Yeah, get me a glass of bourbon, a
shot of bourbon and a bourbon
chaser
Daniels nods and heads out.
Henderson just sits there, alone, smoking. He reaches into
his jacket pocket, pulls out his SACRED CANOPIC JAR and
fondles it. A BREEZE suddenly comes in through the open
window. The curtains flutter.
Henderson gets up and goes over to shut it. He looks out the
window. The CAMERA races over the compound, into the window
and HITS Henderson square in the FACE just as he's about to
scream. Henderson is lifted into the air by a mass of
SWIRLING SAND. His body TWISTS and TURNS and Slowly SHRIVELS
as the life is SUCKED out of him. Then he COLLAPSES to the
floor. On the wall above him, the SHADOW of the SWIRLING SAND
condenses, forming a SHADOW of a human body. The SHADOW
CONVULSES as the body REGENERATES. And then it's over.
Imhotep steps into view. He's regenerated even further and
looks almost normal now, his face no longer decayed. He steps
over Henderson's shriveled body and up to Evelyn's door,
rattles the knob. It's locked. Imhotep grins.
EVELYN'S ROOM - NIGHT
Evelyn is asleep in her bed as SAND begins streaming in
through the keyhole, pouring onto the floor, forming a large
mound. Evelyn starts to toss and turn.
WE PAN BACK OVER TO THE DOOR: The mound of sand is gone and
in it's place is Imhotep.
INT. FOYER - NIGHT
O'Connell and Jonathan race into the foyer and skid to a stop
as they see Henderson's shriveled body on the floor.
O'Connell runs up to Evelyn's door and rattles the knob,
still locked. He bends down and looks in through the KEYHOLE.
EVELYN'S ROOM - NIGHT
Imhotep leans down towards Evelyn, about to kiss her as she
sleeps. The door starts to CRASH and BANG from O'Connell.
Imhotep ignores it. And KISSES Evelyn. His lips and mouth
instantly start to DEGENERATE and DECAY. Right down to the
bone. The door BURSTS OPEN.
Evelyn wakes-up. Sees Imhotep's rotted mouth kissing her. She
SCREAMS and shoves him away. Imhotep's putrid mouth grimaces
in sadness.
O'CONNELL
Get your hands off my girl, pal.
Imhotep's sadness turns to anger as he spins around and faces
O'Connell. Imhotep licks his fetid lips. O'Connell smirks.
O'CONNELL (CONT'D)
Nice lips.
Imhotep starts to move for O'Connell.
O'CONNELL (CONT'D)
I figured you might be here, so I
brought a friend.
He throws the white cat at Imhotep. Imhotep instinctively
catches it. He SHRIEKS, drops the cat and stumbles back
towards the window -- which suddenly BLOWS OPEN.
Imhotep spins like a dervish and BURSTS INTO A WHIRLWIND OF
SAND. Everybody covers their eyes. The Imhotep/sand-devil
EXPLODES out the window and vanishes over the compound.
Jonathan aims his gun at the window, his hand shaking badly.
O'Connell hugs Evelyn as she wipes her mouth in disgust.
Daniels walks in, looks at Henderson's shriveled body on the
floor . .... and drops the martini glasses.
INT. 1923 CONVERTIBLE DUSSENBERG - NIGHT
Jonathan races his big convertible through the streets,
HONKING constantly. Evelyn sits between him and O'Connell,
looking scared and nervous, then she gives O'Connell a look.
EVELYN
You called me your girl?
O'CONNELL
What? ... Oh yeah, that was just
um, you know, figure a speech.
EVELYN
I think you were jealous
O'CONNELL
Jealous? You kiddin' me? Did you
see that guy's face?
Daniels leans forward from the back seat, filled with fear,
DANIELS
Shut-up! JUST SHUT-UP! We gotta do
somethin'! we gotta do somethin,
NOW! Before it's too late!
They race into the driveway of the museum of Antiquities.
EXT. CAIRO BAZAAR - NIGHT
A FULL MOON now shines down on the bazaar, still bustling
with activity. Suddenly, a BREEZE kicks-in.
GREEN MIST begins to SWIRL down the street and through the
stalls. The people begin to CHOKE and COUGH and RETCH, as if
being hit by a severe sickness. --It's already too late.
Imhotep strolls through the sickened mob, his face half
rotted off, his deformed mouth grinning happily.
Beni is at his side, looking very nervous. And then, one-by
one, the people silently begin to follow Imhotep, their skin
now covered in disgustingly hideous BOILS AND SORES.
INT. MUSEUM OF ANTIQUITIES - NIGHT
O'Connell, Jonathan, Daniels, the Curator and Ardeth Bay
fo11ow Evelyn as she strides through the museum.
EVELYN
Last month I came across an
inscription that mentioned The Book
Of The Dead.
DANIELS
That book we found at Hamunaptra?
EVELYN
Yes. I dismissed it, because it
talked about bringing people back
from the dead. A notion I was
unwilling to believe.
O'CONNELL
Believe it, sister. That's what
brought our buddy back to life.
JONATHAN
And now he's going to use it to
bring his girlfriend back
ARDETH BAY
And if he succeeds, the two of them
together will bring about the
apocalypse.
The Curator joins Evelyn at her side as she heads up the
stairs, everyone else in hot pursuit.
THE CURATOR
The plagues we have seen so far,
are merely Imhotep flexing his
muscles. Only at the moment of Anck
su-namun's resurrection will he be
truly invincible.
They reach the display cases. Evelyn quickly opens them.
EVELYN
I'm thinking that if the black Book
Of The Dead can bring people back
to life--
CURATOR
--then perhaps, the golden Book Of
The Living can return them to the
underworld.
EVELYN
Exactly -
O'CONNELL
So your sayin', if we find the book
made outta gold--
CURATOR
--And read the sacred incantations
contained inside it.
O'CONNELL
You think it'll send this guy back
to hell?
CURATOR
Correct.
And that's when LOUD CHANTING is heard coming from outside
They all rush over to the upper windows and look down--
OUTSIDE: A large, CRAZED MOB covered in hideous boils and
sores comes CHANTING up the driveway: 'Anck-su-namun! Anck-su
namun!
ARDETH BAY
It has begun. The beginning of the
end.
EVELYN
Not quite yet it hasn't. C'mon.
Evelyn dashes back to the display cases. Everyone follows.
EXT. MUSEUM - NIGHT
The crazed mob CRASHES into the huge front doors, which are
locked. They pound furiously, throwing themselves at it while
CHANTING CONSTANTLY.
Imhotep solemnly comes up the driveway.
INT. MUSEUM OF ANTIQUITIES - UPPER BALCONY - NIGHT
The BANGING on the doors can be heard as Evelyn and the
Curator quickly sort through broken pieces of stone tablets.
The others watch. Evelyn pulls out a large piece.
EVELYN
Got it!
O'CONNELL
Got what?
The BANGING gets LOUDER. Multiple windows SHATTER. Evelyn
talks while quickly translating the tablet:
EVELYN
Since the black Book of The Dead
was found inside the statue of
Anubis, then according to this, the
golden Book of The Living should be
inside...
Evelyn finds the translation in the tablet and smiles.
O'CONNELL
What?
JONATHAN
What?
DANIELS
WHAT!?
EVELYN
The golden Book Of The Living, is
inside the statue of Koz-us.
CURATOR
Which would be located not far to
the east of the Anubis statue.
O'CONNELL
Don't tell me we gotta go back out
there?
CURATOR
If we want to kill the creature,
yes.
TWO HIDEOUS BOIL & SORE-COVERED MEN charge out of a doorway,
SCREAMING. O'Connell and Ardeth Bay grab them and chuck them
over the railing. The men fly through the air and CRASH into
the lower display cases. The front doors suddenly BURST OPEN,
The crazed mob pours into the museum. Our heroes haul-ass
across the balcony and down the staircase.
EXT. MUSEUM OF ANTIQUITY - NIGHT
Jonathan sneaks out of some bushes and quickly heads for his
convertible. Suddenly, a splinter group of the diseased mob
comes around the side of the museum. Jonathan instantly bugs
his eyes out, starts drooling, and begins CHANTING---
JONATHAN
Anck-su-namun! Anck-su-namun!
The crazed group runs past him and heads into the front doors
of the museum. Jonathan leaps into the convertible, fires it
up and 180's it back over to the bushes. O'Connell, Evelyn,
Daniels, Ardeth Bay and the Curator jump inside the car.
Beni steps out of the museum and sees them.
BENI
Imhotep! IMHOTEP!
Imhotep looks out of the museum from the shattered upper
windows just as the convertible PEELS OUT.
O'Connell points a finger at Beni as they race past him.
O'CONNELL
You're gonna get yours, pal!
Imhotep UNHINGES his jaw, his mouth stretches to an inhuman
size, he lets out one of his horrific, primordial SHRIEKS.
His disease-ridden disciples immediately begin pouring out of
the front doors of the museum and chasing after the car.
EXT. BAZAAR - NIGHT
The convertible hauls-ass down the narrow bazaar street.
Crazies start jumping out of stalls and LEAPING onto the car.
O'Connell and the others fight them off, throwing them
overboard.
More people JUMP on.
Jonathan SWERVES the car, CRASHES through some stalls,
knocking them off, but not before they manage to open the
back door and YANK Daniels out.
He TUMBLES across the pavement. Gets up SHOOTING. Backs into
a corner, FIRING his pistol into the hideous rabble, killing
several, keeping them at bay. His gun goes empty, CLICK!
CLICK! CLICK! But the mob stays back, looking at him like
rabid vultures. Daniels eyes them, filled with fear.
The mob parts like the red sea as Imhotep walks through them
and up to Daniels. Daniels whimpers in fear, tears pour down
his cheeks.
Then he gets an idea, reaches into his pocket, and pulls out
his jewel encrusted SACRED CANOPIC JAR. He holds it out for
Imhotep.
Imhotep takes it and grins. Through his tears, Daniels grins
back, hopeful that he'll be spared.
WE CUT WIDE: Somewhere in the middle of the crazed, diseased
mob, we hear Daniels give out A BLOOD CURDLING SCREAM...
INT./EXT. CONVERTIBLE - STREETS - NIGHT
The convertible slowly motors down the narrow alleys. WE
DOLLY across the hood of the car from Jonathan to Evelyn to
O'Connell. Ardeth Bay and the Curator are still in the back.
All of them staring out the front windshield. Freaked-out.
Then suddenly one of the hideous ghouls CRASHES through the
windshield!
Everybody SCREAMS.
Jonathan hits the gas, loses control, the car SLAMS into a
wall. O'Connell grabs Evelyn.
O'CONNELL
C'mon! C'mon! Let's go! Let's go!
They all leap out of the car. But the angry, festering mob
quickly surrounds them.
O'Connell quickly reaches into his gunny-sack, pulls out a
stick of dynamite, then reaches into his pocket and pulls out
a match. He looks around for a way to light it, then reaches
over and strikes it across Ardeth Bay's stubbly face. Ardeth
Bay YELPS.
O'Connell holds the lit match near the fuse. The crazed,
CHANTING mob gives O'Connell a wide berth, staring at him and
the others with insane, bloodshot eyes. And then Imhotep
steps through, --having fully regenerated, he now looks as
young and handsome and muscular as he did the day he was
buried alive.
Evelyn stares at him.
EVELYN
He's gorgeous.
O'Connell gives her a look, the match burns his fingers. He
YELPS and throws it down, grabs another match and strikes it
across Ardeth Bay's face again. Ardeth Bay YELPS and gives
O'Connell a look to kill. The Curator shakes his head.
THE CURATOR
He has consummated the curse, now
all he need do is raise Anck-su
namun from the dead, then it will
be the end of us, and the beginning
for them.
Imhotep moves forward, heading right for them. O'Connell
LIGHTS THE FUSE. Imhotep steps up to O'Connell and stops,
watching the fuse burn down. It's a game of chicken. The
tension mounts. The LIT FUSE is about to vanish inside the
stick of dynamite, blowing it up, --when Evelyn leans forward
and blows it out. O'Connell exhales, but keeps his eyes on
Imhotep, who extends his hand to Evelyn.
IMHOTEP
Koontash dai na.
Beni steps through the swarming mass, translating.
BENI
Take his hand and he will spare the
others.
Evelyn hesitates, looks around at the huge, bloodthirsty
crowd surrounding them, holding axes, picks and scimitars,
waiting to pounce, then she looks at Imhotep, confident,
powerful, invincible. Then she looks at O'Connell.
EVELYN
Any bright ideas?
O'Connell talks through angry, grit teeth.
O'CONNELL
Sorry, fresh out.
Evelyn looks back at Imhotep, then starts to reach out to
take his hand. Both O'Connell and Jonathan move to stop her,
-but Ardeth Bay grabs them both and holds them tight.
O'CONNELL (CONT'D)
Don't do it, Evelyn.
EVELYN
I have no choice.
Evelyn's trembling hand touches Imhotep's: His hand closes
around hers. Nothing happens. Imhotep smiles.
IMHOTEP
Keetah mi pharos, aja nilo,
isirlan.
BENI
Come with me my princess. It is
time to make you mine, forever.
Evelyn gives Beni a nasty look, correcting him--
EVELYN
All eternity, idiot.
Then she looks at O'Connell and puts on her best face.
EVELYN (CONT'D)
You better think of something,
because if he turns me into a
mummy, you're the first one I'm
coming after.
O'Connell almost smiles
O'CONNELL
Got guts, lady.
EVELYN
Yes, I know, and I'd like to keep
them.
Imhotep suddenly notices something. He reaches forward and--
RIPS THE KEY/BOX OUT OF JONATHAN'S UPPER JACKET POCKET.
JONATHAN
Hey that's mine--!
Ardeth Bay holds Jonathan back. Imhotep pulls Evelyn away.
O'Connell can't take it anymore, he tries to break free of
Ardeth Bay's grip.
O'CONNELL
Evelyn!
The huge, powerful man holds him tight.
ARDETH BAY
Be calm. There is still time. We
can stop him yet.
The crowd parts for Imhotep and Evelyn. And then Imhotep
stops and looks back at O'Connell.
IMHOTEP
Pared oos.
Evelyn SCREAMS.
EVELYN
NOOO!!
Beni smiles.
BENI
Kill them.
Imhotep pulls her away. O'Connell breaks free of Ardeth Bay's
grip and stumbles forward.
O'CONNELL
EVELYN!
But the rabid vultures are already moving in for the kill.
O'Connell quickly bends down, pulls open a CISTERN/MANHOLE
COVER and shoves Jonathan down inside it, then jumps in after
him. The Curator pushes Ardeth Bay towards the cistern hole.
CURATOR
Go! Find a way! Kill the creature!
The Curator turns and throws himself at the mob as Ardeth Bay
crawls down into the hole. The mob tears the Curator apart.
INT. CATACOMBS - NIGHT
O'Connell, Jonathan and Ardeth Bay slosh their way down the
watery catacomb, crazies pouring in behind them.
Up ahead, a LIGHT suddenly shines in from another cistern
hole, and then more of the infected crowd drop down,
SCREECHING like rats.
O'Connell jags right, pushing Jonathan and Ardeth Bay ahead
of him, he strikes a match off the wall, lights the nubby
fuse on a stick of dynamite, throws it, and runs like hell.
FIRE BLAST incinerates a bunch of crazies.
STREET - ALLEY - NIGHT
The EXPLOSION blows a cistern cover fifty feet into the air,
followed by a mass of FLAMMAGE ..............
EXT. ALLEY - NIGHT
A sewer grate is kicked out of a wall. O'Connell, Jonathan
and Ardeth Bay climb out of the hole and into AN ALLEY.
O'CONNELL
We gotta get her back.
JONATHAN
I'm with you, old man. No one
touches my sister like that and
gets away with it.
O'Connell looks at Ardeth Bay,
O'CONNELL
You know where he's taking her?
ARDETH BAY
Yes. To Hamunaptra. To perform the
ritual.
Jonathan looks worried.
JONATHAN
And what ritual would that be?
ARDETH BAY
The ritual to bring the body of
Anck-su-namun back to life.
JONATHAN
And how does one do that?
ARDETH BAY
By reading the Book Of The Dead.
JONATHAN
Oh yes, of course.
ARDETH BAY
And then killing your sister.
JONATHAN
Excuse me?
Ardeth Bay looks at O'Connell,
ARDETH BAY
Imhotep is now able to cross the
desert with great haste.
Jonathan taps him in the shoulder.
JONATHAN
Begging your pardon, but I wasn't
quite clear on that last part.
Ardeth Bay ignores him.
ARDETH BAY
If he arrives before us, it will be
too late.
JONATHAN
Did you say 'kill' my sister?
O'Connell smiles
O'CONNELL
I know how to beat him to it.
And on that WE SMASH CUT TO-- THE ERFOUD DUNES - DAWN
Jonathan's bashed-in convertible steams it's way up to a set
of semi-abandoned Quonset huts. A single WWI BIPLANE with
R.A.F. INSIGNIAS sits in the sand beside them. A SIGN READS:
HIS MAJESTY'S ROYAL AIR CORP
EXT. QUONSET HUT - DUNES - MINUTES LATER
O'Connell, Jonathan and Ardeth Bay stand before Winston
Havlock, the massive dunes of Erfoud as our background.
WINSTON
So what's your little problem got
to do with His Majesty's Royal Air
Corp?
O'CONNELL
Not a god-damned thing.
Winston looks intrigued.
WINSTON
Is it dangerous?
O'CONNELL
You probably won't live through it.
This really interests him.
WINSTON
By Jove, do you really think so?
JONATHAN
Everybody else we've bumped into
has died, why not you?
Winston nods his head, he's hooked.
WINSTON
So what's the challenge then?
O'CONNELL
To save the damsel in distress,
kill the bad guy and steal his
treasure.
A slow grin spreads across Winston's face, then he gives them
a snappy salute.
WINSTON
Winston Havlock at your service,
sir!
SAHARA - DAY
Way off across the desert, a large SAND-DEVIL races over the
dunes. The SANDY WHIRLWIND comes to a stop and starts to
dissipate.
Evelyn and Beni are suddenly ejected out of it, they land in
a dune.
The SWIRLING SAND CONDENSES AND FORMS INTO IMHOTEP. He looks
up into the sky, listening carefully.
Evelyn shakes the sand out of her hair and looks at Beni.
EVELYN
What just happened?
BENI
All I remember is him turning into
a blast of sand, ....and then I
remember nothing.
Then they hear a plane in the sky and look up.
INT. BIPLANE - DAY
The WIND whips at Winston in the cockpit. O'Connell sits in
the gunner's compartment. Jonathan is strapped spread-eagle
across the left wing, Ardeth Bay is tied tight to the right.
Both men are scared out of their wits and SCREAMING in fear.
EXT. SAHARA - DAY
Imhotep's jaw UNHINGES, his mouth opens to an inhuman size,
he lets fly with another one of his horrible SHRIEKS. --And a
massive WALL OF SAND rises up out of the desert
BIPLANE - DAY
O'Connell watches the desert below him come alive and rise up
towards the plane. Winston looks over the side and sees
what's coming. He laughs, throws the throttle, and puts the
plane into a dive.
WINSTON
Hang on, men!
WE GO WIDE AS: The sandstorm chases the diving, twisting
biplane. Getting closer and closer, about to engulf it.
O'Connell looks back into the blinding sand and sees a GIANT
FACE forming inside the sandstorm. It's Imhotep.
Grinning. O'Connell grabs the Lewis machine-gun, cocks the
bracket and FIRES, blasting away at Imhotep's giant face
inside the sandstorm. Imhotep's face begins to laugh, then
his jaw unhinges, his mouth opens wide, and he ENGULFS the
plane. Winston blindly fights for control, elated.
WINSTON (CONT'D)
We're going down! The biplane SPINS
inside the BLOWING SAND. Engines
ROARING. Wind HOWLING. Jonathan and
Ardeth Bay SCREAMING. Winston
Havlock LAUGHING.
WINSTON (CONT'D)
Here I come, laddies! O'Connell
braces himself for impact,
SAHARA - DAY
Evelyn leaps to her feet and runs over to Imhotep.
EVELYN
Stop it! You'll kill them!
Imhotep grabs her, pulls her close, her beautiful eyes stare
into his shockingly intense ones. Then he kisses her, hard.
Evelyn's eyes widen, stunned and mesmerized, then she pushes
herself away and falls back into the sand. Imhotep laughs.
EXT. BIPLANE - DUNES - DAY
The biplane SMASHES over a dune, ROLLS OVER and CRASHES
upside-down into another dune. The SAND SWIRLS as O'Connell
falls out of the gunner's compartment. The left wing is
jammed into the dune, Jonathan hangs upside down.
JONATHAN
Excuse me. ...A little help would
be useful. ...IF IT'S NOT TOO MUCH
TROUBLE!!
O'Connell goes to help Jonathan.
Ardeth Bay stumbles over to the gunner's compartment and
tears the Lewis gun off it's mount. He throws the machine-gun
over one shoulder, a cartridge belt over the other and
staggers away.
O'Connell and Jonathan look into the cockpit. Winston Havlock
is dead. A smile on his face. The plane suddenly starts to
move, the sand sinks under their feet, they quickly high-tail
it away.
O'Connell, Jonathan and Ardeth Bay make it to some rocks and
look back. The biplane, with Winston Havlock inside, slides
away over a dune. O'Connell gives it a salute. The plane
vanishes over the dune and into the SWIRLING SAND ...........
HAMUNAPTRA - DAY
O'Connell, Jonathan and Ardeth Bay come down a ravine in the
volcano and look out over the ruins of Hamunaptra.
O'CONNELL
Okay, now what the hell does this
Horus guy look like?
JONATHAN
He's a big fellow with pointy ears
and a face like a falcon.
O'CONNELL
Got it
HAMUNAPTRA STAIRWAY - DAY
Carrying TORCHES, O'Connell, Jonathan and Ardeth Bay make
their way down a long, winding, narrow staircase. Heading
into the bowels of the necropolis. A passageway to hell.
NECROPOLIS - DAY
Evelyn follows Imhotep into the underground cemetery. She
stops at the sight of all the big hairy rats scurrying
through the mausoleums and over the gravestones.
Beni shoves his rifle into her back and pushes her forward.
BENI
Keep moving
Evelyn gives him a look.
EVELYN
You know, nasty little fellows such
as yourself, always get their
comeuppance.
Beni suddenly looks worried.
BENI
Yeah?
EVELYN
Oh yes, always,
Beni looks even more worried, he nervously starts chewing on
his lip. All three of them walk over the bridge crossing the
disgusting DETRITUS MOAT.
Evelyn looks down at it, horrified.
INT. PASSAGEWAY - DAY
O'Connell and Ardeth Bay are busy digging out a collapsed
doorway. Jonathan notices an AMETHYST SCARAB on the far wall.
JONATHAN
I say, look at that.
He walks over and tries to jiggle it free. It comes loose in
his hand. He looks at the scarab in his palm. It starts to
glow. And then something inside it starts to WIGGLE.
JONATHAN (CONT'D)
Say, gents! You should come have a
look at this.
The wiggling continues; a long, agonizing BEAT, and then the
scarab breaks out of it's cocoon and instantly BURROWS into
Jonathan's palm. Jonathan starts to freak out and SCREAM.
O'Connell runs up and rips the arm off Jonathan's shirt. The
scarab is now BURROWING UP JONATHAN'S ARM.
O'Connell whips out his butterfly-knife, snaps it open and
grabs Jonathan's arm. Jonathan's eyes widen in terror as the
knife passes in front of his face. Jonathan SCREAMS LOUDER,
obviously being cut open.
O'Connell's hand flicks something away. The scarab hits the
floor and immediately starts scurrying back towards Jonathan,
wanting to finish the job. O'Connell pulls out his gun and
blows it away, --BLAM!
INT. CEMETERY - DAY
The GUNSHOT echoes into the cemetery as Imhotep, Evelyn and
Beni step up to the strange ALTAR, where four thousand years
ago Imhotep tried to bring Anck-su-namun back to life.
Imhotep scowls at the sound and angrily reaches into a
CANOPIC JAR. He pulls out the crusted remains of Anck-su-
namun's heart, crushes it to dust in his hand and starts
reading from The Book Of The Dead.
Then he BLOWS the dust against a mausoleum wall --THE WALL
STARTS TO COME ALIVE. Evelyn and Beni stare at the wall, both
of them wide-eyed. TWO FORMS emerge from the mausoleum's
wall. Horrific-looking mummified CORPSES. Two of Imhotep's
long dead Priests. They bow to Imhotep then turn and move off
down a passageway.
INT. PASSAGEWAY - DAY
O'Connell helps Ardeth Bay mend Jonathan's wound.
O'CONNELL
From now on, don't touch anything.
Not a damn thing. Keep your hands
off the furniture, got it?
Jonathan swallows hard and nods vigorously.
INT. CEMETERY - DAY
Imhotep prepares the altar while speaking in HEBREW. Beni
holds his gun on her, translating:
BENI
Prince Imhotep wants your heart.
Evelyn blushes, feeling complimented by the handsome prince.
EVELYN
Tell him, I'm truly flattered. ...
but that it's already taken.
Imhotep continues SPEAKING while laying the four jewel
encrusted canopic jars next to the shattered one.
BENI
He wants your heart and your brain,
your liver, your kidneys...
Evelyn's eyes widen
BENI (CONT'D)
... and how do you say? Those slimy
things, in your stomach?
EVELYN
Intestines
BENI
Yeah! Them.
Evelyn can't believe it, she furiously turns to Imhotep.
EVELYN
You only want me for my organs?!
Imhotep looks at her and grins, then BACKHANDS her --WAP!
Evelyn goes down for the count. Imhotep stares at her, cold,
malevolent, then he turns and walks off into the mausoleums.
Beni nervously glances around, then quickly scurries away.
TREASURE CHAMBER - DAY
O'Connell squeezes through a small crevice in a wall and
drops to the floor of a dark chamber. He picks up his gunny-
sack and scans the darkness. Something GLITTERS.
Jonathan and Ardeth Bay crawl in behind him.
O'Connell notices a SHAFT OF LIGHT, high above him, shooting
through a small hole in the ceiling and stopping against a
wall next to one of those mirror disks. O'Connell aims his
gun. FIRES. The bullet STRIKES the disk's pedestal, spinning
the mirror into the shaft of light, --And WHAM! THE SHAFT OF
LIGHT HITS THE DISK AND QUICKLY BOUNCES AROUND THE ROOM
FROM
ONE DISK TO ANOTHER UNTIL THE WHOLE CHAMBER IS LIT UP.
It's an enormous TREASURE CHAMBER. Filled to overflowing.
Everything sparkles and shines. The wealth of Egypt.
O'Connell, Jonathan and Ardeth Bay are speechless -- that's
when the two mummified Priest-mummies walk in.
O'CONNELL
who the hell are these guys?
ARDETH BAY
Priests. Imhotep's priests.
O'Connell pulls the elephant gun out of his gunny-sack.
O'CONNELL
I never killed a priest before,
ARDETH BAY
They are evil, cursed, they matter
not.
O'CONNELL
Well, okay then.
O'Connell FIRES the elephant gun. SMOKE and FLAME shoot out.
BLASTS one of the mummies. Blows it's upper torso clean off.
O'Connell pumps the gun, the huge spent cartridge flips
through the air. He FIRES again. BLASTS the other mummy,
b1ows this one's torso clean off as well. The smoke clears.
The two sets of LEGS keep walking forward, unaffected by the
loss of their upper torsos.
O'Connell can't believe it.
O'CONNELL (CONT'D)
Oh come on, gimme a break here.
And then the disemboweled upper torsos start to move, turning
over and crawling towards our heroes, who start to back away.
INT. CEMETERY -DAY
Imhotep turns from the altar as he hears more GUNSHOTS
echoing out of the passageways. He angrily reaches into
another of Anck-su-namun's canopic jars, pulls out her crusty
liver and crushes it to dust, then quickly starts reading a
passage from the Book and BLOWS the dust down a passageway.
IMHOTEP (ANCIENT EGYPTIAN - SUBTITLED)
Kill them! Kill them all! And bring
me the Book Of The Living!
INT. TREASURE CHAMBER - DAY
A dusty BREEZE blows into the chamber as O'Connell, Jonathan
and Ardeth Bay back away from the mummy pieces. The floor
where they were just standing suddenly STARTS TO MOVE.
Two more mummies slowly dig their way up out of the floor.
More mummies start coming out of the walls and crawling out
of the piles of gold. All the mummies head for our heroes.
O'Connell lifts the elephant gun. Ardeth Bay stops him.
ARDETH BAY
My turn.
Ardeth Bay OPENS UP with the Lewis gun. BLASTING the shit out
of the mummies. They keep on coming. Even more now.
O'Connell OPENS FIRE with the elephant gun, pumping and
FIRING as all three of the men back away and haul-ass. The
mummies and mummy pieces follow them into the passageway.
Then Beni creeps into the chamber. He stares in wonder at all
the treasure. Then falls backwards into a pile of jewels and
rolls about.
INT. CEMETERY - DAY
Evelyn-wakes up, lying chained to the top of the altar. She
blinks then turns her head, --and looks right into the ROTTED
FACE of Anck-su-namun's corpse. Evelyn SCREAMS.
INT. LABYRINTH PASSAGEWAYS - DAY
The elephant gun FIRES, blasting FLAME and SMOKE right into
the LENS. O'Connell, Jonathan and Ardeth Bay race down a
passageway, a dozen mummies striding after them.
O'CONNELL
This whole place is comin, alive!
The men race around a corner. More mummies. They race around
another corner. More mummies. Onward they come. Methodical.
Relentless. Boxing in our heroes O'Connell and Ardeth Bay
FIRING as they go. Ardeth Bay goes empty.
ARDETH BAY
I'm out
He throws the machine-gun down and they all race into--
HORUS CHAMBER - DAY
--A small chamber. The lower half of the giant statue of
HORUS stands in the middle of the chamber.
JONATHAN
There he is!
They run up to the base of the statue,
JONATHAN (CONT'D)
Hello Horus old boy.
O'Connell looks back at the mummies coming down the
passageway. He reaches into his gunny-sack and pulls out a
stick of dynamite. Ardeth Bay taps him on the shoulder.
ARDETH BAY
Allow me.
O'Connell hands him the dynamite and a match, then turns to
look at the statue. Ardeth Bay reaches forward and strikes
the match off O'Connell's stubbly face. O'Connell YELPS.
Ardeth Bay lights the dynamite and throws it down the
passageway. They all hit the deck. The dynamite EXPLODES.
Ripping apart the creatures, causing a CAVE-IN and sealing
the passageway with rock and dirt. Now there's only one way
out --another dark, creepy passageway.
INT. CEMETERY
Chained tight to the top of the altar, Evelyn hopelessly
struggles to free herself. She stops as Priest mummies start
surrounding the altar. Evelyn is horrified as the hideous
mummies kneel down and begin to CHANT --which now sounds even
more horrific due to the lack of tongues, jaws and mouths in
the room.
Imhotep steps up carrying the black Book Of The Dead. His
hand reaches out and lovingly caresses Anck-su-namun's
decayed cheek.
INT. HORUS CHAMBER - DAY
O'Connell and Jonathan are digging away at the seams of the
secret compartment, it starts to give. And that's when Ardeth
Bay spots another group of rotting mummies coming down the
dark passageway, heading right for them. O'Connell looks up.
O'CONNELL
These guys just don't quit.
Ardeth Bay grabs the elephant gun and a handful of shells and
runs off towards the mummies.
ARDETH BAY
Keep digging!
O'Connell and Jonathan redouble their efforts, pulling harder
on the seam. The compartment starts to loosen. About to give.
The last time this happened, salt acid sprayed out, remember?
Our heroes keep tugging. The tension mounts ...
And that's when a SKELETAL HAND BURSTS UP OUT OF THE GROUND
and grabs O'Connell's ankle. Several more moldy hands BURST
up out of the ground. O'Connell and Jonathan struggle with
the mummies as they crawl up out of the dirt floor.
One of the mummies violently shoves O'Connell away. Another
grabs Jonathan by the throat and starts to strangle him. A
third mummy grabs at the secret compartment and pulls hard.
AN INTENSE BURST OF ACID SPRAYS OUT OF THE SEAM AND HITS ALL
THREE OF THE MUMMIES. The one strangling Jonathan gets it in
the back and drops him. All three mummies melt horribly.
INT. CEMETERY
Imhotep begins to read from The Book Of The Dead. A large
SWIRLING HOLE starts to open in the detritus bog. Evelyn's
eyes widen in amazement and horror.
IINT. HORUS CHAMBER - DAY
Ardeth Bay BLASTS AWAY at the oncoming mummies.
Over at the base of the statue, O'Connell and Jonathan pull
an ornate chest out of the secret compartment. O'Connell rips
off the lid, reaches inside and pulls out a heavy burlap bag.
He and Jonathan exchange nervous, excited looks. Then he
reaches into the bag and slowly pulls out the SOLID GOLD Book
Of The Living- GOLDEN LIGHT reflects off their faces as they
stare at it in wonder.
The elephant gun goes empty. Ardeth Bay takes it by the
barrel and wades into the remaining mummies swinging.
ARDETH BAY
Save the girl! Kill the creature!
The mummies quickly overwhelm and start to tear him apart.
O'Connell lights the last stick of dynamite and throws it
against the far wall. He and Jonathan hit the deck.
O'CONNELL
That's the last one, we better get
lucky.
The wall BLOWS. Debris COLLAPSES, --but now here's a hole for
them to get out. O'Connell and Jonathan race out through the
hole just as the remaining mummies enter the chamber.
EXT. HAMUNAPTRA RUINS - DAY
Outside, Beni staggers across the sand with a saddlebag
filled with treasure. He throws it over the rear of a camel.
Starts to climb up. Hesitates. Looks back at the temple door.
Licks his lips. And then his greed gets the better of him and
he quickly climbs down and scurries back towards the door.
INT. CEMETERY - DAY
Imhotep READS from the Book. The rotten Priest-mummies rock
back and forth, CHANTING. Evelyn struggles. Then suddenly,
the strange MIST wafts up out of the swirling hole and over
to the sacred jars, it passes through them and into Evelyn.
Evelyn JERKS as though she's been electrified.
The MIST passes through her and into Anck-su-namun's body.
The CHANTING PRIESTS, SWIRLING HOLE, WAFTING MIST and
IMHOTEPIS READINGS reach a crescendo. Anck-su-namun's crusty
EYELIDS suddenly POP OPEN. Evelyn stares at her in disbelief.
Anck-su-namun's rotted head turns and looks at Evelyn with
empty sockets. Evelyn freaks out and struggles wildly, then
she notices Imhotep holding the ancient sacrificial knife.
IMHOTEP (SUBTITLED)
With your death, my love and I will
be invincible!
He raises it up over Evelyn's chest, about to plunge it down.
Evelyn's eyes widen in horror And that's when O'Connell and
Jonathan BURST IN. Imhotep spins around and faces them.
Jonathan beams as he holds up the golden Book Of The Living.
JONATHAN
I found it, Evy! I found it!
EVELYN
Shut-up and get me off of here!
O'Connell grabs an ancient sword out of a statue's hand,
jumps up onto a gravestone and leaps out over the Priests.
The Priest-mummies stop chanting. The MIST vanishes.
Imhotep steps forward. O'Connell STRIKES the sacrificial
knife out of his hand. Imhotep BELLOWS a command. The Priests
stand up, swords and knives in hand, they ATTACK O'Connell.
EVERYTHING HAPPENS AT ONCE, READ FASTER:
EVELYN (CONT'D)
Open the book, Jonathan! Open the
book! That's the only way to kill
him!
O'Connell RACKS and CHOPS at the attacking Priest-mummies,
fighting his way to Evelyn. The skeletal creatures wildly
SWING their swords, trying to STAB O'Connell. Jonathan
fumbles with the book, struggling to open it, --he can't.
JONATHAN
I can't open it! It's locked or
something!
O'Connell CUTS two of the mummies in half, then swings his
sword down at Evelyn, --CLANG! One chain breaks free.
Jonathan spots a series of SOLID GOLD, FOUR-SIDED LOCKS along
the binder. It hits him like lightning--
JONATHAN (CONT'D)
We need the key!
Imhotep grins, then grabs the KEY/BOX hanging from a chain
around his neck, rips it off and shoves it into his pocket He
picks up the sacrificial sword and heads for Jonathan.
JONATHAN (CONT'D)
What do I do, Evy!? What do I do!?
EVELYN
Read the inscription on the cover!
O'Connell swings his sword down again, --CLANG! Evelyn now
has one hand and one leg free. More mummies attack O'Connell
force him back.
Jonathan quickly starts translating the cover inscription,
but his ancient Egyptian is clearly awful.
JONATHAN
Keetash-something, naraba
something.
Jonathan starts to backpedal through the cemetery, clutching
the golden book; wide-eyed, as Imhotep moves in on him.
JONATHAN (CONT'D)
Ebarra im hatu Kashka ummmmm--?
Jonathan trips and falls on his ass. Imhotep CHARGES
FORWARD. O'Connell SLASHES another chain. Only one more left
holding Evelyn. Jonathan sits up and quickly looks back at
the cover.
JONATHAN (CONT'D)
Rasheem Aaaaa ANUBIS!
Imhotep raises the sacrificial sword, about to kill Jonathan.
And that's when the giant statue of Anubis suddenly CRASHES
through the wall --shades of Ray Harryhausen, only better.
The god of Deaths, horrible, decrepit STONE FACE stares
angrily down. Jonathan stares back.
JONATHAN (CONT'D)
Oh boy
O'Connell DECAPITATES a mummy and looks up at Anubis.
O'CONNELL (SARCASTIC)
This just keeps gettin, better and
better.
Imhotep leaves Jonathan and heads for the giant statue.
O'Connell leaps over and with one last swing of the sword,
frees Evelyn from her chains. More Priest-mummies attack,
forcing him away.
Evelyn jumps off the altar and starts to head for O'Connell,
-a SKELETAL HAND grabs her! Spins her around. It's Anck-su
namun's rotted corpse. Evelyn reacts.
Imhotep looks up at Anubis, points to O'Connell, and in
ANCIENT EGYPTIAN commands him to attack. Anubis moves for
O'Connell, STOMPING over mausoleums and through the detritus
moat on his way. O'Connell quickly backs away.
O'CONNELL (CONT'D)
Do something, Jonathan! Kill it!
JONATHAN
You have got to be joking?
Evelyn is backing away from Anck-su-namun.
EVELYN
Finish the inscription, idiot!
JONATHAN
Oh.
Anck-su-namun ATTACKS Evelyn. Evelyn fends her off as best
she can. Jonathan quickly looks back at the hieroglyphs on
the book cover, fumbling badly under the pressure-
JONATHAN (CONT'D)
Ummm, Hootash im .... Hootash im
now what is this last symbol here?
EVELYN
What's it look like!?
Anck-su-namun grabs Evelyn by the throat. The statue of
Anubis corners O'Connell, reaches down and GRABS him with
it's MASSIVE TALONS.
O'Connell HACKS away at it. Jonathan stares at the
inscription, slightly oblivious.
JONATHAN
It's an Anck symbol, with two
little squiggly lines above it, and
a bird, a stork on either side!
Evelyn is being STRANGLED by Anck-su-namun,
EVELYN
-Ah! Ah! Ahmenophus!
JONATHAN
Yes, ...I see.
The talons lift O'Connell up and start to CRUSH him.
JONATHAN (CONT'D)
Hootash im Ahmenophus!
The giant statue of Anubis instantly freezes in it's tracks
and PETRIFIES. It's off balance. Starts to fall. O'Connell
slides free of it's talons.
Evelyn SHOVES Anck-su-namun away, Anck-su-namun looks up and
opens her fetid mouth to scream just as Anubis CRASHES DOWN
on top of her, SMASHING HER to powder and DRIVING her into
the ground.
Imhotep SHRIEKS in rage and horror, then turns and angrily
heads for Jonathan. Jonathan, sitting on his ass, quickly
backpedals on his hands and heels.
O'Connell leaps to his feet, sword in hand and runs for
Imhotep. Imhotep grabs Jonathan, lifts him up, rips the
golden Book Of The Living out of his hand and pins him to a
wall.
O'Connell runs up and swings his sword at Imhotep, --WAP!
SLICES Imhotep's 'right arm off. It drops to the ground,
still clutching The Book Of The Living.
Imhotep drops Jonathan and spins around, facing O'Connell.
O'Connell grins.
O'CONNELL
Okay pal, let's see how tough you
are without your right arm.
Imhotep grabs O'Connell with his left arm and THROWS him half
way across the cemetery. O'Connell SLAMS into a gravestone,
bounces off and crashes to the ground. He shakes it off.
O'CONNELL (CONT'D)
Alright, ...so he's left handed.
Imhotep is already striding towards him.
Jonathan lifts up his hand, --HE HAS THE KEY/BOX BACK! He
smiles at Evelyn.
JONATHAN
I got it!
Evelyn runs for Jonathan. O'Connell SWINGS his sword and
CLEAVES a big chunk of molten flesh rot out of Imhotep's
stomach on the outside, Imhotep looks human, but on the
inside he is still a rotten old mummy. Imhotep BACKHANDS
O'Connell. Knocks him twenty feet back. O'Connell staggers to
his feet. Imhotep is right there. CLUBS him hard with his
left arm. O'Connell spins through the air, SLAMS into the
side of a mausoleum. Imhotep approaches, rage in his eyes.
O'Connell gets up, quickly pivots and HACKS into Imhotep's
head. Imhotep grins and PUNCHES O'Connell in the face.
O'Connell is thrown back, pulling his sword with him. He
bounces hard off the mausoleum. Lands on his feet. Totally
beat-to-shit. Knees buckling. He can barely stand.
Jonathan lifts up the heavy gold book, --Imhotep's severed
hand still clings to it. Jonathan cringes in disgust. Evelyn
yanks it off, throws it away, then start furiously working
the key into the series of locks, unlocking each of them.
Imhotep strides forward.
O'Connell backs into the mausoleum, swings the sword, Imhotep
tries to catch it, --it CLEAVES through his palm and deeply
imbeds itself into his forearm. No matter, Imhotep rips the
sword away from O'Connell and casually flings it away.
The golden Book Of The Living opens with a HISS. Jonathan
holds it tight as Evelyn quickly turns the heavy gold pages
Looking for something.
O'Connell turns to run, but Imhotep grabs him by the throat
and lifts him off his feet. O'Connell hangs there, a dazed
mess. Imhotep grins, says something in ANCIENT EGYPTIAN, then
starts to strangle O'Connell. O'Connell chokes. About to die.
Evelyn turns and faces Imhotep and reads an inscription:
EVELYN
Kadeesh mal! Kadeesh mal! Pared
oos! PARED OOS!!
Imhotep pivots and looks at Evelyn, a look of sheer terror on
his face.
Then he looks over at the detritus bog. Which starts to
BUBBLE and SHIFT. The SWIRLING HOLE begins to open. And then
suddenly THE SPIRITS OF THE EGYPTIAN GODS waft out of the
black bog and SWIRL around the Priest-mummies. The mummies
all collapse and turn to dust. And then the spirits attack
Imhotep. Lifting him and O'Connell up into the air.
Imhotep let's go of O'Connell, who falls to the ground.
Evelyn and Jonathan fearfully stumble away from the spirits,
Jonathan trips and falls and accidentally throws The Book of
The Living into the detritus bog. Evelyn watches as the
golden book sinks into the black putrescence. Jonathan looks
like he's about to cry. Ten feet off the ground, the spirits
SWIRL around Imhotep's body, TWISTING IT and TURNING IT and
slowly SHRIVELING IT.
Accompanied by the same strange FLASHING LIGHT we saw at the
beginning of the movie when Anck-su-namun was cursed one last
HUGE FLASH, accompanied by a BLAST OF WIND, and Imhotep is
spit out and thrown to the floor. He staggers to his feet, he
looks perfectly normal. His body is completely intact.
O'Connell swings his sword. Imhotep jerks back. The sword
scrapes Imhotep's chest, --a swath of blood appears across
Imhotep's chest where the sword hit him. Imhotep touches the
blood on his chest, amazed and horrified. He's mortal.
O'Connell runs Imhotep through with the sword and shoves him
backwards. Imhotep stumbles back and falls into the detritus
bog. The sword still in his stomach.
Evelyn and Jonathan run up next to O'Connell. They watch as
Imhotep gently sinks into the fetid swamp, slowly dying. And
then, just before his head goes under, Imhotep looks up at
them, grins broadly, and says something in ANCIENT EGYPTIAN.
Evelyn translates:
EVELYN (CONT'D)
Death is only the beginning.
Imhotep's grinning face vanishes
under the black bile
STAFF CHAMBER - DAY
Beni staggers across a chamber, straining under the weight of
another saddlebag filled with treasure. He spots a large,
ornate STAFF sticking out of a wall. He throws the saddlebag
over the staff and collapses against the wall. Exhausted. A
BEAT. And then the weight of the treasure PULLS THE STAFF
DOWN. Which starts a massive AURAL CHAIN-REACTION.
Beni backs away from the wall, wide-eyed, filled with fear.
ALL THE WALLS START TO SINK INTO THE GROUND. Driven by tons
of pouring sand. Beni turns and hauls-ass out of the chamber.
CEMETERY - DAY
O'Connell, Evelyn and Jonathan look around as all the walls
start to DESCEND. O'Connell grabs Evelyn's hand.
O'CONNELL
C'mon!
He pulls her forward and all three of them race past sinking
pillars. They duck as they run into a descending doorway.
INT. PASSAGEWAY - DAY
Beni scampers down a passageway, the ceiling getting lower
and lower until he has to crouch. And then he has to stick
the TORCH between his teeth and crawl on his hands and knees
INT. TREASURE CHAMBER - DAY
O'Connell, Evelyn and Jonathan crouch-run into the treasure
chamber. Evelyn skids to a stop. Looks in wonder at all the
treasure. SAND rains down on them. O'Connell grabs her again
and quickly pulls her through the mounds of treasure towards
a SINKING DOORWAY on the far side of the room. The SOUND of
the sinking walls is deafening.
Beni crouch-runs into the treasure chamber. O'Connell, Evelyn
and Jonathan race past him.
He joins them as they run up a staircase heading for a
DESCENDING DOORWAY, which is already half gone, it's now only
four feet high -- now three feet high -- now two feet.
Jonathan dives through the narrow gap.
Then O'Connell dives through, he spins around. Evelyn dives,
but gets stuck in the middle, about to get cut in half.
O'Connell grabs her arm and YANKS her through in the nick of
time. Beni reaches through the narrowing gap with his hand--
BENI
O'CONNELL!!
O'Connell grabs it, but it's too late. Beni yanks his hand
back just as the top of the door CRASHES to the floor.
Sealing him in. Beni quickly crawls back down the stairs as
the ceiling SLAMS down behind him. He stands up and looks
around with his diminishing torch. All the doorways FINISH
CLOSING. There's no way out. He's trapped. And then he hears
something, and turns around. Over in the corner, a scarab
beetle stares at him, CHITTERING. Beni waves his flickering
torch at the scarab and backs away.
BENI (CONT'D)
Go away.
He stands in the middle of the treasure chamber as dozens
upon dozens of scarabs boil up out of the floor around him.
Beni is absolutely terrified. The scarabs start to move in.
And that's when Beni's torch goes out. PITCH BLACK. A BEAT.
And then we hear Beni start SCREAMING in horror and pain. And
the scarabs CHITTERING hungrily.
EXT. HAMUNAPTRA - DAY
The temple COLLAPSES as O'Connell, Evelyn, Jonathan and a
pack of stray camels race through the ruins. A SINKING
CREVICE DROPS OUT right behind them. Chasing them out through
the front gates. The whole place RUMBLES ominously. They make
it down the ramp as more ruins CRASH DOWN behind them. A
MASSIVE CLOUD OF SAND AND DUST billows out over the wall and
into the air our heroes and all the stray camels race out
into the desert ..........
SLOW DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. PLATEALT - DAY
O'Connell, Evelyn and Jonathan stand in the middle of the
plateau, surrounded by stray camels. They stare off at the
sandy, dusty, volcano as it continues to RUMBLE-ominously.
JONATHAN
Well, ...I guess we go home empty
handed.
O'Connell looks at Evelyn
O'CONNELL
Wouldn't say that.
Evelyn returns the look, A BEAT, and then she wraps-her arms
around his neck and kisses him. O'Connell returns it.
Jonathan just rolls his eyes, snorts in disgust and climbs up
onto a camel.
When the kiss is-over, O'Connell and Evelyn share a smile,
then O'Connell leaps up into the saddle, reaches down, grabs
Evelyn's hand and pulls her up behind him. Evelyn wraps her
arms around his waist. O'Connell and Jonathan slap the reins.
O'CONNELL/JONATHAN
TUK-TUK-TUK!!
The camels start to move out. WE PAN DOWN: to the saddlebag
behind Evelyn, hidden under the closed back flap, --we can
see that it's filled with Beni's stolen TREASURE.
O'Connell, Evelyn and Jonathan ride off into the SUNSET.
THE END
Почти три года тому назад я делал обзор сценария надвигавшегося ребута «Мумии» за авторством Джона Спэйтса. Не могу сказать, чтобы тогда его работа меня сильно впечатлила. Но как это часто бывает, после просмотра итогового фильма я словил себя на мысли, что возможно тот вариант был еще не таким уж и плохим. Так что я решил сделать небольшое сравнение между ранней версией сценария и тем, что показали в кинотеатрах.
Конечно, когда речь заходит о студийных франшизах, достаточно сложно понять, что именно является заслугой конкретно этого автора, что было взято им из работ предшественников, а какие элементы попали в работу исключительно потому, что так требовали продюсеры. Тем не менее, даже не зная всей этой внутренней кухни все равно можно сделать определенные выводы.
Итак, действие датированного 11 июля 2013 года сценария Спейтса начиналось со спецоперации отряда морских котиков в Ираке. Американские спецслужбы засекли подозрительный всплеск радиации где-то в пустыне и выслали на разведку группу, возглавляемую бравым солдатом по имени Тайлер Кольт. Именно он был главным героем скрипта Спэйтса.
Прибыв на место инцидента, отряд находил ассирийскую гробницу, а внутри — трупы вскрывших ее грабителей. Затем происходила всякая чертовщина. Тайлер натыкался на скрытый внутри гробницы саркофаг и начинал слышать голоса. Потом солдаты один за другим сходили с ума и убивали друг друга, ну а после все мертвые оживали. Каким-то чудом Тайлеру удавалось выбраться из гробницы и взорвать вход в нее.
Проходило два года. Мы узнавали, что после инцидента нашего героя сочли психом и комиссовали из армии. Теперь Тайлер водит грузовик и мучается кошмарами, в которых видит какого-то человека, сражающегося с весьма неприятными обитателями Царства мертвых. Однажды, к нему в гости наведывался полковник Робертсон из группы специальных вооружений. Это секретное подразделение собирающее по всему миру магические артефакты, которые можно использовать в военных целях. Полковник предлагал Тайлеру вернуться в Ирак и помочь извлечь содержимое гробницы, обещая, что это позволит ему избавиться от кошмаров. Поломавшись для вида, Тайлер соглашался. Параллельно, мы знакомились с главной героиней — археологом Дженни, которая активно работает на черном рынке древностей, а иногда и не брезгует красть артефакты у своих же клиентов.
Тайлер, Робертсон, Дженни и команда инженеров, которым конечно же осталось всего ничего до пенсии отправлялись в Ирак. Тайлер придумывал, как проникнуть внутрь гробницы и не сойти с ума. Благодаря этому героям удавалось успешно извлечь саркофаг. На обратном пути на конвой нападали, но героям удавалось сдержать атаку боевиков и улететь на самолете.
Далее следовала, вероятно, единственная сцена, которая осталась в итоговом фильме. Во время полета древнее зло в саркофаге пробуждалось. Самолет сталкивался со стаей птиц и начинал падать, в то время как почти все на борту превращались в каких-то зомби. В последний момент, Тайлеру, Дженни и Робертсону удавалось выпрыгнуть с парашютами.
Самолет падал на Рим. Мумия из саркофага просыпалась и начинала бесчинствовать — вначале высасывала жизнь из нескольких человек, а затем отправлялась на экскурсию в Ватикан. Герои следовали за ней. Робертсон жертвовал собой, тщетно пытаясь остановить мумию при помощи различных суперсовременных технических средств. Тайлер и Дженни тем временем забирали из архива Ватикана, то, искало зло — корону Ашшурбанапала.
Собственно говоря, вскоре выяснялось, что мумия это и есть Ашшурбанапал. Древний ассирайский царь очень не хотел умирать и заставил пленных египетских жрецов разработать ритуал, который бы позволил ему после смерти проникнуть в Царство мертвых, набраться там божественной силы, а затем вернуться на Землю, воскреснуть и править вечно. Правда, когда об этом узнал его преемник, то оперативно уничтожил Некрополь, а саркофаг с мумией спрятал в пустыне, чтобы Ашшурбанапал никогда не смог восстать из мертвых.
Вторая половина скрипта Спэйтса представляла собой набор из кучи экшн-сцен. Вначале герои отправлялись на греческий остров к нехорошему миллиардеру-коллекционеру, у которого хранился меч, без которого Ашшурбанапал не мог завершить ритуал по воскрешению. Вскоре, туда заявлялась и мумия.
Сбежав с острова, герои отправлялись в Стамбул, где находился штаб древнего ордена (типа тамплиеров), задачей которого было не допустить пробуждения зла. Но Ашшурбанапал легко преодолевал все древние магические барьеры, насылая на город огромную волну, сметавшую здания. Он забирал нужные ему артефакты, похищал Дженни и отправлялся к руинам Некрополя рядом с Мосулом, чтобы закончить древний ритуал и стать богом.
Тайлер и выжившие «тамплиеры» следовали за ним. Начиналась главная экшн-сцена скрипта. Ашшурбанапал уничтожал расположенную рядом с руинами иракскую базу, с легкостью раскидывая танки. Затем из под песков вылазила армия мертвых. Пока уцелевшие солдаты и «тамплиеры» сдерживали их натиск, Тайлер отправлялся внутрь Некрополя и дрался с мумией.
Конечно же, в последний момент герою удавалось спасти мир. Он получал девушку, ну а в финале с ним на связь снова выходила группа специальных вооружений и предлагала новую работу — в этот раз в Египте. В последней сцене Тайлер и Дженни вылавливали саркофаг, в котором судя по всему находилась мумия древнеегипетской принцессы. На этом скрипт заканчивался.
Повторюсь, что сценарий Спэйтса звезд с неба не хватал. Текст читался хорошо, но ничего нового в нем не было. Все это мы видели и не раз. Тем не менее, итоговый фильм не смог дотянуть даже до этого уровня. Почему так получилось, становится понятно, если взглянуть на титры, в которых указано аж три сценариста и три автора сюжета (в том числе и Спэйтс). Если учесть, что на каждого попавшего в титры автора обычно приходится хотя бы один не попавший, становится понятно, что количество версий сценария ребута «Мумии» видимо исчислялось двухзначными числами. И очень похоже на то, что фильм слепили, взяв по кусочку из каждого скрипта. Ничего хорошего из этого не получилось.
Начать можно с главного героя. У меня есть подозрение, что когда Том Круз подписывается на фильм, то в его стоимость по умолчанию включен стандартный пакет «личность героя блокбастера». Конечно, Круз порой все же может поднапрячься, и даже для разнообразия постебаться со своего образа. Но куда чаще он играет одного и того же человека — себя любимого.
«Мумия» не стала исключением. Тайлер Кольт хоть и не отличался особой оригинальностью, но у него было хоть что-то за плечами — солдат, потерявший свой отряд, которого все считают психом и который мучается кошмарами. При желании, это можно было бы во что-то развить и как-то отыграть. Но зачем напрягаться, если у нас есть Том Круз? Все же и так знают, кто он, так что на образ героя можно забить. Да и мумии заодно сменили пол и сделали ее красоткой, полфильма пытающейся склеить неуступчивого Круза. Ведь все же знают, что перед его обаянием не могут устоять даже трупы.
Ну а если без шуток, то после просмотра у меня даже появилась мысль, что сделай создатели ГГ женщину (а герой-мужчина, которого бы сыграл какой-то известный лицедей, скажем трагически погибал бы где-то в середине) — это могло бы и сработать. Но конечно, глупо было ждать от этого проекта подобных поворотов.
Также меня очень позабавили реплики героя Рассела Кроу, который несколько раз особо выделил «молодость» героя. И это при том, что Круз вообще-то на два года старше его (да, я понимаю что с точки зрения персонажей Джекиллу возможно сотни лет, но все равно, было очень смешно это слышать). Интересно, в стандартный контракт Круза входит обязательное восхваление его неувядаемой красы или создатели по собственной инициативе постарался сделать хорошему человеку приятно?
Но ладно бы только это. Создатели еще зачем-то решили сделать персонажа Круза в буквальном смысле слова бессмертным. Ага, в фильме про злую мумию, которая всех убивает, это же так повышает напряжение и накал от экшн-сцен, когда герой просто не может умереть как обычный человек.
А еще, чтобы все было как у Marvel, в фильм добавили юмора. Правда я так и не понял, на какую конкретно целевую аудиторию рассчитаны эти шутки про 15 секунд, смех от щекотания мумии и косплей «Американского оборотня в Лондоне». Но впечатление от них откровенно странное, особенно если учесть то, что фильм по большей части пытается изображать из себя что-то суперсерьезное, на что всячески намекает обилие темных сцен и стерильно-блеклая картинка. По мне так вот эта сцена из 1999 года уделывает все местные попытки пошутить.
Теперь пару слов о герое Рассела Кроу. В версии Спэйтса хоть и имелся намек на сиквелы и появлялся протоаналог местного S.H.I.E.L.D., но они, по крайней мере, хотя бы были хоть как-то вписаны в действие. Но с тех пор многое изменилось. В Universal поверили, что они ничем не хуже Marvel и решили сделать свою «темную» вселенную с героями своих классических хорроров.
Знакомьтесь, герои планируемой «темной» вселенной Universal. Джонни Депп подписался на «Человека-невидимку», Хавьер Бардем на «Франкенштейна»
Уверен, что на бумаге это была идея на миллиард. Но в Universal явно позабыли, что для киновселенной недостаточно просто показать какого-то персонажа, и народ после этого повалит на продолжения. Как бы банально это не звучало, он должен быть запоминающимся, интересным и хоть что-то делать для сюжета. Применимо ли все это к доктору Джекиллу? На мой взгляд, вопрос риторический. По сути, он исполняет роль свадебного генерала. Пускай и хорошо, но смысла это не меняет. Вырежете его сцены из фильма — и много ли от этого изменится?
В своем стремлении любой ценой склепать свою киновселенную богов и монстров в Universal дошли до откровенно странных решений. Чтобы хоть как-то увеличить экранное время Кроу, его всунули во вступительную сцену и доверили рассказать зрителям историю принцессы Амонет. И все бы ничего, но затем ровно эту же самую информацию еще раз сообщают герою Круза. А если учесть постоянно демонстрируемую нарезку флэшбеков из вступительной сцены, можно сказать, что суммарно историю Амонет показывают раза три за фильм. Спасибо конечно ребята, но вы явно переоценивает свои таланты. У вас не фильм «Помни», нам достаточно и одного раза. В версии Спэйтса вообще не было отдельного вступления. Мы вместе с героями узнавали о том, кто эта мумия и чего она хочет— и это вполне нормально работало.
Также можно попенять на географию локаций картины. В скрипте Спэйтса по крайне мере в каждой сцене было понятно, где герои сейчас, куда они направляются и где они были раньше. Ирак – США – Ирак – Рим – остров – Стамбул – Мосул. Все просто и доступно.
Итоговый же фильм состоит из кучи невзрачных локаций, и лично мне зачастую было достаточно сложно понять, каким образом они географически связаны друг с другом. Вот герои бегут по улице, через мгновение уже в каком-то туннеле, а потом внезапно оказываются там, где им надо. Лондон что, размером с двор пятиэтажки? Собственно, у меня сложилось впечатление, что некоторые из локаций вероятно изначально и не были связаны. И их склеили уже по факту, когда после всех переписываний сценарий нужно было хоть как-то смонтировать кино из отснятого материала.
Ну а последний гвоздь в крышку сюжетного гроба, это финал. Я даже не буду ничего говорить про поступки главных героев, отсутствие экранной химии и искать какую-то логику в происходящем. Но местный камень бесконечности, или как оно там правильно называлось, это финиш. Когда могущественный артефакт, способный отдать Землю силам тьмы, можно уничтожить, просто стукнув его о пол, и никто за многие тысяч лет не додумался этого сделать? После этого я просто обязан вставить это видео.
Хотя нет. Есть еще одна важная вещь, которую я забыл отметить. Размах действия. А точнее его отсутствие. Увы, но похоже на то, что 125 миллионов голливудских долларов образца 2017 года по своей эффективности не потянут и на половину 80 миллионов образца 1999 года (бюджет «Мумии» Стивена Соммерса). Не считая эпизода с самолетом, в новой «Мумии» по сути и нет каких-то запоминающихся сцен, и по масштабу действия она заметно уступает картине Соммерса. Уж не знаю, дело ли в инфляции, финансовых аппетитах Круза, хитрых голливудских схемах по уходу от налогов или еще в чем, но факт остается фактом. После просмотра ленты попробуйте вспомнить из нее хоть что-то крутое. А потом сравните впечатления с той же «Дорогой ярости», у которой был 140-миллионый бюджет.
Что ж, настало время подводить какие-то итоги. Но боюсь, ничего нового я не скажу. Постоянные переделки сценария, желание сделать свою кинематографическую вселенную как у Marvel без попыток понять, почему она работает, странные сценарные решения принятые то ли в угоду главной звезде, то ли из-за желания сэкономить, отсутствие сюжетной целостности — итоговый результат был вполне закономерен.
Возможно, на имени Круза студии и удастся собрать какие-то деньги, но что-то мне не верится, что они будут сногсшибательными. Собственно, из-за низких сборов в Universal уже исключили недавнего «Дракулу» из своей «темной» вселенной. Будет забавно, если это же произойдет и с «Мумией». Но ничего, у студии еще остались в запасе «Человек-невидимка», «Человек-волк», «Невеста Франкенштейна» и «Призрак оперы», которые они тоже в скором времени собираются перезапустить. По статистике рано или поздно у них ведь должен же получиться хороший фильм, верно? Главное только, чтобы ему не было слишком одиноко в этой самой «темной» вселенной.
| The Mummy | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster |
|
| Directed by | Stephen Sommers |
| Screenplay by | Stephen Sommers |
| Story by | Stephen Sommers Lloyd Fonvielle Kevin Jarre |
| Produced by | James Jacks Sean Daniel |
| Starring |
|
| Cinematography | Adrian Biddle |
| Edited by | Bob Ducsay |
| Music by | Jerry Goldsmith |
|
Production |
Alphaville Films[1] |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
|
Release date |
|
|
Running time |
125 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English[2] |
| Budget | $80 million[3] |
| Box office | $416.4 million[3] |
The Mummy is a 1999 American action-adventure film written and directed by Stephen Sommers. It is a remake of the 1932 film of the same name, starring Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah and Arnold Vosloo in the title role as the reanimated mummy. The film follows adventurer Rick O’Connell as he travels to Hamunaptra, the City of the Dead, with a librarian and her older brother, where they accidentally awaken Imhotep, a cursed high priest with supernatural powers.
Development of the film took years, with multiple screenplays and directors attached. In 1997, Stephen Sommers successfully pitched his version of a more adventurous and romantic take on the source material. Principal photography took place in Morocco and the United Kingdom; the crew endured dehydration, sandstorms, and snakes shooting on location in the Sahara desert. Industrial Light & Magic provided many of the visual effects, blending live-action footage and computer-generated imagery to create the titular monster. Jerry Goldsmith provided the orchestral score.
The Mummy was theatrically released on May 7, 1999. Despite mixed reviews from critics, it was a commercial success and grossed over $416.4 million worldwide against a production budget of $80 million. The film’s success spawned two direct sequels, The Mummy Returns (2001) and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008). It also led to spinoffs such as an animated series and the prequel The Scorpion King (2002), which generated its own sequels. Attempts to reboot the property and kickstart a new media franchise led to a 2017 film.
Plot[edit]
In Thebes, Egypt, 1290 BC, high priest Imhotep has an affair with Anck-su-namun, the mistress of Pharaoh Seti I. They kill the Pharaoh after he discovers their relationship. Imhotep flees, while Anck-su-namun kills herself, believing he can resurrect her. Imhotep and his priests steal her corpse and travel to Hamunaptra, the City of the Dead. The resurrection ritual is stopped by Pharaoh’s bodyguards, the Medjai. Imhotep’s priests are mummified alive, while Imhotep himself is tortured, cursed and buried alive with flesh-eating scarabs at the feet of a statue of the god Anubis. The Medjai are sworn to prevent Imhotep’s return.
In 1926 Cairo, Jonathan Carnahan presents his sister Evelyn—a librarian and aspiring Egyptologist working for museum curator Dr. Terence Bey—with an intricate box and map that lead to Hamunaptra. Jonathan reveals he stole the box from an American adventurer, Rick O’Connell, who discovered the city while in the French Foreign Legion. Evelyn and Jonathan find Rick in a local prison and make a deal with him to lead them to the city, bribing prison warden Gad Hassan to free him.
Rick guides Evelyn and her party to the city, encountering a band of American treasure hunters led by Rick’s cowardly acquaintance Beni Gabor. Despite being warned to leave by Ardeth Bay, leader of the Medjai, the two expeditions continue their excavations. Evelyn searches for the Book of Amun-Ra, made of pure gold. Instead of finding it, she stumbles upon Imhotep’s remains. The team of Americans, meanwhile, discover the black Book of the Dead, accompanied by canopic jars carrying Anck-su-namun’s preserved organs. Warden Hassan and several diggers are killed during the excavation.
At night, Evelyn reads from the Book of the Dead aloud, accidentally awakening the mummified Imhotep, who seems to briefly confuse Evelyn with Anck-su-namun. The expeditions flee back to Cairo, and Imhotep follows them with the help of Beni, who has agreed to serve him. He regenerates his full strength and human form by killing the members of the American expedition, and brings the Ten Plagues back to Egypt. Meanwhile, Evelyn learns that Terence is also working with the Medjai.
Rick, Evelyn, Jonathan and Terence meet Ardeth at the museum, who hypothesizes that Imhotep wants to resurrect Anck-su-namun by sacrificing Evelyn. She believes that if the Book of the Dead brought Imhotep back to life, the Book of Amun-Ra can kill him again and deduces the book’s whereabouts in Hamunaptra. Imhotep corners the group with an army of slaves. Evelyn agrees to accompany him if he spares the rest of the group. Although Imhotep does not honor his word, Rick and the others fight their way to safety, with Terence sacrificing himself to ensure their escape.
Rick, Jonathan and Ardeth recruit Captain Winston Havelock, a member of the Royal Air Force with a death wish to fly them back to Hamunaptra in pursuit of Imhotep. However, Imhotep magically conjures a sandstorm, crashing their plane and killing Havelock. Rick, Jonathan, and Ardeth locate the Book of Amun-Ra in Hamunaptra while Imhotep prepares to sacrifice Evelyn, also bringing Anck-su-namun’s mummified remains to life as part of the ritual. Rick manages to rescue her after a brutal fight with Imhotep’s mummified priests and mummified soldiers; Anck-su-namun’s mummy is also slain during the melee. Evelyn reads from the Book of Amun-Ra, making Imhotep mortal, and he is fatally wounded by Rick. Imhotep degenerates back into his mummified form and dies.
Beni accidentally sets off a booby trap while looting the city of its riches, and is killed by a swarm of flesh-eating scarabs as Hamunaptra collapses into the sand. Ardeth bids Rick, Evelyn, and Jonathan goodbye, and the trio rides away on a pair of camels, not realizing it is laden with Beni’s stolen treasure.
Cast[edit]
- Brendan Fraser as Rick O’Connell
- Rachel Weisz as Evelyn Carnahan
- John Hannah as Jonathan Carnahan
- Arnold Vosloo as Imhotep
- Kevin J. O’Connor as Beni Gabor
- Jonathan Hyde as Dr. Allen Chamberlain
- Oded Fehr as Ardeth Bay
- Erick Avari as Dr. Terence Bey
- Stephen Dunham as Isaac Henderson
- Corey Johnson as David Daniels
- Tuc Watkins as Bernard Burns
- Omid Djalili as Warden Gad Hassan
- Aharon Ipalé as Pharaoh Seti I
- Bernard Fox as Captain Winston Havelock
- Patricia Velásquez as Anck-su-namun
Production[edit]
Origins[edit]
In the late 1980s, producers James Jacks and Sean Daniel decided to update the original 1932 Mummy film for the modern era.[4] Universal gave them the go-ahead, but only if they kept the budget around $10 million.[5] Jacks remembers that the studio «essentially wanted a low-budget horror franchise».[5] In 1987, George A. Romero wrote a film treatment, and was attached to direct. Screenwriter Abbie Bernstein recalled that Universal Studios wanted an unstoppable Mummy akin to the Terminator. Bernstein’s story took place in the present; scientists inadvertently bring a mummy to life, who wants to use an ancient device to destroy all life on earth. «[The Mummy] had no more social interaction than the T-Rex did in Jurassic Park,» Bernstein recalled. Romero drifted away from the project and the script was abandoned.[6]: 29
Next, Jacks and Daniel recruited horror filmmaker/writer Clive Barker to direct. Barker’s 1990 treatment and a successive 1991 screenplay by Mick Garris were dark and violent, with the story revolving around an art museum that rebuilds an entire Egyptian tomb in Beverly Hills.[4][7][6]: 29 Jacks recalls that Barker’s take was «dark, sexual and filled with mysticism»,[5] and that, «it would have been a great low-budget movie».[7] Barker recalled the concept was too weird for the studio, and that his vision treated the Mummy as a jumping-off point for the film instead of the central character.[6]: 30
Alan Ormsby, unaware of the previous efforts to launch the film, was brought on next. Ormsby pitched a more straightforward update to the 1932 film, again focusing on the Mummy as a relentless Terminator-like character. Joe Dante was attached as director, increasing the budget for his idea of Daniel Day-Lewis as a brooding Mummy.[5] This version’s draft was later re-written by John Sayles. It was set in contemporary times and focused on reincarnation with elements of a love story.[7] It came close to being made—with some elements like the flesh-eating scarabs making it to the final product[4]—but Universal balked at the higher price tag.[6]: 30
George A. Romero returned to the project in 1994[6]: 30 with a vision of a zombie-style horror film similar to Night of the Living Dead, but which also relied heavily upon elements of tragic romance and ambivalence of identity. Romero completed a draft in October 1994, co-written with Ormsby and Sayles, that revolved around female archaeologist Helen Grover and her discovery of the tomb of Imhotep, an Egyptian general who lived in the time of Ramesses II.[5] Unfolding in a nameless American city in modern times, events are set into motion when Imhotep inadvertently awakens as a result of his body having been exposed to rays from an MRI scan in a high-tech forensic archaeology lab.[5]
Helen finds herself drawn into a tentative relationship with Imhotep while also experiencing clairvoyant flashbacks to a previous life in the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt as a priestess of Isis. Summoning mystical powers through incantation, Imhotep later resurrects the mummy of Karis, a loyal slave. Karis embarks on a vengeful rampage against the grave robbers of his tomb. Romero’s script was considered too dark and violent by Jacks and the studio, who wanted a more accessible picture. Romero was unable to extricate himself from another contract he had in negotiation with MGM, and so his involvement with the film was severed and the development of an entirely new script was commissioned.[5]
Mick Garris returned in 1995, developing a script that combined elements of the 1932 film and 1942’s The Mummy’s Tomb. This draft was a period piece awash in Egyptian art-inspired Art Deco, but the vision once again proved too expensive for the studio and was discarded for a modern setting. While the project came close to entering production, Universal was sold to Seagram. Sheinberg chose to produce The Mummy through his independent company and write a new script. Unable to find a suitable high-profile writer and director (Wes Craven was offered the film but turned it down[7]) the project unraveled again, and Garris left the project for the second time.[6]: 30–31 [8]
Still determined to create a new Mummy film, in 1996 Universal hired Kevin Jarre to write a new screenplay. According to Jacks, the executives were now convinced the film should be a larger-budget period piece.[6]: 31 Stephen Sommers called Jacks and Daniel in 1997 with his vision of The Mummy «as a kind of Indiana Jones or Jason and the Argonauts with the mummy as the creature giving the hero a hard time».[5] Sommers had seen the original film when he was eight, and wanted to recreate the things he liked about it on a bigger scale.[9] Discussing other classic horror characters, Sommers recalled that «Frankenstein made me sad—I always felt sorry for him. Dracula was kind of cool and sexy. But The Mummy just plain scared me.» He had wanted to make a Mummy film, but other writers or directors were always attached.[10]: 52
After the box office disappointment of Babe: Pig in the City and other films, Universal needed a hit film. At the time, Universal’s management had changed in response to the box office failures, and the losses led the studio to revisit its successful franchises from the 1930s.[11] New chair Stacey Snider distributed packets detailing the studio’s holdings—including nearly 5,000 old scripts and films.[12]: 156 Sommers received his window of opportunity and pitched his Mummy to Universal with an 18-page treatment.[4]
Sommers did not want to remake the original film; instead of making another straight horror movie, he wanted to turn it into a romantic adventure with horror elements. Conscious of how the shambling, bandaged Mummy of the old films had become something of a punchline, he wanted a faster, meaner, and scarier monster.[10]: 52 Sommers incorporated his own research and the services of a UCLA archaeology professor to make the ancient Egyptian language accurate.[6]: 27 Snider recalled that Sommer’s treatment was unique in that it took place in the 1920s, rather than a contemporary setting.[13] Universal liked the treatment so much that they approved the concept and increased the budget,[14][a] and Sommers spent a year working on the screenplay.[16]: 103
Casting[edit]
Producer James Jacks offered the role of Rick O’Connell to Tom Cruise (who was later cast in the reboot film), Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, but the actors were not interested or could not fit the role into their respective schedules.[5] Jacks and director Stephen Sommers were impressed with the money that George of the Jungle was making at the box office and cast Brendan Fraser as a result;[5] Sommers also commented that he felt Fraser fit the Errol Flynn swashbuckling character he had envisioned for Rick perfectly.[13] Fraser’s turn in George bolstered his perceived star power, yet he remained far cheaper than the biggest actors working.[12]: 155 The actor understood that his character «doesn’t take himself too seriously, otherwise the audience can’t go on that journey with him.»[17]
Evelyn Carnahan was named in tribute to Lady Evelyn Carnarvon, the daughter of amateur Egyptologist Lord Carnarvon, both present at the opening of the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922.[18] The studio originally considered American actresses, and Rachel Weisz auditioned multiple times before getting the part.[15] Rachel Weisz was not a big fan of horror films, but saw the movie as more of a «hokum» comic book.[19] John Hannah was picked for the role of Jonathan Carnahan, despite the fact that Hannah felt he was not a comedic actor, with Sommers saying that, «He had no idea why we cast him.»[15]
Jacks had previously produced Hard Target with Arnold Vosloo. The South African actor liked the Mummy script, but told Sommers he wanted to play the role «absolutely straight. From Imhotep’s point of view, this is a skewed version of Romeo and Juliet.»[5][20] He was offered the role after a single audition.[6]: 27 Carrying some extra weight and conscious of it because of Imhotep’s skimpy costume, Vosloo lost 10 to 15 pounds for the role by eschewing alcohol and sugar.[6]: 28
Filming[edit]
Filming began on May 4, 1998, and lasted 17 weeks.[21] The crew could not shoot in Egypt because of unstable political conditions, so principal photography began in Marrakech, Morocco.[22] Marrakech had the extra advantage of being a much less modern city than Cairo, making it easier to dress like the 1920s. The production set up two weeks before filming, taking down telephone wires and cables and shipping in period cars and camels.[6]: 27 Locals served as extras for crowd scenes.[16]: 116 After shooting in Marrakech, filming moved to the Sahara desert outside the small town of Erfoud. Production designer Allan Cameron found a geologic feature, Gara Medouar, where the exteriors for Hamunaptra could be constructed.[21]
A concrete ramp was built to allow access into the horseshoe-shaped formation, where the city was built from prefabricated parts shipped from England.[23][21][24][16]: 103 A survey of the area was conducted so that an accurate model and scale models of the columns and statues could be replicated back at Shepperton Studios, where all of the scenes involving the underground passageways of the City of the Dead were shot. These sets took 16 weeks to build, and included fiberglass columns rigged with special effects for the movie’s final scenes.[21]
To avoid dehydration in the scorching heat of the Sahara, the production’s medical team created a drink that the cast and crew had to consume every two hours.[17] Sandstorms were daily inconveniences, and wildlife were a major problem, with many crew members having to be airlifted to medical care after being bitten or stung.[22] Brendan Fraser nearly died during a scene where his character is hanged.[19] The production had the official support of the Royal Moroccan Army, and the cast members had kidnapping insurance taken out on them.[7]
After shooting in North Africa, production moved back to the United Kingdom before completion of shooting on August 29, 1998.[21] Here, the dockyards at Chatham doubled for the Giza Port on the Nile River.[25] This set was 600 feet (183 m) in length and featured «a steam train, an Ajax traction engine, three cranes, an open two-horse carriage, four horse-drawn carts, five dressing horses and grooms, nine pack donkeys and mules, as well as market stalls, Arab-clad vendors and room for 300 costumed extras».[21]
Special effects[edit]
The filmmakers reportedly spent $15 million of the budget on the special effects alone.[16][26] The Mummy features hundreds of shots that required optical or digital special effects in post-production. Effects house Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) contributed more than 140 shots to the film, with additional work done by Cinesite (60 shots) and Pacific Title/Mirage (45 shots, and the film’s title sequences.)[27]: 60
Sommers engaged ILM while still developing the script, having previously worked with ILM effects supervisor John Andrew Berton, Jr. on Deep Rising. ILM was eager for the challenge the film provided, and produced a proof of concept for The Mummy‘s effects in late 1997 to demonstrate the feasibility of Sommers’ vision to executives.[16]: 103
The filmmakers sought to make something faster and scarier for the title creature, using cutting-edge techniques to create something never before seen.[16] ILM started developing the look of the Mummy three months before filming started.[21] «We wanted to create a photorealistic corpse that was obviously not a man in a suit, obviously not an animatronic, and obviously alive,» he recalled.[6]
Over a months-long period, the designers worked on developing four distinct stages for the Mummy. Stage one was the mummy at its most decayed, with tattered bits of clothing, skin, and sinew hanging over a skeleton. Stage two added areas of regenerated skin, with stages three and four having the Mummy almost fully regenerated with only small areas of its innards showing through. The artists developed black-and-white sketches, then moved on to color treatments before building the creature in the computer; models were also made to use as reference for the digital artists.[16]: 103
The initial states of the Mummy were created entirely by computer, while later stages combined live-action performance. To supplement prosthetics and makeups applied on set, LED lights and pieces of tape served as tracking points so that digital «cutouts» could be applied to Vosloo’s face and body in postproduction;[27]: 61 Vosloo remarked that walking around the set he felt like a Christmas tree.[13]
The final creature was created with a combination of live-action acting with prosthetics and digital imagery.[10]: 55 A digital representation of the Mummy was created in Alias, featuring simulated muscles for much of the body attached to a skeleton.[27]: 60 The animators controlled parts of the Mummy via procedural animation; animating the underlying bones in turn controlled the stretch and movement of the overlaid muscles. Finally, layered on top of the procedural animation and motion capture was additional animation to tweak the performance; given the limitations of the technology, subtle movements like facial or hand animations had to be done by hand.[27]: 61 Shots that featured Vosloo with overlaid computer-generated prosthetics were the most difficult for the effects team, requiring careful match-moving.[16]: 114
Rather than using a stunt performer, Vosloo performed the motion capture for the character himself.[27]: 61 Scenes were blocked out and performed on set during principal photography (first with Vosloo in the scene, then without). The shots were then replicated in the motion capture studio, with Vosloo’s performance recorded by eight cameras from different angles.[16]: 111
In addition to the Mummy, the script called for numerous effects shots to magnify the sweeping adventure of the film. Vistas like a flashback shot of the ancient city of Thebes combined location footage shot in the desert with composited actors shot on green screen, model miniatures, matte paintings, and computer-generated effects.[16]: 115 The plagues Imhotep unleashes were accomplished using particle-based computer graphics, with ILM designers swapping out models of different qualities depending on how far from the camera the swarming «insects» were.[27] While the film made extensive use of computer-generated imagery, many scenes, including ones where Rachel Weisz’s character is covered with rats and locusts, were shot using live animals.[22]
Another close-up shot used footage of anesthetized locusts attached to a stunt performer combined with extra computer-generated pests.[16]: 116 Sandstorms used procedural graphics based on programs used to create tornados in Twister, while the masses of flesh-eating scarabs used techniques developed for Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.[16]: 115 [6]: 27 A shot of a firestorm engulfing Cairo combined real palm trees, physical models, and matte paintings with computer-generated hail, fire, and rubble. Pacific Title/Mirage also enhanced shots with digital camera shake.[27]: 64
The finale involves an army of mummies coming to Imhotep’s defense. Many of these mummies were created by Make-Up Effects Supervisor Nick Dudman, who produced makeup, prosthetics, and animatronic effects in the film.[22] Each suit came with variations for stunt moves or pyrotechnics. After principal photography, the suits were sent to ILM to scan and be modeled in the computer. Using parts of the Imhotep mummy to save time, ILM recreated the underlings digitally to add into the scenes, and used motion capture to animate them. The animators credited Fraser’s ability to consistently re-enact his movements in multiple takes as saving time when it came to match the motion-captured digital mummies to the live-action fight scenes.[16]: 118–199
Music[edit]
The score for The Mummy was composed and conducted by Jerry Goldsmith, with orchestrations provided by Alexander Courage.[28] Goldsmith had previously scored Deep Rising for Sommers. As he reached the final few years of his career, Goldsmith was coming off a number of action and adventure films in the 1990s, from multiple Star Trek films to Air Force One. Goldsmith provided The Mummy with suitably bombastic music, with the traditional European orchestra supplemented with regional instruments such as the bouzouki.[29]
The opening of the film contains nearly all of Goldsmith’s major themes for the score, with what music critic Jeff Bond calls an «Egyptian theme» reused in different configurations throughout to establish the epic settings and sense of place for Hamunaptra; a theme for Imhotep/the Mummy that is performed in an understated manner early in the film, before repeating in more forceful, brassy renditions after the Mummy has regenerated; a love theme used for both Imhotep/Anck-su-namun and Rick/Evelyn; and a heroic theme for Rick.[29] In addition to the extensive brass and percussion elements,[30] the score uses sparing amounts of vocals, unusual for much of Goldsmith’s work.[30]
The soundtrack was released by Decca Records on May 4, 1999. Overall, Goldsmith’s score was well received. AllMusic described it as a «grand, melodramatic score» which delivered the expected highlights.[28] Other reviews positively noted the dark, percussive sound meshed well with the plot, as well as the raw power of the music. The limited but masterful use of the chorus was also lauded, and most critics found the final track on the CD to be the best overall.[30][31] On the other hand, some critics found the score lacked cohesion,[32] and that the constant heavy action lent itself to annoying repetition.[30] Roderick Scott off CineMusic.net summed up the score as «representative of both Goldsmith’s absolute best and his most mediocre. Thankfully […] his favourable work on this release wins out.»[31]
Reception[edit]
Test audiences reacted poorly to the film’s title, which conjured up negative impressions of an old horror film, but domestic marketing president Marc Shmuger recalled that they decided «we would redefine the myth with the film» rather than change the title.[13] Enthusiasm for the film was low, but Universal took out a television spot for the Super Bowl (reportedly costing $1.6 million)[13] that Sommers recalled immediately reversed the discussion of the film’s prospects.[15]
Box office[edit]
The producers were concerned that the imminent release of The Phantom Menace would sink the film’s box office fortunes, resulting in them moving the release date from May 21 to 7.[13][12]: 157 The Mummy was the number one film in the United States and Canada on its opening weekend, grossing $43 million in 3,210 theaters. Its weekend take was the highest non-holiday May opening, and ninth-biggest opening of all time.[33][34] The film later fell to second place behind The Phantom Menace. The Mummy grossed over $155.4 million in the United States and Canada and $261 million internationally, grossing over $416.4 million worldwide.[3]
Critical response[edit]
The Mummy received mixed reviews from critics.[34] On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 61%, based on 101 reviews, with an average rating of 5.9 out of 10.[35] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 48 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating mixed or average reviews.[36] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of «B» on an A+ to F scale.[37]
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film a positive review, writing, «There is hardly a thing I can say in its favor, except that I was cheered by nearly every minute of it. I cannot argue for the script, the direction, the acting or even the mummy, but I can say that I was not bored and sometimes I was unreasonably pleased.»[38] Critics such as Entertainment Weekly‘s Owen Gleiberman and The New York Times‘ Stephen Holden concurred with the sentiment of the film as a breezy crowd-pleaser.[39][40][41]
Less positively, Keith Phipps of The A.V. Club wrote that the film’s attempt to create a big, Indiana Jones-inspired action film felt «forced» and the result was unsatisfying.[42] Other reviews complained of an overstuffed plot or recycled elements from better movies.[43][40] Reviewers comparing the film to the 1932 original sometimes favored the original’s focus on atmosphere and dread,[43] though others welcomed the change to a more energetic Indiana Jones-type film.[44]
The effects were generally praised, especially the title creature.[45] Ernest Larson’s review for Jump Cut felt that the effects were too similar to ILM’s other work, and that the effects alone could not support the weight of the rest of the movie.[46] Bob Graham of the San Francisco Chronicle and Hal Hinson from the Dallas Observer agreed that the effects never overshadowed the human aspects of the film.[45][47] Gleiberman noted that the horrors of the effects were undercut by the lightheartedness of the film, while the BBC’s Almar Haflidason felt that the effects were occasionally unconvincing, and the heavy reliance on cutting-edge computer-generated imagery would likely date the film heavily as time passed.[39][48]
Critics generally praised the acting,[47][44] with Haflidason writing that the efforts of the cast sold material that would otherwise have been cheesy.[48] David Hunter of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that all the actors managed to hold their own amid the special effects, although he felt Vosloo was largely wasted after Imhotep regenerates and the screenplay gives him little to do.[49] Reviews from USA Today, the British Film Institute, and The A.V. Club noted the film featured questionable casting of ethnic roles and occasionally traded in stereotypes of Arabs.[43][50]
Writing to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the film’s release, writer Maria Lewis noted that on paper, The Mummy should not have been a success, as yet another period adventure film coming after a decade of failed period adventure films. Its connection with audiences, if not critics, was down to its successful blend of «heart, humour, [heroics], and horror.» She declared it the «pivotal blockbuster of the nineties.»[51] Emma Stefansky, writing for Thrillist, noted it was «the beginning of the end» for action-adventure films, as superhero films would soon supplant it in the coming years.[52] Rotten Tomatoes called the film «Indiana Jones for a new generation.»[53] Reviewers noted Fraser’s portrayal of Rick set a new mold for action heroes that more films would follow in the years after,[54][55] while also considering Evelyn a character allowed to break free from a traditional damsel in distress role.[52][56]
Accolades[edit]
Home media[edit]
The Mummy was released on home video in VHS and DVD formats in September 1999.[63] The title was a tremendous success for Universal on home video, selling 7 million units on VHS and 1 million on DVD, making it the year’s best-selling live-action VHS and second-best-selling DVD (behind The Matrix). The Mummy‘s performance helped Universal gross over $1 billion in home video sales.[64] The film was later digitally remastered and received a Blu-ray release in 2008.[65] It was subsequently re-released on 4K Ultra HD in 2017 as both a stand-alone title and in a trilogy pack with its sequels.[66]
Adaptations[edit]
The Mummy‘s box office performance led to numerous sequels and spinoffs. The film sequel The Mummy Returns (2001) features most of the surviving principal characters. As a married couple, Rick and Evelyn confront Imhotep and the Scorpion King.[67] The film also introduces the heroes’ son, Alex.[67] A second sequel, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008), takes place in China with the Terracotta Emperor inspiring the villain, and Rachel Weisz replaced with Maria Bello.[68][69]
The films inspired both an animated TV series titled The Mummy, which lasted two seasons,[70] and a spin-off prequel, The Scorpion King (2002).[71] Universal announced plans in 2012 to reboot the franchise;[72] a new film, also titled The Mummy, was released in June 2017 to poor critical and box office performance.[73]
Developer Konami Nagoya published two video game adaptations of The Mummy under license from Universal Interactive Studios, in 2000: an action-adventure game for the PlayStation and Microsoft Windows developed by Rebellion Developments,[74] as well as a Game Boy Color puzzle game.[75] There was also a 2002 video game based on the 2001 animated series, published by Ubisoft for Game Boy Advance.[76] The film also inspired a roller coaster, Revenge of the Mummy, found in three Universal Studios Theme Parks: Hollywood, California; Orlando, Florida; and Sentosa, Singapore.[77]
Notes[edit]
- ^ While various sources report The Mummy‘s final budget as $80 million, a 2019 retrospective quoted Sommers as pegging the number at $62 million.[15]
References[edit]
- ^ McNary, Dave (January 20, 2014). «‘The Mummy,’ ‘Dazed and Confused’ Producer James Jacks Dies in Los Angeles». Variety. Variety Media, LLC. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
- ^ «Release». BFI Film & Television Database. London: British Film Institute. Archived from the original on January 3, 2014. Retrieved May 8, 2013.
- ^ a b c «The Mummy (1999)». The Numbers. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
- ^ a b c d «The Mummy That Wasn’t». Cinescape. May 3, 1999.
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- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Fordham, Joe (June 1999). «The Mummy, Resurrected». Cinefantastique. 31 (6): 22–31. ISSN 0145-6032.
- ^ a b c d e Slotek, Jim (May 2, 1999). «Unwrapping The Mummy«. Toronto Sun.
- ^ Chase, Donald (May 3, 1999). «What Have They Unearthed?». Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 4, 2019.
- ^ Snead, Elizabeth (May 7, 1999). «Updating A Well-Preserved Villain». USA Today.
- ^ a b c Counts, Kyle (June 1999). «Sarcophagus Rising». Starlog. 1 (263): 52–56. ISSN 0191-4626.
- ^ Bonin, Liane (May 7, 1999). «That’s a Wrap». Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on December 20, 2008. Retrieved April 1, 2008.
- ^ a b c Raftery, Brian (2020). Best. Movie. Year. Ever.: How 1999 Blew Up the Big Screen. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-5011-7539-8.
- ^ a b c d e f Staff (May 14, 1999). «Show Me The Mummy». Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on December 20, 2008. Retrieved April 1, 2008.
- ^ Argent, Daniel (1999). «Unwrapping The Mummy: An Interview with Stephen Sommers». Creative Screenwriting.
- ^ a b c d Collis, Clark (August 13, 2019). «Snakes, sandstorms, and strangulation: The making of 1999’s The Mummy». Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on August 24, 2019. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Shay, Estelle (April 1999). «Thoroughly Modern Mummy». Cinefex. 1 (77): 100–119. ISSN 0198-1056.
- ^ a b Braund, Simon (July 1999). «Equally Cursed and Blessed». Empire.
- ^ Doran, Sarah (November 23, 2016). «Did Howard Carter and Evelyn Carnarvon have a romantic relationship?». Radio Times. Immediate Media Company. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
- ^ a b Jones, Alison (June 26, 1999). «Great Excavations». The Birmingham Post.
- ^ Roger Ebert (2003). Roger Ebert’s Movie Yearbook 2004. Andrews McMeel Publishing. p. 451. ISBN 978-0-7407-3834-0. Retrieved March 11, 2010.
vosloo mummy.
- ^ a b c d e f g «Behind the Scenes». The Mummy Official Site. Universal Studios. 1999. Archived from the original on June 2, 2007. Retrieved May 24, 2007.
- ^ a b c d Portman, Jamie (May 5, 1999). «Mummy Unearths Horror, Humour». Ottawa Citizen.
- ^ Capel, Chloé (2013). «Jebel Mudawwar: une montagne fortifiée au Sahara. Site étatique ou site communautaire ?». In Bourrouilh, Antoine; Pierre-Emmanuel, Paris; Haidar Vela, Nairusz (eds.). Appréhension et qualification des espaces au sein du site archéologique. Archéo.doct (in French). Paris: Sorbonne. pp. 101–122. ISBN 979-1035100094.
- ^ Teng, Rick (May 1999). «The Art of ‘The Mummy’«. Starlog. 1 (262): 33–38. ISSN 0191-4626.
- ^ «The Mummy (1999)». Kent Film Office. Archived from the original on October 14, 2013.
- ^ Slotek, Jim (May 9, 1999). «Mummy Unwraps a New Fraser «Cartoon» Character». Toronto Sun.
- ^ a b c d e f g Magid, Ron (August 1999). «Visual Effects Review; Raging Rags and Bones». American Cinematographer. pp. 60–64. ISSN 0002-7928.
- ^ a b «The Mummy [1999] [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]». AllMusic. Retrieved February 12, 2008.
- ^ a b Bond, Jeff (2018). The Mummy Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (liner notes). Intrada Records. ISC402.
- ^ a b c d «The Mummy (Jerry Goldsmith) Soundtrack Review». ScoreReviews. Archived from the original on February 15, 2008. Retrieved January 1, 2008.
- ^ a b Coleman, Christopher (2000). «The Mummy by Jerry Goldsmith». TrackSounds. Archived from the original on May 22, 2008. Retrieved February 21, 2008.
- ^ «The Mummy: Editorial Review». FilmTracks. Archived from the original on February 28, 2008. Retrieved February 21, 2008.
- ^ «Variety’s Summer Cup: Milestones». Daily Variety. September 8, 1999. p. A1.
- ^ a b Welkos, Robert W. (May 11, 1999). «‘Mummy’ Brings Sunshine to Universal». Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 22, 2014. Retrieved December 9, 2014.
- ^ «The Mummy (1999)». Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
- ^ «The Mummy (1999) Reviews». Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
- ^ «CinemaScore». cinemascore.com. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
- ^ Ebert, Roger (May 7, 1999). «The Mummy Movie Review & Film Summary (1999)». RogerEbert.com. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
- ^ a b Gleiberman, Owen (May 7, 1999). «The Mummy«. Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on December 20, 2008. Retrieved December 19, 2006.
- ^ a b Holden, Stephen (May 7, 1999). «Sarcophagus, Be Gone: Night of the Living Undead». The New York Times. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
- ^ Turan, Kenneth (May 7, 1999). «Modern ‘Mummy’ Has Its Boyish Features». Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 21, 2021.
- ^ Phipps, Keith (May 7, 1999). «The Mummy». The A.V. Club. Retrieved July 21, 2021.
- ^ a b c Newman, Kim (June 1, 1999). «Sight and Sound: The Mummy». British Film Institute. Archived from the original on April 10, 2008. Retrieved April 4, 2008.
- ^ a b Savlov, Mark (May 7, 1999). «The Mummy». The Austin Chronicle. Archived from the original on December 21, 2008. Retrieved March 12, 2008.
- ^ a b Graham, Bob (May 7, 1999). «‘Mummy’ — It’s Alive / Fraser unwraps the laughs in comic remake of horror classic». San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
- ^ Larsen, Ernest (July 2000). «The Mummy: traffic in mummies». Jump Cut (43): 12–15, 128. Archived from the original on December 18, 2008. Retrieved April 9, 2008.
- ^ a b Hinson, Hal (May 7, 1999). «Mummy dearest». Dallas Observer. Archived from the original on December 20, 2008. Retrieved March 20, 2008.
- ^ a b Haflidason, Almar (May 4, 2001). «The Mummy (1999)». BBC. Retrieved July 21, 2021.
- ^ Hunter, David (May 3, 1999). «‘The Mummy’: THR’s 1999 Review». The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 21, 2021.
- ^ Wloszczyna, Susan (May 7, 1999). «Effects New Curse of The Mummy«. USA Today.
- ^ Lewis, Maria (February 4, 2019). «Why ‘The Mummy’ Was The Pivotal Blockbuster Of The Nineties». Junkee. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
- ^ a b Stefansky, Emma (May 7, 2019). «‘The Mummy’ Is the Only Perfect Movie». Thrillist. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
- ^ Grebey, James (May 7, 2019). «5 Reasons The Mummy Became the Indiana Jones for a New Generation». Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
- ^ Mancuso, Vinnie (May 9, 2019). «20 Years After ‘The Mummy’, There Still Hasn’t Been an Action Hero Like Brendan Fraser». Collider. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
- ^ Donaldson, Kayleigh (May 8, 2019). «Brendan Fraser in The Mummy: The hottest action hero of the ’90s». Syfy Wire. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
- ^ Santilli, Morgana (June 19, 2019). «How The Mummy changed action movies and nobody noticed». Looper.com. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
- ^ «Nominees & Winners for the 72nd Academy Awards». Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
- ^ «BAFTA Awards Search | The Mummy». British Academy Film Awards. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
- ^ a b c d «Nominees Announced for ‘Sixth Annual Blockbuster Entertainment Awards(R)’ To Air in June on FOX» (Press release). Blockbuster. February 8, 2000. Archived from the original on January 12, 2014. Retrieved November 9, 2018 – via PR Newswire.
- ^ «BMI Honors Top Film and TV Composers». BMI Film & TV Awards. May 15, 2000. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
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- ^ Fitzpatrick, Eileen (September 11, 1999). «The Mummy». Billboard. Vol. 111, no. 37. p. 49.
- ^ Fitzpatrick, Eileen (December 25, 1999). «‘Mummy’ shoots Universal’s sales over $1 bil.; retailers win with sight and sound». Billboard. Vol. 111/112, no. 52/1. p. 63.
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- ^ «The Mummy 4K Blu-ray (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)».
- ^ a b Travers, Peter (May 9, 2001). «The Mummy Returns». Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on December 3, 2007. Retrieved April 1, 2008.
- ^ Garrett, Diane; Fleming, Michael (April 11, 2007). «Fraser returns for ‘Mummy 3’«. Variety. Archived from the original on April 15, 2007. Retrieved April 12, 2007.
- ^ Fleming, Michael (May 13, 2007). «Bello replaces Weisz in ‘Mummy’«. Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on May 16, 2007. Retrieved May 13, 2007.
- ^ Trumbore, Dave (July 25, 2020). «‘The Mummy’ Animated Series Exists, But Should It?». Collider. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
- ^ Holden, Stephen (April 19, 2002). «Film Review; In a Prequel to the ‘Mummy’ Series, a Mountain of Muscle Makes a Parody». The New York Times. p. E20. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
- ^ Kroll, Justin; Snieder, Jeff (April 4, 2012). «U sets ‘Mummy’ reboot with Spaihts». Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on April 7, 2012. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
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- ^ «The Mummy (GBC)». GameSpot. Archived from the original on December 9, 2008. Retrieved February 21, 2008.
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- ^ Resorts World Sentosa (December 26, 2008). «Premier Rides tapped to build Mummy ride for Universal Singapore». CoasterBuzz. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
External links[edit]
This audio file was created from a revision of this article dated 20 January 2022, and does not reflect subsequent edits.
| The Mummy | |
|---|---|
|
Theatrical release poster |
|
| Directed by | Stephen Sommers |
| Screenplay by | Stephen Sommers |
| Story by | Stephen Sommers Lloyd Fonvielle Kevin Jarre |
| Produced by | James Jacks Sean Daniel |
| Starring |
|
| Cinematography | Adrian Biddle |
| Edited by | Bob Ducsay |
| Music by | Jerry Goldsmith |
|
Production |
Alphaville Films[1] |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
|
Release date |
|
|
Running time |
125 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English[2] |
| Budget | $80 million[3] |
| Box office | $416.4 million[3] |
The Mummy is a 1999 American action-adventure film written and directed by Stephen Sommers. It is a remake of the 1932 film of the same name, starring Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah and Arnold Vosloo in the title role as the reanimated mummy. The film follows adventurer Rick O’Connell as he travels to Hamunaptra, the City of the Dead, with a librarian and her older brother, where they accidentally awaken Imhotep, a cursed high priest with supernatural powers.
Development of the film took years, with multiple screenplays and directors attached. In 1997, Stephen Sommers successfully pitched his version of a more adventurous and romantic take on the source material. Principal photography took place in Morocco and the United Kingdom; the crew endured dehydration, sandstorms, and snakes shooting on location in the Sahara desert. Industrial Light & Magic provided many of the visual effects, blending live-action footage and computer-generated imagery to create the titular monster. Jerry Goldsmith provided the orchestral score.
The Mummy was theatrically released on May 7, 1999. Despite mixed reviews from critics, it was a commercial success and grossed over $416.4 million worldwide against a production budget of $80 million. The film’s success spawned two direct sequels, The Mummy Returns (2001) and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008). It also led to spinoffs such as an animated series and the prequel The Scorpion King (2002), which generated its own sequels. Attempts to reboot the property and kickstart a new media franchise led to a 2017 film.
Plot[edit]
In Thebes, Egypt, 1290 BC, high priest Imhotep has an affair with Anck-su-namun, the mistress of Pharaoh Seti I. They kill the Pharaoh after he discovers their relationship. Imhotep flees, while Anck-su-namun kills herself, believing he can resurrect her. Imhotep and his priests steal her corpse and travel to Hamunaptra, the City of the Dead. The resurrection ritual is stopped by Pharaoh’s bodyguards, the Medjai. Imhotep’s priests are mummified alive, while Imhotep himself is tortured, cursed and buried alive with flesh-eating scarabs at the feet of a statue of the god Anubis. The Medjai are sworn to prevent Imhotep’s return.
In 1926 Cairo, Jonathan Carnahan presents his sister Evelyn—a librarian and aspiring Egyptologist working for museum curator Dr. Terence Bey—with an intricate box and map that lead to Hamunaptra. Jonathan reveals he stole the box from an American adventurer, Rick O’Connell, who discovered the city while in the French Foreign Legion. Evelyn and Jonathan find Rick in a local prison and make a deal with him to lead them to the city, bribing prison warden Gad Hassan to free him.
Rick guides Evelyn and her party to the city, encountering a band of American treasure hunters led by Rick’s cowardly acquaintance Beni Gabor. Despite being warned to leave by Ardeth Bay, leader of the Medjai, the two expeditions continue their excavations. Evelyn searches for the Book of Amun-Ra, made of pure gold. Instead of finding it, she stumbles upon Imhotep’s remains. The team of Americans, meanwhile, discover the black Book of the Dead, accompanied by canopic jars carrying Anck-su-namun’s preserved organs. Warden Hassan and several diggers are killed during the excavation.
At night, Evelyn reads from the Book of the Dead aloud, accidentally awakening the mummified Imhotep, who seems to briefly confuse Evelyn with Anck-su-namun. The expeditions flee back to Cairo, and Imhotep follows them with the help of Beni, who has agreed to serve him. He regenerates his full strength and human form by killing the members of the American expedition, and brings the Ten Plagues back to Egypt. Meanwhile, Evelyn learns that Terence is also working with the Medjai.
Rick, Evelyn, Jonathan and Terence meet Ardeth at the museum, who hypothesizes that Imhotep wants to resurrect Anck-su-namun by sacrificing Evelyn. She believes that if the Book of the Dead brought Imhotep back to life, the Book of Amun-Ra can kill him again and deduces the book’s whereabouts in Hamunaptra. Imhotep corners the group with an army of slaves. Evelyn agrees to accompany him if he spares the rest of the group. Although Imhotep does not honor his word, Rick and the others fight their way to safety, with Terence sacrificing himself to ensure their escape.
Rick, Jonathan and Ardeth recruit Captain Winston Havelock, a member of the Royal Air Force with a death wish to fly them back to Hamunaptra in pursuit of Imhotep. However, Imhotep magically conjures a sandstorm, crashing their plane and killing Havelock. Rick, Jonathan, and Ardeth locate the Book of Amun-Ra in Hamunaptra while Imhotep prepares to sacrifice Evelyn, also bringing Anck-su-namun’s mummified remains to life as part of the ritual. Rick manages to rescue her after a brutal fight with Imhotep’s mummified priests and mummified soldiers; Anck-su-namun’s mummy is also slain during the melee. Evelyn reads from the Book of Amun-Ra, making Imhotep mortal, and he is fatally wounded by Rick. Imhotep degenerates back into his mummified form and dies.
Beni accidentally sets off a booby trap while looting the city of its riches, and is killed by a swarm of flesh-eating scarabs as Hamunaptra collapses into the sand. Ardeth bids Rick, Evelyn, and Jonathan goodbye, and the trio rides away on a pair of camels, not realizing it is laden with Beni’s stolen treasure.
Cast[edit]
- Brendan Fraser as Rick O’Connell
- Rachel Weisz as Evelyn Carnahan
- John Hannah as Jonathan Carnahan
- Arnold Vosloo as Imhotep
- Kevin J. O’Connor as Beni Gabor
- Jonathan Hyde as Dr. Allen Chamberlain
- Oded Fehr as Ardeth Bay
- Erick Avari as Dr. Terence Bey
- Stephen Dunham as Isaac Henderson
- Corey Johnson as David Daniels
- Tuc Watkins as Bernard Burns
- Omid Djalili as Warden Gad Hassan
- Aharon Ipalé as Pharaoh Seti I
- Bernard Fox as Captain Winston Havelock
- Patricia Velásquez as Anck-su-namun
Production[edit]
Origins[edit]
In the late 1980s, producers James Jacks and Sean Daniel decided to update the original 1932 Mummy film for the modern era.[4] Universal gave them the go-ahead, but only if they kept the budget around $10 million.[5] Jacks remembers that the studio «essentially wanted a low-budget horror franchise».[5] In 1987, George A. Romero wrote a film treatment, and was attached to direct. Screenwriter Abbie Bernstein recalled that Universal Studios wanted an unstoppable Mummy akin to the Terminator. Bernstein’s story took place in the present; scientists inadvertently bring a mummy to life, who wants to use an ancient device to destroy all life on earth. «[The Mummy] had no more social interaction than the T-Rex did in Jurassic Park,» Bernstein recalled. Romero drifted away from the project and the script was abandoned.[6]: 29
Next, Jacks and Daniel recruited horror filmmaker/writer Clive Barker to direct. Barker’s 1990 treatment and a successive 1991 screenplay by Mick Garris were dark and violent, with the story revolving around an art museum that rebuilds an entire Egyptian tomb in Beverly Hills.[4][7][6]: 29 Jacks recalls that Barker’s take was «dark, sexual and filled with mysticism»,[5] and that, «it would have been a great low-budget movie».[7] Barker recalled the concept was too weird for the studio, and that his vision treated the Mummy as a jumping-off point for the film instead of the central character.[6]: 30
Alan Ormsby, unaware of the previous efforts to launch the film, was brought on next. Ormsby pitched a more straightforward update to the 1932 film, again focusing on the Mummy as a relentless Terminator-like character. Joe Dante was attached as director, increasing the budget for his idea of Daniel Day-Lewis as a brooding Mummy.[5] This version’s draft was later re-written by John Sayles. It was set in contemporary times and focused on reincarnation with elements of a love story.[7] It came close to being made—with some elements like the flesh-eating scarabs making it to the final product[4]—but Universal balked at the higher price tag.[6]: 30
George A. Romero returned to the project in 1994[6]: 30 with a vision of a zombie-style horror film similar to Night of the Living Dead, but which also relied heavily upon elements of tragic romance and ambivalence of identity. Romero completed a draft in October 1994, co-written with Ormsby and Sayles, that revolved around female archaeologist Helen Grover and her discovery of the tomb of Imhotep, an Egyptian general who lived in the time of Ramesses II.[5] Unfolding in a nameless American city in modern times, events are set into motion when Imhotep inadvertently awakens as a result of his body having been exposed to rays from an MRI scan in a high-tech forensic archaeology lab.[5]
Helen finds herself drawn into a tentative relationship with Imhotep while also experiencing clairvoyant flashbacks to a previous life in the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt as a priestess of Isis. Summoning mystical powers through incantation, Imhotep later resurrects the mummy of Karis, a loyal slave. Karis embarks on a vengeful rampage against the grave robbers of his tomb. Romero’s script was considered too dark and violent by Jacks and the studio, who wanted a more accessible picture. Romero was unable to extricate himself from another contract he had in negotiation with MGM, and so his involvement with the film was severed and the development of an entirely new script was commissioned.[5]
Mick Garris returned in 1995, developing a script that combined elements of the 1932 film and 1942’s The Mummy’s Tomb. This draft was a period piece awash in Egyptian art-inspired Art Deco, but the vision once again proved too expensive for the studio and was discarded for a modern setting. While the project came close to entering production, Universal was sold to Seagram. Sheinberg chose to produce The Mummy through his independent company and write a new script. Unable to find a suitable high-profile writer and director (Wes Craven was offered the film but turned it down[7]) the project unraveled again, and Garris left the project for the second time.[6]: 30–31 [8]
Still determined to create a new Mummy film, in 1996 Universal hired Kevin Jarre to write a new screenplay. According to Jacks, the executives were now convinced the film should be a larger-budget period piece.[6]: 31 Stephen Sommers called Jacks and Daniel in 1997 with his vision of The Mummy «as a kind of Indiana Jones or Jason and the Argonauts with the mummy as the creature giving the hero a hard time».[5] Sommers had seen the original film when he was eight, and wanted to recreate the things he liked about it on a bigger scale.[9] Discussing other classic horror characters, Sommers recalled that «Frankenstein made me sad—I always felt sorry for him. Dracula was kind of cool and sexy. But The Mummy just plain scared me.» He had wanted to make a Mummy film, but other writers or directors were always attached.[10]: 52
After the box office disappointment of Babe: Pig in the City and other films, Universal needed a hit film. At the time, Universal’s management had changed in response to the box office failures, and the losses led the studio to revisit its successful franchises from the 1930s.[11] New chair Stacey Snider distributed packets detailing the studio’s holdings—including nearly 5,000 old scripts and films.[12]: 156 Sommers received his window of opportunity and pitched his Mummy to Universal with an 18-page treatment.[4]
Sommers did not want to remake the original film; instead of making another straight horror movie, he wanted to turn it into a romantic adventure with horror elements. Conscious of how the shambling, bandaged Mummy of the old films had become something of a punchline, he wanted a faster, meaner, and scarier monster.[10]: 52 Sommers incorporated his own research and the services of a UCLA archaeology professor to make the ancient Egyptian language accurate.[6]: 27 Snider recalled that Sommer’s treatment was unique in that it took place in the 1920s, rather than a contemporary setting.[13] Universal liked the treatment so much that they approved the concept and increased the budget,[14][a] and Sommers spent a year working on the screenplay.[16]: 103
Casting[edit]
Producer James Jacks offered the role of Rick O’Connell to Tom Cruise (who was later cast in the reboot film), Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, but the actors were not interested or could not fit the role into their respective schedules.[5] Jacks and director Stephen Sommers were impressed with the money that George of the Jungle was making at the box office and cast Brendan Fraser as a result;[5] Sommers also commented that he felt Fraser fit the Errol Flynn swashbuckling character he had envisioned for Rick perfectly.[13] Fraser’s turn in George bolstered his perceived star power, yet he remained far cheaper than the biggest actors working.[12]: 155 The actor understood that his character «doesn’t take himself too seriously, otherwise the audience can’t go on that journey with him.»[17]
Evelyn Carnahan was named in tribute to Lady Evelyn Carnarvon, the daughter of amateur Egyptologist Lord Carnarvon, both present at the opening of the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922.[18] The studio originally considered American actresses, and Rachel Weisz auditioned multiple times before getting the part.[15] Rachel Weisz was not a big fan of horror films, but saw the movie as more of a «hokum» comic book.[19] John Hannah was picked for the role of Jonathan Carnahan, despite the fact that Hannah felt he was not a comedic actor, with Sommers saying that, «He had no idea why we cast him.»[15]
Jacks had previously produced Hard Target with Arnold Vosloo. The South African actor liked the Mummy script, but told Sommers he wanted to play the role «absolutely straight. From Imhotep’s point of view, this is a skewed version of Romeo and Juliet.»[5][20] He was offered the role after a single audition.[6]: 27 Carrying some extra weight and conscious of it because of Imhotep’s skimpy costume, Vosloo lost 10 to 15 pounds for the role by eschewing alcohol and sugar.[6]: 28
Filming[edit]
Filming began on May 4, 1998, and lasted 17 weeks.[21] The crew could not shoot in Egypt because of unstable political conditions, so principal photography began in Marrakech, Morocco.[22] Marrakech had the extra advantage of being a much less modern city than Cairo, making it easier to dress like the 1920s. The production set up two weeks before filming, taking down telephone wires and cables and shipping in period cars and camels.[6]: 27 Locals served as extras for crowd scenes.[16]: 116 After shooting in Marrakech, filming moved to the Sahara desert outside the small town of Erfoud. Production designer Allan Cameron found a geologic feature, Gara Medouar, where the exteriors for Hamunaptra could be constructed.[21]
A concrete ramp was built to allow access into the horseshoe-shaped formation, where the city was built from prefabricated parts shipped from England.[23][21][24][16]: 103 A survey of the area was conducted so that an accurate model and scale models of the columns and statues could be replicated back at Shepperton Studios, where all of the scenes involving the underground passageways of the City of the Dead were shot. These sets took 16 weeks to build, and included fiberglass columns rigged with special effects for the movie’s final scenes.[21]
To avoid dehydration in the scorching heat of the Sahara, the production’s medical team created a drink that the cast and crew had to consume every two hours.[17] Sandstorms were daily inconveniences, and wildlife were a major problem, with many crew members having to be airlifted to medical care after being bitten or stung.[22] Brendan Fraser nearly died during a scene where his character is hanged.[19] The production had the official support of the Royal Moroccan Army, and the cast members had kidnapping insurance taken out on them.[7]
After shooting in North Africa, production moved back to the United Kingdom before completion of shooting on August 29, 1998.[21] Here, the dockyards at Chatham doubled for the Giza Port on the Nile River.[25] This set was 600 feet (183 m) in length and featured «a steam train, an Ajax traction engine, three cranes, an open two-horse carriage, four horse-drawn carts, five dressing horses and grooms, nine pack donkeys and mules, as well as market stalls, Arab-clad vendors and room for 300 costumed extras».[21]
Special effects[edit]
The filmmakers reportedly spent $15 million of the budget on the special effects alone.[16][26] The Mummy features hundreds of shots that required optical or digital special effects in post-production. Effects house Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) contributed more than 140 shots to the film, with additional work done by Cinesite (60 shots) and Pacific Title/Mirage (45 shots, and the film’s title sequences.)[27]: 60
Sommers engaged ILM while still developing the script, having previously worked with ILM effects supervisor John Andrew Berton, Jr. on Deep Rising. ILM was eager for the challenge the film provided, and produced a proof of concept for The Mummy‘s effects in late 1997 to demonstrate the feasibility of Sommers’ vision to executives.[16]: 103
The filmmakers sought to make something faster and scarier for the title creature, using cutting-edge techniques to create something never before seen.[16] ILM started developing the look of the Mummy three months before filming started.[21] «We wanted to create a photorealistic corpse that was obviously not a man in a suit, obviously not an animatronic, and obviously alive,» he recalled.[6]
Over a months-long period, the designers worked on developing four distinct stages for the Mummy. Stage one was the mummy at its most decayed, with tattered bits of clothing, skin, and sinew hanging over a skeleton. Stage two added areas of regenerated skin, with stages three and four having the Mummy almost fully regenerated with only small areas of its innards showing through. The artists developed black-and-white sketches, then moved on to color treatments before building the creature in the computer; models were also made to use as reference for the digital artists.[16]: 103
The initial states of the Mummy were created entirely by computer, while later stages combined live-action performance. To supplement prosthetics and makeups applied on set, LED lights and pieces of tape served as tracking points so that digital «cutouts» could be applied to Vosloo’s face and body in postproduction;[27]: 61 Vosloo remarked that walking around the set he felt like a Christmas tree.[13]
The final creature was created with a combination of live-action acting with prosthetics and digital imagery.[10]: 55 A digital representation of the Mummy was created in Alias, featuring simulated muscles for much of the body attached to a skeleton.[27]: 60 The animators controlled parts of the Mummy via procedural animation; animating the underlying bones in turn controlled the stretch and movement of the overlaid muscles. Finally, layered on top of the procedural animation and motion capture was additional animation to tweak the performance; given the limitations of the technology, subtle movements like facial or hand animations had to be done by hand.[27]: 61 Shots that featured Vosloo with overlaid computer-generated prosthetics were the most difficult for the effects team, requiring careful match-moving.[16]: 114
Rather than using a stunt performer, Vosloo performed the motion capture for the character himself.[27]: 61 Scenes were blocked out and performed on set during principal photography (first with Vosloo in the scene, then without). The shots were then replicated in the motion capture studio, with Vosloo’s performance recorded by eight cameras from different angles.[16]: 111
In addition to the Mummy, the script called for numerous effects shots to magnify the sweeping adventure of the film. Vistas like a flashback shot of the ancient city of Thebes combined location footage shot in the desert with composited actors shot on green screen, model miniatures, matte paintings, and computer-generated effects.[16]: 115 The plagues Imhotep unleashes were accomplished using particle-based computer graphics, with ILM designers swapping out models of different qualities depending on how far from the camera the swarming «insects» were.[27] While the film made extensive use of computer-generated imagery, many scenes, including ones where Rachel Weisz’s character is covered with rats and locusts, were shot using live animals.[22]
Another close-up shot used footage of anesthetized locusts attached to a stunt performer combined with extra computer-generated pests.[16]: 116 Sandstorms used procedural graphics based on programs used to create tornados in Twister, while the masses of flesh-eating scarabs used techniques developed for Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.[16]: 115 [6]: 27 A shot of a firestorm engulfing Cairo combined real palm trees, physical models, and matte paintings with computer-generated hail, fire, and rubble. Pacific Title/Mirage also enhanced shots with digital camera shake.[27]: 64
The finale involves an army of mummies coming to Imhotep’s defense. Many of these mummies were created by Make-Up Effects Supervisor Nick Dudman, who produced makeup, prosthetics, and animatronic effects in the film.[22] Each suit came with variations for stunt moves or pyrotechnics. After principal photography, the suits were sent to ILM to scan and be modeled in the computer. Using parts of the Imhotep mummy to save time, ILM recreated the underlings digitally to add into the scenes, and used motion capture to animate them. The animators credited Fraser’s ability to consistently re-enact his movements in multiple takes as saving time when it came to match the motion-captured digital mummies to the live-action fight scenes.[16]: 118–199
Music[edit]
The score for The Mummy was composed and conducted by Jerry Goldsmith, with orchestrations provided by Alexander Courage.[28] Goldsmith had previously scored Deep Rising for Sommers. As he reached the final few years of his career, Goldsmith was coming off a number of action and adventure films in the 1990s, from multiple Star Trek films to Air Force One. Goldsmith provided The Mummy with suitably bombastic music, with the traditional European orchestra supplemented with regional instruments such as the bouzouki.[29]
The opening of the film contains nearly all of Goldsmith’s major themes for the score, with what music critic Jeff Bond calls an «Egyptian theme» reused in different configurations throughout to establish the epic settings and sense of place for Hamunaptra; a theme for Imhotep/the Mummy that is performed in an understated manner early in the film, before repeating in more forceful, brassy renditions after the Mummy has regenerated; a love theme used for both Imhotep/Anck-su-namun and Rick/Evelyn; and a heroic theme for Rick.[29] In addition to the extensive brass and percussion elements,[30] the score uses sparing amounts of vocals, unusual for much of Goldsmith’s work.[30]
The soundtrack was released by Decca Records on May 4, 1999. Overall, Goldsmith’s score was well received. AllMusic described it as a «grand, melodramatic score» which delivered the expected highlights.[28] Other reviews positively noted the dark, percussive sound meshed well with the plot, as well as the raw power of the music. The limited but masterful use of the chorus was also lauded, and most critics found the final track on the CD to be the best overall.[30][31] On the other hand, some critics found the score lacked cohesion,[32] and that the constant heavy action lent itself to annoying repetition.[30] Roderick Scott off CineMusic.net summed up the score as «representative of both Goldsmith’s absolute best and his most mediocre. Thankfully […] his favourable work on this release wins out.»[31]
Reception[edit]
Test audiences reacted poorly to the film’s title, which conjured up negative impressions of an old horror film, but domestic marketing president Marc Shmuger recalled that they decided «we would redefine the myth with the film» rather than change the title.[13] Enthusiasm for the film was low, but Universal took out a television spot for the Super Bowl (reportedly costing $1.6 million)[13] that Sommers recalled immediately reversed the discussion of the film’s prospects.[15]
Box office[edit]
The producers were concerned that the imminent release of The Phantom Menace would sink the film’s box office fortunes, resulting in them moving the release date from May 21 to 7.[13][12]: 157 The Mummy was the number one film in the United States and Canada on its opening weekend, grossing $43 million in 3,210 theaters. Its weekend take was the highest non-holiday May opening, and ninth-biggest opening of all time.[33][34] The film later fell to second place behind The Phantom Menace. The Mummy grossed over $155.4 million in the United States and Canada and $261 million internationally, grossing over $416.4 million worldwide.[3]
Critical response[edit]
The Mummy received mixed reviews from critics.[34] On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 61%, based on 101 reviews, with an average rating of 5.9 out of 10.[35] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 48 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating mixed or average reviews.[36] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of «B» on an A+ to F scale.[37]
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film a positive review, writing, «There is hardly a thing I can say in its favor, except that I was cheered by nearly every minute of it. I cannot argue for the script, the direction, the acting or even the mummy, but I can say that I was not bored and sometimes I was unreasonably pleased.»[38] Critics such as Entertainment Weekly‘s Owen Gleiberman and The New York Times‘ Stephen Holden concurred with the sentiment of the film as a breezy crowd-pleaser.[39][40][41]
Less positively, Keith Phipps of The A.V. Club wrote that the film’s attempt to create a big, Indiana Jones-inspired action film felt «forced» and the result was unsatisfying.[42] Other reviews complained of an overstuffed plot or recycled elements from better movies.[43][40] Reviewers comparing the film to the 1932 original sometimes favored the original’s focus on atmosphere and dread,[43] though others welcomed the change to a more energetic Indiana Jones-type film.[44]
The effects were generally praised, especially the title creature.[45] Ernest Larson’s review for Jump Cut felt that the effects were too similar to ILM’s other work, and that the effects alone could not support the weight of the rest of the movie.[46] Bob Graham of the San Francisco Chronicle and Hal Hinson from the Dallas Observer agreed that the effects never overshadowed the human aspects of the film.[45][47] Gleiberman noted that the horrors of the effects were undercut by the lightheartedness of the film, while the BBC’s Almar Haflidason felt that the effects were occasionally unconvincing, and the heavy reliance on cutting-edge computer-generated imagery would likely date the film heavily as time passed.[39][48]
Critics generally praised the acting,[47][44] with Haflidason writing that the efforts of the cast sold material that would otherwise have been cheesy.[48] David Hunter of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that all the actors managed to hold their own amid the special effects, although he felt Vosloo was largely wasted after Imhotep regenerates and the screenplay gives him little to do.[49] Reviews from USA Today, the British Film Institute, and The A.V. Club noted the film featured questionable casting of ethnic roles and occasionally traded in stereotypes of Arabs.[43][50]
Writing to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the film’s release, writer Maria Lewis noted that on paper, The Mummy should not have been a success, as yet another period adventure film coming after a decade of failed period adventure films. Its connection with audiences, if not critics, was down to its successful blend of «heart, humour, [heroics], and horror.» She declared it the «pivotal blockbuster of the nineties.»[51] Emma Stefansky, writing for Thrillist, noted it was «the beginning of the end» for action-adventure films, as superhero films would soon supplant it in the coming years.[52] Rotten Tomatoes called the film «Indiana Jones for a new generation.»[53] Reviewers noted Fraser’s portrayal of Rick set a new mold for action heroes that more films would follow in the years after,[54][55] while also considering Evelyn a character allowed to break free from a traditional damsel in distress role.[52][56]
Accolades[edit]
Home media[edit]
The Mummy was released on home video in VHS and DVD formats in September 1999.[63] The title was a tremendous success for Universal on home video, selling 7 million units on VHS and 1 million on DVD, making it the year’s best-selling live-action VHS and second-best-selling DVD (behind The Matrix). The Mummy‘s performance helped Universal gross over $1 billion in home video sales.[64] The film was later digitally remastered and received a Blu-ray release in 2008.[65] It was subsequently re-released on 4K Ultra HD in 2017 as both a stand-alone title and in a trilogy pack with its sequels.[66]
Adaptations[edit]
The Mummy‘s box office performance led to numerous sequels and spinoffs. The film sequel The Mummy Returns (2001) features most of the surviving principal characters. As a married couple, Rick and Evelyn confront Imhotep and the Scorpion King.[67] The film also introduces the heroes’ son, Alex.[67] A second sequel, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008), takes place in China with the Terracotta Emperor inspiring the villain, and Rachel Weisz replaced with Maria Bello.[68][69]
The films inspired both an animated TV series titled The Mummy, which lasted two seasons,[70] and a spin-off prequel, The Scorpion King (2002).[71] Universal announced plans in 2012 to reboot the franchise;[72] a new film, also titled The Mummy, was released in June 2017 to poor critical and box office performance.[73]
Developer Konami Nagoya published two video game adaptations of The Mummy under license from Universal Interactive Studios, in 2000: an action-adventure game for the PlayStation and Microsoft Windows developed by Rebellion Developments,[74] as well as a Game Boy Color puzzle game.[75] There was also a 2002 video game based on the 2001 animated series, published by Ubisoft for Game Boy Advance.[76] The film also inspired a roller coaster, Revenge of the Mummy, found in three Universal Studios Theme Parks: Hollywood, California; Orlando, Florida; and Sentosa, Singapore.[77]
Notes[edit]
- ^ While various sources report The Mummy‘s final budget as $80 million, a 2019 retrospective quoted Sommers as pegging the number at $62 million.[15]
References[edit]
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- ^ a b c d e f g h i «Saturn Awards: 2000 Awards». IMDb. Retrieved August 14, 2022.
- ^ Fitzpatrick, Eileen (September 11, 1999). «The Mummy». Billboard. Vol. 111, no. 37. p. 49.
- ^ Fitzpatrick, Eileen (December 25, 1999). «‘Mummy’ shoots Universal’s sales over $1 bil.; retailers win with sight and sound». Billboard. Vol. 111/112, no. 52/1. p. 63.
- ^ Douglass, Todd (July 15, 2008). «The Mummy (1999)». DVD Talk. Retrieved July 21, 2021.
- ^ «The Mummy 4K Blu-ray (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)».
- ^ a b Travers, Peter (May 9, 2001). «The Mummy Returns». Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on December 3, 2007. Retrieved April 1, 2008.
- ^ Garrett, Diane; Fleming, Michael (April 11, 2007). «Fraser returns for ‘Mummy 3’«. Variety. Archived from the original on April 15, 2007. Retrieved April 12, 2007.
- ^ Fleming, Michael (May 13, 2007). «Bello replaces Weisz in ‘Mummy’«. Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on May 16, 2007. Retrieved May 13, 2007.
- ^ Trumbore, Dave (July 25, 2020). «‘The Mummy’ Animated Series Exists, But Should It?». Collider. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
- ^ Holden, Stephen (April 19, 2002). «Film Review; In a Prequel to the ‘Mummy’ Series, a Mountain of Muscle Makes a Parody». The New York Times. p. E20. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
- ^ Kroll, Justin; Snieder, Jeff (April 4, 2012). «U sets ‘Mummy’ reboot with Spaihts». Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on April 7, 2012. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
- ^ Kroll, Justin (January 21, 2016). «Tom Cruise’s ‘The Mummy’ Gets New Release Date». Variety. Archived from the original on January 22, 2016. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
- ^ «The Mummy». IGN. January 5, 2001. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
- ^ «The Mummy (GBC)». GameSpot. Archived from the original on December 9, 2008. Retrieved February 21, 2008.
- ^ «The Mummy (Game Boy Advance)». Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved December 6, 2020.
- ^ Resorts World Sentosa (December 26, 2008). «Premier Rides tapped to build Mummy ride for Universal Singapore». CoasterBuzz. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
External links[edit]
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Содержание/сюжет
Действие фильма начинается в Древнем Египте, в XIII веке до н. э. Верховный жрец Имхотеп влюбляется в Анк-су-намун, наложницу фараона Сети I. Когда фараон становится свидетелем измены, Имхотеп и Анк-су-намун предательски убивают его. Анк-су-намун затем убивает себя, прося Имхотепа воскресить её. После похорон Имхотеп похищает её тело и вместе со своими верными жрецами направляется к Хамунаптре, городу мёртвых, где они проводят церемонию воскрешения. Но стража фараона вмешивается в самый критический момент ритуала, и душа Анк-су-намун возвращается в загробный мир.
В наказание за это святотатство жрецов Имхотепа мумифицируют заживо, а самого верховного жреца приговаривают к проклятию «хом дай» — стражники отрезают ему язык и погребают заживо, подбросив в саркофаг плотоядных скарабеев. Проклятие состоит в том, что несчастный при этом становится бессмертным и вынужден переживать агонию своих ран веки вечные. Его погребают в строжайшей тайне, в саркофаге под статуей египетского божества Анубиса. За ним строго следят племена меджаев, потомки стражи фараона, ибо если Имхотепа кто-нибудь выпустит на волю, то сила этого бессмертного существа позволит ему напустить на Землю волну разрушения и смерти.
Через три тысячелетия, в 1923 году, американец по имени Рик О’Коннелл служит в звании капитана в отряде Французского Иностранного легиона, который путешествует к Хамунаптре в поисках сокровища, которое, по легенде, находится в городе. Когда они достигают этого легендарного места, на них нападает группа арабов. Командир легиона покидает своих солдат, и Рик вынужден встать во главе отряда. Силы неравны, арабы побеждают и Рик отступает в город. Окружённый врагом, О’Коннелл готовится к смерти, но арабы внезапно убегают. Озадаченный Рик внезапно слышит бестелесный голос и видит, как песок вокруг него начинает вздыматься. Убегая, он не видит, как в песке появляется лицо, искаженное агонией. Оставаясь в одиночестве в пустыне, Рик замечает, что за битвой следила группа меджаев. Однако они не трогают его и отпускают в пустыню, считая, что там он не выживет.
Через три года, каирская библиотекарь по имени Эвелин «Иви» Карнахан получает от своего брата Джонатана шкатулку, испещрённую иероглифами, в которой она обнаруживает карту. По словам Джонатана, он нашёл шкатулку в Фивах. Узнав, что карта указывает путь к Хамунаптре, Джонатан признаётся, что украл её у Рика, который сидит в тюрьме, ожидая казни. Связавшись с ним, Эвелин договаривается с Риком, что он раскроет ей местонахождение Хамунаптры взамен на спасение с эшафота. Рик держит своё слово и ведёт экспедицию к Хамунаптре, где они встречают американскую группу охотников за сокровищами под предводительством известного египтолога, доктора Аллена Чемберлена, ведомую Бени Габором, трусоватым бывшим легионером из отряда Рика, сбежавшим во время битвы с арабами.
После того, как обе группы достигают города, на них нападают меджаи под предводительством Ардета Бея, который предупреждает их о зле, погребённом в городе. Несмотря на предупреждение, обе экспедиции продолжают заниматься раскопками в различных частях города. Эвелин ищет Книгу Амона-Ра, золотую книгу, способную отбирать жизнь, но неожиданно обнаруживает останки Имхотепа, которые представляют собой всё ещё разлагающийся скелет, а не иссохшую мумию. Американцы тем временем обнаруживают Книгу мёртвых вместе с канопами, в которых находятся сохранённые органы Анк-су-намун; каждый из американцев берёт себе по сосуду как награду.
Ночью Эвелин выкрадывает Книгу мёртвых из палатки американцев и читает одну из страниц вслух, ненароком пробуждая Имхотепа. Хотя обе группы возвращаются в Каир, мумия начинает охоту за американцами, открывшими ящик, постепенно регенерируя с каждым убитым. Бени переживает встречу с Имхотепом, произнеся молитвы на иврите. Поскольку евреи в Древнем Египте были рабами, Имхотеп делает его личным слугой, обещая вознаграждения. Новоиспеченный слуга помогает мумии найти американцев и украденные сосуды в Каире. Эвелин осознаёт, что, раз Книга мёртвых дала Имхотепу жизнь, Книга Амона-Ра сможет её отобрать. Выясняется, что местоположение книг было перепутано. Эвелин делает вывод, что раз Книга мёртвых была обнаружена под статуей бога царства мёртвых Анубиса, то Книга Амон-Ра должна находиться под статуей бога света Гора. Вскоре после этого Имхотеп берёт Эвелин в плен, желая принести её в жертву для воскрешения своей любимой Анк-су-намун. Для этого они возвращаются в Хамунаптру. Рик и Джонатан освобождают Эвелин после яростной битвы с мумиями Имхотепа. Эвелин читает вслух из Книги Амона-Ра, что лишает Имхотепа бессмертия, а Рик затем его смертельно ранит. Быстро разлагаясь, Имхотеп опять покидает наш мир.
Когда они уходят, Бени ненароком активирует древнюю ловушку и становится жертвой полчищ скарабеев. Героям удаётся выбежать из разрушающейся Хамунаптры, и они уезжают на паре верблюдов, не зная, что жадный Бени под завязку забил мешки на верблюдах сокровищами.
Мания мумии. «Мумия», режиссер Стивен Соммерс
«Мумия» (The Mummy)
Авторы сценария Нина Уилкокс Патнем, Ричард Шейер,
Джон Л. Бальдерсторн, Стивен Соммерс,
Ллойд Фонвиль, Кевин Жарр
Режиссер Стивен Соммерс
Оператор Эдриан Бидл
Художник Аллан Кэмерон
Композитор Джерри Голдсмит
В ролях: Брендан Фрейзер, Рейчел Вайс, Джон Ханна,
Арнольд Вослу, Кевин Дж. О’Коннор, Одед Фер
Universal
США
1999
 |
| «Мумия» |
Студия «Юниверсл» выпустила в прокат продолжение фильма Стивена Соммерса «Мумия» (1999) под названием «Мумия-2». Это настоящая сенсация в кинопроизводстве. Никогда сиквел не выходил на экраны так быстро. Хозяева «Юниверсл» свои ставки сделали молниеносно — на кону самый внятный символ главного человеческого страха — страха смерти. В ХХ веке благодаря кинематографу у него было много имен. «Мумия» — одно из последних.
1290 год до н.э. Фивы. Египтом правит фараон Сети I. Он не знает о том, что верховный жрец Имхотеп, хранитель Города Мертвых, сгорает от страсти к красавице Анк-Су-Намун, наложнице Сети, и она отвечает жрецу такой же пылкой любовью. И вот фараон узнает об измене. Но в этот же миг погибает от рук возлюбленной и Имхотепа. Анк-Су-Намун бесстрашно пронзает себя кинжалом над телом убитого фараона. Она слышит, как Имхотеп клянется вернуть ее душу из Царства Мертвых. Она знает, что Имхотеп сумеет ее воскресить…
Проходит несколько дней. Хамунаптра, Город Мертвых. Имхотеп со своими жрецами воскрешает Анк-Су-Намун. Ему остается лишь завершить ритуал. Но стража убитого Сети, выследив Имхотепа, хватает его над оживающим телом. Жрец проклят, он становится жертвой обряда Хум-Дай. Его мумифицируют заживо, вырывают глаза и язык, имя предают забвению. Ключ от гробницы должен пропасть навсегда. Тот, кто вызовет к жизни мумию приговоренного к Хум-Дай, приведет в движение десять проклятий Египта…
В 391 году н.э. потрясенная Александрия наблюдала за тем, как пламя пожара съедало наследие египетской цивилизации — Серапионову библиотеку. Люди, получив благословение патриарха Александрии Кирилла, выжигали язычество из своих душ. Четыре миллиона книг, хранившие память о трех тысячах лет восхождения к совершенству, исчезли в огне навсегда. И через несколько десятилетий — к середине V века н.э. — на Земле не осталось никого, кто мог бы говорить или читать на языке фараонов. Египет умолк, окаменев.
Началом возрождения Древнего Египта стал XIX век. Историк Жан Франсуа Шампольон нашел ключ к тайне криптограмм. Венцом всеобщего помешательства на Египте, конечно же, стало открытие гробниц. Как бы ни было любезно человечеству золото, найденное в захоронениях фараонов, ничего более грандиозного и ничего более бесспорного, чем мумия, мы в Египте уже никогда не отыщем.
1926 год. Каирский музей. Англичане Иви и ее брат Джонатан рассматривают странную шкатулку, которую Джонатан где-то украл. Внезапно шкатулка открывается. «О! На этот раз тебе повезло!» — говорит Иви, извлекая на свет древний папирус. Это карта, указывающая путь в Хамунаптру, путь за золотом, в Город Мертвых. Счастливая Иви спешит с уникальной находкой к владельцу музея. Хранитель как бы случайно подносит папирус к свече. Пламя съедает дорогу. Иви твердо решает отправиться в путь. Но карты нет, необходим проводник.
Итак, приключения «Мумии» начинаются. С поисков золота…
Мумия — это безупречное доказательство вечной веры людей в превосходство духа над плотью. И одновременно — единственное рукотворное изображение смерти. Останавливая распад плоти с помощью солей и бальзамов, египтяне формулировали конец жизни как разделение бессмертной души и бренного тела. Скрытая навеки от взглядов и прикосновений, мумия находилась в ожидании возвращения духа. Но через тысячи лет, извлеченная из усыпальницы, она стала пронумерованным музеями предметом. Глядя теперь на эту абсолютную неподвижность, кто из нас не подумает о том, что именно в эту секунду он преступает границы дозволенного человеку любопытства? Мумия свидетельствует: «Да, физическая смерть существует, поэтому я здесь, перед вами, недвижима и бескровна. Но, глядя на эту иссохшую плоть, кто из вас не видит меня живой и полной сил? Разве посмеете вы причинить этому телу вред, не побоявшись наказания? А те, кто не боялся, разве не платили за свою жестокость? Кто им отомстил, кто вам может отомстить? Только моя душа, которая и сейчас трудится, пытаясь помочь этому телу». Люди, узнав о древнем ритуале мумификации, не могли не услышать сквозь тысячелетия этот предупредительный шепот тонких миров. И человек сформулировал свое отношение к мумии — страх. Тем же, кто не боялся извлекать из страхов все необходимое для себя, оставалось сделать из мумии еще один, весьма прибыльный, культ.
…1923 год. Хамунаптра. Британские войска занимают Город Мертвых. Но египтяне выбивают их оттуда, не жалея ни людей, ни конницы. Англичане бросаются врассыпную, кто куда. Самый бравый из них — Рик О’Коннелл, красавец мужчина, сорвиголова — бежит, перелетая через гробницы. Секунда, и он будет убит. Но что это? Из-под камней доносится вой, пески «встают на дыбы». Враг исчез. О’Коннелл спасен, он, ковыляя, уходит в пустыню. И не слышит, как некто в черной чалме говорит ему в спину: «Монстр не выдал себя»…
Великий и неукротимый в своей властности аттракцион — кинематограф — нащупал путь к тайнам гробниц, едва успев появиться на свет. По сути, он сам близкий родственник мумий Египта: годами лежит без движения в железных коробках (гробах) и оживает в лучах яркого света.
Отголоски египтомании пригодились многим первопроходцам кинематографа, но «Глаза мумии Ма» Любича в 1918 году придали теме товарный вид. В истории влюбленной египтянки, покинувшей зловещую секту ради немецкого художника, не было бы ничего интересного. Если бы не одно «но»: Любич рассказывает историю женщины, которая работает «глазами» мумии — открывает и закрывает их перед толпами богатых белых туристов, думающих, что перед ними оживает тысячелетний мертвец. В этой картине было сформулировано главное: новый, арабский Египет выставляет свои древности на продажу и уважения не достоин. Но что же делали в это время Европа и Америка? Совсем не то, что художник Любича, спасающий девушку (Пола Негри). Они начали скупать «тайны», приспосабливая их к собственным рынкам. Как предприимчивые антиквары.
И к этой торговле их подготовил изысканный XIX век. К тому времени повсюду уже обычным становилось гадание на таро, знали Папюса, Эттейлу и Элифаса Леви. Брэм Стокер вслед за «Дракулой» издал «Сокровище Семи Звезд» — роман о мумии-убийце. Поэт и колдун Алистер Кроули со своими «блудницами в пурпуре» отметился оргиями у подножия пирамид, чем навлек на себя ненависть христианского мира. Каждый из тех, кто с открытой душой или с темными помыслами отправлялся в Египет, видел, слышал, переживал, понимал там «нечто». «Нечто» вступало в борьбу с общепринятым, ясным, удобным. Правда подчас оказывалась невозможнее вымысла. Загадочная смерть археологов, одного за другим, в лабиринтах пирамид, фатальность, преследовавшая семьи египтологов, породили суеверный страх перед Египтом. Но впереди страха бежало никогда не оставлявшее людей любопытство. И в наследство веку ХХ достался поразительный образ Египта — образ бездонной опасности, великой и манящей.
…Иви и Джонатан находят в Каире легионера О’Коннелла, по слухам, бывавшего в Хамунаптре. Но боец готовится к отправке на виселицу в местной тюрьме: его невзлюбил сам начальник. «Он знает путь в Хамунаптру!» — кричит, отчаявшись, Иви. Жадный тюремщик вынимает бунтаря из петли. Через несколько дней все четверо отплывают за золотом Сети. Навстречу костям Имхотепа…
Тысячу раз прав был Эрнст Любич, открыв Египет в кино и подарив экрану «Глаза мумии Ма»: пугая, он все-таки развлекал, не потрясая основ и не оскверняя храмов. Примерно так же поступали и менее талантливые его современники Эл Кристи, Ли Беггс и А.Е. Колби, выпустившие на экраны несколько комедий-короткометражек о суеверных страхах своих современников перед самим словом «мумия». Совсем в ином ряду стоит почтенная «Клеопатра» Сесиля Де Милля — роскошная пафосная постановка с Клодетт Кольбер, сделанная уже после прихода звука в кино. Истории, рассказанные этими художниками, деликатны, как и многие другие, появившиеся позже, включая и «Клеопатру» Манкевича, и «Фараона» Кавалеровича. Но возбужденное тайной пространство требовало и других образов Египта. В 1932 году выдающийся оператор Карл Фрейнд, снявший «Дракулу» Броунинга, «Метрополис» Ланга и «Последний смех» Мурнау, решается на режиссерский дебют. Его фильм с Борисом Карлоффом в главной роли называется «Мумия». В бесконечной череде самых грубых исторических подмен, на которые пускалось искусство кино за сто лет своего существования, «Мумия» Фрейнда не является ни первой, ни последней.
Фрейнд и три его сценариста впервые дали кинематографической мумии реальное имя величайшего человека, жившего в Древнем Египте. Это имя — Имхотеп. На экране жрец обратился в прах, затем обрел новую плоть и с экрана вновь был отправлен в небытие. Его удел — вечное страдание за убийство, совершенное во имя страсти, скитание во времени. Его желание — соединиться с потерянной возлюбленной. Не правда ли, знакомый сюжет? Снова монстр, одержимый любовью, Дракула по-египетски. Фильм Фрейнда был забыт очень скоро, он мог бы так и стоять мертвым грузом на полках синематек. Если бы не год 1999-й, приближение которого Голливуд стал отмечать вбросом апокалиптиче-ских сюжетов и разнообразными их вариациями. Красноречивее всех выступил «ХХ век — Фокс». Подытожив сто лет кино и уходящий век «Титаником», студия выстрелила «Звездными войнами» Джорджа Лукаса. А общий тон в кино продолжал задавать демонический сериал «Фокса» «Тысячелетие» от Криса Картера, создателя «Секретных материалов». Студии помельче бросились в ту же сторону, пытаясь подобрать самые верные отмычки к шифрам о конце света. «Юниверсл» отличилась римейком той самой, забытой «Мумии». Правда, в предвкушении гиганта Лукаса, которого ждали все, над «Мумией» заранее посмеивались.
Напрасно. «Мумия» сделала для кино то, чего никогда не сделает ни технический гений Лукаса, ни его бюджет. Фильм произвел последнего монстра столетия — мумию с именем Имхотеп. С тем самым именем, которое посмел дать зловещей фантазии Фрейнд. Но что значит «посмел», и кто он такой, Имхотеп?
Тексты того, чье имя Имхотеп — «идущий с миром», — погибли в пожарах Александрии. Остались свидетельства из греческих источников VI века до н.э. (Солон). Историю Имхотепа рассказали картины и письмена египетских стел, называющие его сыном Птаха — бога, снабдившего Ра всеми элементами для составления мира и охранявшего подступы к Городу Мертвых. Этим человеком восхищался Платон, знавший, что именно Имхотеп с его великой религиозной реформой сумел примирить Фивы и Мемфис, поклонявшиеся разным богам. Имхотеп ввел в Древнем Египте культ одного создателя Вселенной, дав ему двойное имя Амон-Ра. Современные теософы, врачи и архитекторы, знакомые с древними источниками, называют Имхотепа первым человеком на земле, который представлял собой совершенного гения, идеал гармонизированной личности. Для экуменистов он — ни много ни мало — «египетский Моисей».
В конце ХХ века кинематограф предпочел не заметить ни одного из этих свидетельств. Уподобившись величайшему римскому пересмешнику Ювеналу, он предложил публике осмотреть экзотический зоосад: «Что за чудовища явились предметом почитания в этой сумасшедшей стране? Одна часть тела поклоняется крокодилу. Другая дрожит в суеверном страхе перед ибисом, охотящимся за гадом. Где еще вы встретите горящий золотом портрет длиннохвостой макаки?» «Мумия» режиссера Стивена Соммерса вышла такой же смешной и такой же хлесткой, как это Ювеналово хулиганство. Легкость, с которой проглатывается эта махина, наполненная скачками, стрельбой, пламенем и великолепными спецэффектами, заставляет поборников исторической корректности умолкнуть. Стыдно занудствовать после того, как прохохочешь и напереживаешься почти два часа. Но именно поэтому приходит в голову мысль о том, что назвавший монстра Имхотепом, сам не заметил, как частью тела поклонился крокодилу.
Американцы. Самовлюбленные, практичные. Они вошли в Хамунаптру, спутав все планы хорошенькой Иви. И этим холодным мужланам повезло намного больше, чем ей. Иви с друзьями находит истлевший скелет и горстку жуков-скарабеев. Конкуренты — ту самую «Книгу Мертвых». Стянуть ее ненадолго для девушки не проблема. При свете костра она начинает читать, и вдруг мертвец зашагал, ожил Имхотеп. На страну пирамид налетит саранча, встанут стеною пески, реки наполнятся кровью. И во всем виновата отважная девушка Иви? Что она сделала? Просто произнесла несколько слов, которых раньше не знала…
Если бы не имя жреца, «Мумия» Соммерса ничем не была бы обязана «Мумии» Фрейнда. Разве что завязкой сюжета. Новая «Мумия» использует только «скелет» фильма-оригинала, его ключевые слова. Это массивное шоу конца ХХ века — технология в гостях у приключения. Хотелось бы думать, что имя, прозвучавшее чрезвычайно не к месту и совсем не по делу, найдет другие способы для собственной реабилитации. Слишком сильна история того, кто на самом деле был Имхотепом. Соммерс сделал то же, что Иви, — случайно сказал незнакомое слово. Вот только неясно, какая теперь поднимется буря. Но это уже совсем не наша забота. Важно другое — в кино появился новый злодей. А Хичкок говорил: «Чем больше удался злодей, тем удачнее фильм». И вот на экране — «Мумия-2».
Так чем же удался злодей Имхотеп? Красотой артиста Арнольда Вослу? Вроде бы нет, есть артисты и получше, и красавцы потоньше. Разинутой пастью, сочиненной в компьютере Industrial Light & Magic? Звериным ревом из заготовок мастеров звукоцеха? Все эти прелести видели-слышали не раз и не два. Дело в другом. Соммерс призвал в сообщники юмор. Дав изысканно зловещую экспозицию, историю Имхотепа в Каире 20-х годов нашего столетия он превратил в комедию ужасов. Причем комедия в «Мумии» бежит впереди античных кошмаров. Для того чтобы дать зрителю правильную установку, Соммерс вводит для характеристики Имхотепа два показательных эпизода.
Эпизод первый. Оживший безглазый скелет крадется по закоулкам подземелья, отчаянно пугая зрителя и убегающих от его тени героев. Мумия нападает на американского археолога, становится говорящей и зрячей (детали бесчеловечного акта нам не демонстрируют). Но злодей с ходу делает самый неправильный выбор: забирает глаза у того, кто носит сильные очки. И затем, подобравшись к трепещущей Иви, заявляет: «Иди ко мне, Анк-Су-Намун!» Все. Это уже смешно. Остальное, кровавое — в правилах той игры, на которую пошел зритель, привлеченный страшным названием «Мумия».
Эпизод второй. Злодей с «недостроенным» ртом целует уснувшую Иви. Вспомнить одно лобзание Дракулы, и предвкушений знакомых кошмаров достаточно всем. Зритель понимает, что скоро от девушки Иви останутся рожки да ножки. В комнату врывается О’Коннелл — не с пистолетом (уже стреляли, не помогает), с кошкой. Обычное «мяу», и новый виток приключений: Иви жива, Имхотеп улетел, но скоро вернется.
Здоровый подход авторов «Мумии» к нездоровому людскому желанию пугаться больше, чаще и сильнее вызывает уважение. Похоже, кино с их помощью наконец-то бросило вызов инфернальным гостям. Новый монстр уязвим, новый монстр в меру смешон. А это значит, что у него есть шанс не только выжить, но и до известной степени развиться в нечто себе противоположное. На самом деле, для создателей «Мумии-2» это единственный верный шанс предложить истории кино нетривиальное решение — время сегодня требует сценарий, а не новые технологии. Ведь на ослепительно бездарном примере драматургии «Скрытой угрозы» многие поняли, что кино без героя и без сюжетных ловушек уже не работает. Собственно, проиграв аттракционам Лукаса, Соммерс и «Юниверсл» оказались изобретательнее и дальновиднее его в выборе темы, героя и жанра. Для Голливуда — это альфа и омега успеха. Победит тот, кто отыщет сюжет.
Бывает, что большая удача приходит к режиссеру средних возможностей, но обладающему сильной интуицией. Тогда его фильм на время становится объектом повышенного интереса как публики, так и производителей. «Мумия» — именно такой случай. Прежние фильмы Соммерса («Приключения Гекльберри Финна» и «Книга джунглей») говорили о том, что он в состоянии организовать работу большой группы и освоить солидный бюджет. Продюсеры «Мумии» сдали ему обычные карты из той же, освоенной режиссером колоды. И — ни одного козырного туза. В переводе на кинематографический язык — ни одной звезды. Расставив выбранных актеров по местам, Соммерс догадался призвать на помощь всю классику ужасов и приключений. Его главной звездой и главным героем «Мумии» стал кинематограф собственной персоной. Тихонечко, очень тактично Соммерс прошелся по знаковым кадрам, персонажам и сценам «Лоуренса Аравийского», «Индианы Джонса», «Золота Маккенны», «Английского пациента», «Дракулы», «Титаника». Не понять это как намек на то, что все кино мира десятилетиями работало на появление «Мумии», значит, обидеть Стивена Соммерса. Он, конечно, не первый в ряду тех, кто забавляется от души, играя в кинематографические угадайки. Но один из немногих, кому это удалось сделать изящно, ни разу не поставив цитату на службу сюжету. Сноски обрамляют изображение, придавая ему легкий шарм.
Например, что делает в «Мумии» «Титаник»? Многие не поверят, но «Титаник» у Соммерса сначала плывет (короткий план и прямая цитата: ночь, река, пароход). А потом тонет. Только теперь в роли корабля Джеймса Кэмерона выступает самолет Энтони Мингеллы, несущий над песками «Английского пациента» героев «Мумии». Развалившись ровно на две части, он торжественно погружается хвостом вниз в зыбучую желтизну пустыни. Лоуренс Аравийский — это живчик по имени Бени, бывший боец отряда О’Коннелла, жадина и хамелеон. Тот, кто привел американцев в Город Мертвых. Бени носит на шее амулеты всех культов и символы всех вер. Надо — еврей, надо — католик, случится иное — буддист. Говорит на всех языках, переодевается в любые одежды. Совершенно карикатурный герой, в меру смешной, в меру противный. С одной стороны, комический поклон «оскароносному» колоссу. С другой — сведение исторических счетов со шпионом.
«Смерть — это только начало», — говорит Иви. Так считали в Древнем Египте. Но до сих пор смерть остается для человечества обозначением конца. И древняя надпись на крышках гробниц безотчетно пугает. Потому что под крышками люди находят бинтами укрытую смерть: круг замыкается в рамках привычных мирских пониманий. Ведь если «это» — начало, то как же в Египте трактуют конец? Оккультисты и маги ХХ века внесли свою лепту в «разборки» с землей фараонов.
Например, так. Нефертити и Аменхотеп (Эхнатон) привиделись той, что предсказала Джону Кеннеди верную смерть в 1963 году: Джоан Диксон однажды сказала (и эти слова взбудоражили западный мир), что враг христианства родится от дальних потомков великой четы. Она вроде бы видела, как Нефертити и супруг ее Аменхотеп держат ребенка, обернутого грязным тряпьем. Ребенок — антихрист. Его корни — в Египте. Время прихода — конец ХХ века. Вот и все. Этот миф был выпущен Диксон на следующий день после затмения Солнца и парада планет 4 февраля 1962 года. Она рассказала еще и о том, что враг человечества будет действовать в 1999-м через глобальную электронную сеть. Как минимум ею предсказан был Интернет. Но сначала был опорочен далекий Египет.
Пророчества Диксон и многих других выводят из фразы «Смерть — это только начало» обещание конца света, надвигающегося из Египта. Запад знает об этом из газет и ток-шоу. Голливуд не сочиняет подобных историй, он подводит под ними черту. Образ рождается спросом, а тайны всегда являлись товаром не только в кино. Поэтому «Мумию» стоит считать результатом носившихся в воздухе старых, запрошенных ныне идей. Время сделало их конъюнктурой. Соммерс сумел подытожить, не впадая в вульгарный экстаз. И не случайно Запад теперь стоит на пороге новой волны увлечений — мании мумий. В залах суперсистемы гигантских экранов IMAX идет документальный блокбастер «Тайны Египта» от National Geographic. Бестселлерами становятся книги современного мистика Мустафы Гаддалы, одна из них — «Космогония Древнего Египта». Новое слово в европейском дизайне — иероглифоподобные шрифты и бумага, тисненная под папирус. «Мумия-2» оживает в подходящем климате.
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Кто из нас, никогда в своей жизни не интересовался загадками самой древней и самой непредсказуемой цивилизации Древнего Египта? «Мумия» способна привлечь, а главное увлечь лишённых занудства и скептицизма зрителей своей авантюрно-комической стихией, впечатляющими съёмками в пустыне и разнообразными спецэффектами, которые выполнены студией «Индастриал лайт энд маджик» Джорджа Лукаса. Смотрите и не пожалеете!
Год: 1999
Страна: США
Режиссер: Стивен Соммерс
Жанр: фэнтези, боевик, приключения
Бюджет: $80 000 000
Сборы в США: $155 385 488
Сборы в мире: + $260 500 000 = $415 885 488
Конечно, вышедшая пятнадцать лет назад «Мумия» не является такой же культовой классикой как «Индиана Джонс: В поисках утраченного ковчега», точно так же какБрендан Фрэйзер не стал новым Харрисоном Фордом. Тем не менее, вряд ли кто-то из создателей картины мог бы быть недоволен ее итоговыми результатами, которые составили четыреста пятнадцать миллионов долларов кассовых сборов, сразу гарантировавших сиквел и сделавших фильм Стивена Соммерса самой кассовой приключенческой лентой 1990-х. Для самого же Соммерса «Мумия» в буквальном смысле слова стала спасительницей, вытащив его висевшую на волоске после провала«Подъема с глубины» карьеру.
В самом начале 1990-х продюсер Джеймс Джэкс задумал возродить одного из классических «монстров Universal», а именно — «Мумию». Студия не возражала, но при условии, что Джэкс сможет уложиться в небольшой десятимиллионный бюджет. Блокбастер с такими деньгами, разумеется, не получился бы, но их вполне хватило бы для небольшого хоррора.
И Джэкс предложил заняться этим проектом Клайву Баркеру. Незадолго до этого, при работе над «Восставшим из Ада III», Баркер уже предлагал использовать древний Египет в качестве источника происхождения таинственной шкатулки и первых Сенобитов. В итоге эта идея так и не была использована, но теперь у Баркера появилась возможность вернуться к этой теме и развить ее дальше.
Материал отснятый Баркером боссам ни капли не понравится. Сам Баркер как-то сказал, что молит богов о том, чтобы земля разверзлась и поглотила здание, где находится офис MPAA. Однако земля разверзлась не под зданием MPAA, а под самим Баркером. Universal первоначально была рада его участию, но когда продюсеры прочитали получившийся тритмент, то пришли в ужас и наотрез отказались рассматривать возможность постановки подобного фильма. Разумеется, после этого Баркер выбыл из проекта.
Но, как известно, в Голливуде пустое место недолго остается таковым. После ухода Баркера и отказа от его материала, кресло режиссера занял Джо Данте, а Джон Сэйлс иАлан Ормсби написали новый сценарий.
Большую часть их работы занимали любовные переживания главной героини, которая разрывалась между Имхотепом и ее новым другом археологом. Хелен гуляет с Майком, видит сны с Имхотепом, видит его во снах, затем встречает его в действительности — остальное же действие, по сути, заполняет промежутки между этими переживаниями. Благодаря этому мелодраматическому настроению создается стойкое ощущение, что будь фильм снят, то на выходе получился бы не триллер с элементами любовного фильма, а скорее любовный фильм с элементами мистического триллера.
Из-за этой неоднозначности Джо Данте очень понравилась работа Сэйлса и Ормсби и он всерьез подумывал попытаться пригласить Дэниэла Дэй-Льюиса на роль Имхотепа. Однако студия всё еще не хотела выходить за рамки низкобюджетного фильма и не собиралась выделять на картину больше пятнадцати миллионов долларов. А фильм по имевшемуся сценарию оценивался в сумму не меньше двадцати пяти миллионов — и студия не собиралась идти на компромисс.
В конце концов, Данте решил спасти фильм и отправился к своему приятелю Стивену Спилбергу, надеясь, что если ему понравится сценарий, то он сможет замолвить за него слово перед одной из самых больших шишек Universal — Сиду Шейнбергу, который некогда «открыл» самого Спилберга. Спилберг согласился помочь и дал скрипт Штейнбергу — но после прочтения тот прямо ответил, что он ему не нравится, так как, по его мнению, действие новой «Мумии» должно разворачиваться в начале XX века, а не в современности. Таким образом, попытка Данте провалилась, и он стал вторым режиссером, выбывшим из проекта.
«МУМИЯ» ДЖОРДЖА РОМЕРО
Все знают, что Джордж Ромеро отец современного зомби-жанра. Но в 1990-е он на некоторое время отошел от зомби-тематики и имел возможность снять фильм про немного другой вид воскресших мертвых… Но обо всем по порядку.
Первоначально Ромеро подписался под проект лишь в качестве сценариста, но с возможностью последующей режиссуры фильма. Начал он с основательной переделки предыдущего сценария, который в его интерпретации стал менее романтичным, зато более кровавым и близким к хоррору.
В принципе, как небольшая хоррор-история, разворачивающаяся в современном мире, — такая «Мумия» вполне могла быть достаточно успешной. Хотя, конечно, нельзя не отметить, что как персонаж, который по умолчанию считается злодеем, но в финале оказывается трагическим героем, Имхотеп явно заслужил куда большей проработки, чем позволил ему Ромеро.
Эта версия укладывалась в отпущенный бюджет, и Ромеро твердо нацелился снимать фильм. Однако в этот раз студию не устроила общая мрачность и жестокость сценария. Скрипт нужно было переписать, чтобы уменьшить количество насилия, и как раз в этот момент перед Ромеро встала новая проблема.
Дело в том, что параллельно с «Мумией» Ромеро некоторое время работал над проектом под названием Before I Wake. У него был заключен соответствующий контракт с MGM, однако производство фильма застопорилось, и Ромеро был абсолютно уверен, что его уже не будут снимать. Но за двенадцать дней до истечения контракта MGM официально уведомило его, что съемки фильма в любом случае состоятся, и Ромеро пришлось отказаться от дальнейшей работы над «Мумией», чтобы не нарушать контрактные обязательства. Ирония заключается в том, что Before I Wake в итоге так и не был запущен в производство — так что один не снятый фильм в итоге утянул за собой другой.
«МУМИЯ» СТИВЕНА СОММЕРСА
Некоторое время наработками Ромеро занимался Мик Гаррис, который пару раз переписал сценарий. Кроме того, продюсеры попытались уговорить Уэса Крэйвенавзять бразды проекта в свои руки — но тот отказался в пользу «Крика».
В итоге «Мумию» от попадания в производственный ад спас Стивен Соммерс, который чуть ли не с детства мечтал снять свою версию фильма 1932 года. Соммерс предложил тритмент для масштабного летнего блокбастера в духе Индианы Джонса. Для этого он выбрал удачный момент — на студии как раз поменялось руководство, и новые лица решили дать Соммерсу полный карт-бланш. В результате, фильм, который еще недавно не мог сдвинуться с места из-за невозможности вписаться в пятнадцатимиллионную смету, получил огромный бюджет в восемьдесят миллионов долларов.
И эти деньги были потрачены не зря. Фильм Соммерса, конечно, не мог порадовать особыми сюжетными изысками — зато он получился весьма бодрым, практически без провисаний и развлекающим зрителя на полную катушку. А что еще нужно от блокбастера? Только продолжения — а они были, также как и спин-офф, и его два direct-to-video сиквела.
Но, как известно, всё хорошее когда-нибудь заканчивается, и любая киносерия имеет свой предел прочности. Воссозданная Соммерсом франшиза нащупала этот предел в 2008 году, когда на экраны вышла куда менее успешная, чем ожидалось, «Мумия: Гробница императора драконов».
Брендан Фрейзер во время съёмок сцены повешения его героя потерял сознание и чуть не расстался с жизнью из-за того, что верёвка на его шее была чересчур туго затянута.
Для участия в съёмках был специально приглашён учёный-египтолог, который должен был на своём примере показывать актёрам правильное произношение отдельных древнеегипетских слов и целых фраз.
Сцены, в которых героиня Рэйчел Уайс облеплена крысами и саранчой, были сняты с использованием реальных животных и насекомых, а не с помощью компьютерной графики, как это часто бывает в таких случаях.
За исключением набедренной повязки и нескольких ювелирных украшений костюм Патрисии Веласкес (Анк Су Намун) полностью состоял из нательной краски, наложение которой занимало 14 часов.
В реальности Имхотеп был знаменитым архитектором, который разработал постройку первых египетских пирамид, в том числе пирамиду Джосера примерно за 2600 лет до нашей эры. Талант древнего архитектора был настолько велик, что позднее о нём говорили как о человеке произошедшем от богов. Его имя в переводе означает «тот, кто приходит с миром».
Съемки заброшенного города Хамунаптра проходили на отдельной съёмочной площадке, построенной в кратере потухшего вулкана поблизости от Эрфуда. Позднее другая обширная съёмочная площадка была сконструирована в павильонах британской Shepperton Studios, где были сняты сцены в подземных переходах и галереях Хамунаптры.
Съёмки сцен в порту Гизы прошли на съёмочной площадке длиной 183 метра, построенной в британских доках Чэтэма. На ней находились паровоз, три портовых крана, открытая двуконная повозка, четыре повозки с лошадьми, ослы, мулы, ряды восточного базара с торговцами в арабской одежде и комната для 300 участников массовки.
Персонаж Ардет Бэя (вождя меджаев) по первоначальному варианту сценария должен был погибнуть в конце фильме, но режиссёр Стивен Соммерс настоял на том, что его судьба была изменена.
Главная роль Рика О’Коннора изначально была предложена Сильвестру Сталлоне, который практически сразу же отказался от проекта, ссылаясь на напряженный рабочий график. Также роль была предложена таким известным актерам, как Том Круз, Бред Питт и Мэтт Деймон.
Награды и премии
В 2000 году «Мумия» стала номинантом многих известных кинопремий, а за «Лучший грим» получила престижную награду «Сатурн». На получение высшей кинопремии «Оскар» фильм был представлен в номинации «Лучший звук». На премию канала «MTV» картина номинировалась в категории «Лучшая экшен-сцена». На получение премии Британской академии «BAFTA» постановка выдвигалась в категории «Лучшие визуальные эффекты». Претендуя на престижную кинопремию «Сатурн», фильм отметился в девяти номинациях: «Лучший фэнтези-фильм», «Лучший режиссер» в лице Стивена Соммерса, «Лучший актер» и «Лучшая актриса» (соответственно актеры Брендан Фрейзер и Рейчел Вайс). Фильм также номинировался по техническим категориям, таким как «Лучшие костюмы», «Лучшие спецэффекты», «Лучшая музыка» и «Лучший сценарий».
В этот раз студии Universal хватило всего четыре года, чтобы объявить о планах по очередному перезапуску «Мумии*». Правда, пока не слишком успешном, ибо за истекшие два года, проект уже сменил несколько режиссеров, и до сих пор непонятно, есть ли у продюсеров устраивающий их сценарий. Но, если вспомнить, что на предыдущий перезапуск потребовалось почти десять лет, это кажется сущими мелочами.
Пожалуй, было бы весьма символично, если бы в этот раз ситуация тоже развернулась на 180 градусов, и вместо огромного блокбастера, в итоге мы бы получили более камерный и мрачный фильм. Правда, судя по последним новостям, продюсеры, которые изначально намекали на что-то подобное, поменяли свое мнение и решили снова делать большой фильм для всей семьи. Впрочем, не будем забегать вперед: кто знает, какие еще перипетии переживет проект, прежде чем дойдет до больших экранов?
Источник:
Материал из Википедии
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У этого термина существуют и другие значения, см. Мумия (значения).
| Мумия | |
| The Mummy | |
| 267x300px | |
| Жанр |
боевик |
|---|---|
| Режиссёр |
Стивен Соммерс |
| Продюсер |
Шон Дэниел |
| Автор сценария |
Сценарий: |
| В главных ролях |
Брендан Фрэйзер |
| Оператор |
Адриан Биддл |
| Композитор |
Джерри Голдсмит |
| Кинокомпания |
Universal Pictures |
| Длительность |
125 мин. |
| Бюджет |
$80 млн |
| Страна |
|
| Язык |
английский |
| Год |
1999 |
| Следующий фильм |
Мумия возвращается |
| IMDb |
ID 0120616 |
«Му́мия» (англ. The Mummy) — приключенческий фильм, сценаристом и режиссёром которого является Стивен Соммерс. В главных ролях Брендан Фрэйзер, Рэйчел Вайс и Арнольд Вослу. В фильме присутствует множество разговоров на древнеегипетском языке, для чего на съёмки был приглашён профессиональный египтолог. Фильм является вольным ремейком одноимённого фильма 1932 года, в котором роль мумии исполнил Борис Карлофф. Хотя изначально фильм был запланирован как малобюджетный ужастик, в конце концов, он превратился в приключенческий блокбастер. Фильм снимался в окрестности города Эрфуд в Марокко.
В 2001 году на киноэкраны вышло продолжение «Мумия возвращается» и его спин-офф «Царь скорпионов».
Содержание
- 1 Сюжет
- 2 В ролях
- 3 Производство
- 3.1 Начальная стадия
- 3.2 Кастинг
- 3.3 Съёмки
- 3.4 Визуальные эффекты
- 4 Факты
- 5 Примечания
- 6 Ссылки
Сюжет[править]
Действие фильма начинается в Древнем Египте, в XIII веке до н. э. Верховный жрец Имхотеп влюбляется в Анк-су-намун, наложницу фараона Сети I. Когда фараон становится свидетелем измены, Имхотеп и Анк-су-намун предательски убивают его. Анк-су-намун затем убивает себя, прося Имхотепа воскресить её. После похорон Имхотеп похищает её тело и вместе со своими верными жрецами направляется к Хамунаптре, городу мёртвых, где они проводят церемонию воскрешения. Но стража фараона вмешивается в самый критический момент ритуала, и душа Анк-су-намун возвращается в загробный мир.
В наказание за это святотатство жрецов Имхотепа мумифицируют заживо, а самого верховного жреца приговаривают к проклятию «хом дай» — стражники отрезают ему язык и погребают заживо, подбросив в саркофаг плотоядных скарабеев. Проклятие состоит в том, что несчастный при этом становится бессмертным и вынужден переживать агонию своих ран веки вечные. Его погребают в строжайшей тайне, в саркофаге под статуей египетского божества Анубиса. За ним строго следят племена меджаев, потомки стражи фараона, ибо если Имхотепа кто-нибудь выпустит на волю, то сила этого бессмертного существа позволит ему напустить на Землю волну разрушения и смерти.
Через три тысячелетия, в 1923 году, американец по имени Рик О’Коннелл служит в звании капитана в отряде Французского Иностранного легиона, который путешествует к Хамунаптре в поисках сокровища, которое, по легенде, находится в городе. Когда они достигают этого легендарного места, на них нападает группа арабов. Командир легиона покидает своих солдат, и Рик вынужден встать во главе отряда. Силы неравны, арабы побеждают и Рик отступает в город. Окружённый врагом, О’Коннелл готовится к смерти, но арабы внезапно убегают. Озадаченный Рик внезапно слышит бестелесный голос и видит, как песок вокруг него начинает вздыматься. Убегая, он не видит, как в песке появляется лицо, искаженное агонией. Оставаясь в одиночестве в пустыне, Рик замечает, что за битвой следила группа меджаев. Однако они не трогают его и отпускают в пустыню, считая, что там он не выживет.
Через три года, каирская библиотекарь по имени Эвелин «Иви» Карнахан получает от своего брата Джонатана шкатулку, испещрённую иероглифами, в которой она обнаруживает карту. По словам Джонатана, он нашёл шкатулку в Фивах. Узнав, что карта указывает путь к Хамунаптре, Джонатан признаётся, что украл её у Рика, который сидит в тюрьме, ожидая казни. Связавшись с ним, Эвелин договаривается с Риком, что он раскроет ей местонахождение Хамунаптры взамен на спасение с эшафота. Рик держит своё слово и ведёт экспедицию к Хамунаптре, где они встречают американскую группу охотников за сокровищами под предводительством известного египтолога, доктора Аллена Чемберлена, ведомую Бени Габором, трусоватым бывшим легионером из отряда Рика, сбежавшим во время битвы с арабами.
После того, как обе группы достигают города, на них нападают меджаи под предводительством Ардета Бея, который предупреждает их о зле, погребённом в городе. Несмотря на предупреждение, обе экспедиции продолжают заниматься раскопками в различных частях города. Эвелин ищет Книгу Амона-Ра, золотую книгу, способную отбирать жизнь, но неожиданно обнаруживает останки Имхотепа, которые представляют собой всё ещё разлагающийся скелет, а не иссохшую мумию. Американцы тем временем обнаруживают Книгу мёртвых вместе с канопами, в которых находятся сохранённые органы Анк-су-намун; каждый из американцев берёт себе по сосуду как награду.
Ночью Эвелин выкрадывает Книгу мёртвых из палатки американцев и читает одну из страниц вслух, ненароком пробуждая Имхотепа. Хотя обе группы возвращаются в Каир, мумия начинает охоту за американцами, открывшими ящик, постепенно регенерируя с каждым убитым. Бени переживает встречу с Имхотепом, произнеся молитвы на иврите. Поскольку евреи в Древнем Египте были рабами, Имхотеп делает его личным слугой, обещая вознаграждения. Новоиспеченный слуга помогает мумии найти американцев и украденные сосуды в Каире. Эвелин осознаёт, что, раз Книга мёртвых дала Имхотепу жизнь, Книга Амона-Ра сможет её отобрать. Выясняется, что местоположение книг было перепутано. Эвелин делает вывод, что раз Книга мёртвых была обнаружена под статуей бога царства мёртвых Анубиса, то Книга Амон-Ра должна находиться под статуей бога света Гора. Вскоре после этого Имхотеп берёт Эвелин в плен, желая принести её в жертву для воскрешения своей любимой Анк-су-намун. Для этого они возвращаются в Хамунаптру. Рик и Джонатан освобождают Эвелин после яростной битвы с мумиями Имхотепа. Эвелин читает вслух из Книги Амона-Ра, что лишает Имхотепа бессмертия, а Рик затем его смертельно ранит. Быстро разлагаясь, Имхотеп опять покидает наш мир.
Когда они уходят, Бени ненароком активирует древнюю ловушку и становится жертвой полчищ скарабеев. Героям удаётся выбежать из разрушающейся Хамунаптры, и они уезжают на паре верблюдов, не зная, что жадный Бени под завязку забил мешки на верблюдах сокровищами.
В ролях[править]
| Актёр | Роль |
|---|---|
| Брендан Фрэйзер | Рик О’Коннелл |
| Рэйчел Вайс | Эвелин Карнахан |
| Джон Ханна | Джонатан Карнахан |
| Арнольд Вослу | Имхотеп |
| Кевин О’Коннор | Бени Габор |
| Одед Фер | Ардет Бей |
| Джонатан Хайд | доктор Аллен Чемберлен |
| Эрик Авари | доктор Терренс Бэй |
| Омид Джалили | Хасан |
| Стивен Данам | Хендерсон |
| Кори Джонсон | Дэниелс |
| Так Уоткинс | Бёрнс |
| Патрисия Веласкес | Анк-су-намун |
В закадровой версии Первого канала принимали участие
- Виктор Бохон — Рик, Имхотеп
- Андрей Казанцев — рассказчик, Джонатан, Ардет и несколько мужских ролей
- Виктор Петров — доктор Тэрренс Бэй, Хасан, доктор Аллен Чемберлен и несколько мужских ролей
- Ольга Гаспарова — Эвелин
Производство[править]
Начальная стадия[править]
У студии «Universal» ушло 9 лет на реализацию проекта — продюсер Джеймс Джекс решил перезапустить знаменитую франшизу ещё в начале 1990-х годов[1]. По первоначальной задумке, фильм должен был стать низко-бюджетным, не превышающим планку в $10 миллионов[2], хоррором о главе музея искусств, члене культа, пытающегося воскресить мумий[1][3]. Этот сюжет разработал знаменитый писатель и кинематографист Клайв Баркер, долгое время закреплённый за проектом — картина должна была быть «мрачной и сексуальной»[2], «первоклассным низкобюджетным триллером»[3]. У Джорджа Ромера было своё видение проекта — он предлагал снять классический в своём понимании зомби-хоррор[2]. Джо Данте также считался одним из кандидатов на место постановщика — в его версии роль мумии должен был сыграть Дэниэл Дей-Льюис[2] . Многие задумки из сценария, написанного Джоном Сейлесом были реализованы в фильме 1999 года — в частности, история стала более романтичной и динамичной[3], а также использовала такие элементы, как скарабеи, поедающие плоть[1]. Однако из-за того, что по задумке Данте бюджет должен был вырасти, боссы отказались от его услуг постановщика. Кажется, на том или ином этапе, постановку новой версии классики предлагали всем мэтрам жанра — включая Мика Гарриса[4] и Уэса Крейвена[3], автора культовых франшиз «Крик» и «Кошмар на улице Вязов». Гаррис, известный экранизациями произведений Стивена Кинга, выбыл из проекта достаточно быстро, а Крейвен и вовсе отказался от предложения.
Лишь в 1997 году Стивену Соммерсу выпал шанс — он мечтал заняться постановкой ремейка ещё в 1993 году, когда только появилась информация о том, что студия собирается вернуть обновлённую классику на экраны. К тому времени, боссы сменили свою стратегию относительно потенциально кассовых хитов[5], и вскоре 18-страничная концепция[1] Соммерса, которую он назвал «смесью приключений Индианы Джонс и Ясона и аргонавтов»[2], была одобрена и запущена в производство. По словам Соммерса, он хотел воссоздать всё, что ему нравилось в классическом фильме, который он посмотрел в восемь лет, но в гораздо больших масштабах[6]. Бюджет картины возрос с первоначальных $15 миллионов до $80 миллионов[7].
Кастинг[править]
Роль Рика О’Коннелла предлагалась Сильвестру Сталлоне. Среди других претендентов — Том Круз, Бен Аффлек, Брэд Питт и Мэтт Деймон.
Роль в фильме начальника тюрьмы стала дебютом для английского комика и актёра Омида Джалили.
Съёмки[править]
Съёмки первой картины проходили в Маракеше, Марокко с 4 мая 1998 года и длились 17 недель. Затем съёмки перенеслись в пустыню Сахара недалеко от маленького города-оазиса Эрфуд. Последний этап съёмок проходил в Великобритании, где они окончились 29 августа того же года[8]. Съёмкам в пустыне постоянно мешали нестабильная политическая ситуация[9], песчаные бури, скорпионы, змеи и пауки[9] — членов съёмочной группы постоянно лечили от укусов и обезвоживания. Медики съёмочной группы даже придумали специальный напиток, который помогал организму проще переносить жару — актёры пили его каждые два часа[10].
Во время съёмок сцены повешения произошёл несчастный случай, в результате которого Брендан Фрейзер перестал дышать. «Ему пришлось делать искусственное дыхание», — с ужасом вспоминает Рейчел Вайс[11].
Визуальные эффекты[править]
Факты[править]
- В оригинальной версии в сцене воскрешения мумии, Иви, увидев Имхотепа, говорит «Он прекрасен…». Эту сцену даже сняли, но вырезали при финальном монтаже.
- В серии «Гробница» пятого сезона сериала «Звёздные врата: SG-1» герои обнаруживают гоа’улда Мардука, похороненного заживо в саркофаге, дающем вечную жизнь, вместе с животным, которое должно постоянно его поедать (а саркофаг воскрешать), то есть казнённого так же, как и в «Мумии».[источник не указан 4003 дня]
- Эвелин в разговоре с Риком упоминает, что её отец был известным археологом. Раскопками гробницы Тутанхамона в ноябре 1922 года руководил Говард Картер и Джордж Герберт, граф Карнарвон. На раскопках лорда сопровождала его дочь, Эвелин Карнарвон[12]. Фамилия Эвелин была изменена создателями фильма на Карнахан, и единственной отсылкой к сюжету о дочери проклятого лорда стало упоминание Эвелин о роде деятельности её отца.
- Фонология гласных звуков древнеегипетского языка неизвестна, то есть никто не знает, как правильно говорить по-древнеегипетски.
Примечания[править]
- ↑ 1,0 1,1 1,2 1,3 The Mummy That Wasn’t, Cinescape (May 3, 1999).
- ↑ 2,0 2,1 2,2 2,3 2,4 Hobson, Louis B. Universal rolls out new, improved Mummy, Calgary Sun (May 1, 1999).
- ↑ 3,0 3,1 3,2 3,3 Slotek, Jim. Unwrapping The Mummy, Toronto Sun (May 2, 1999).
- ↑ Chase, Donald. What Have They Unearthed?, Los Angeles Times (May 3, 1999).
- ↑ Bonin, Liane That’s a Wrap. Entertainment Weekly (7 мая 1999). Проверено 1 апреля 2008. Архивировано из первоисточника 5 декабря 2012.
- ↑ Snead, Elizabeth. Updating A Well-Preserved Villain, USA Today (May 7, 1999).
- ↑ Argent, Daniel. Unwrapping The Mummy: An Interview with Stephen Sommers, Creative Screenwriting.
- ↑ Behind the Scenes. The Mummy Official Site. Universal Studios (1999). Проверено 24 мая 2007. Архивировано из первоисточника 5 декабря 2012.
- ↑ 9,0 9,1 Portman, Jamie. Mummy Unearths Horror, Humour, Ottawa Citizen (May 5, 1999).
- ↑ Braund, Simon. Equally Cursed and Blessed, Empire (July 1999).
- ↑ Jones, Alison. Great Excavations, The Birmingham Post (June 26, 1999).
- ↑ Бацалев В., Варакин А. Тайны археологии. Радость и проклятие великих открытий
Ссылки[править]
 Мумия |
|
|---|---|
| Universal | Мумия (1932) • Рука мумии (1940) • Гробница мумии (1942) • Призрак мумии (1944) • Проклятие мумии (1944) • Эбботт и Костелло встречают мумию (1955) |
| Hammer | Проклятье фараонов (1959) • Проклятие гробницы мумии (1964) • Саван мумии (1967) • Кровь из гробницы мумии (1971) |
| Ремейк | Мумия (1999) • Мумия возвращается (2001) • Мумия: Гробница императора драконов (2008) • Мультсериал (2001—2003) |
| Ответвление (Царь скорпионов) | Царь скорпионов (2002) • Восхождение воина (2008) • Книга мёртвых (2012) • Потерянный трон (2014) |
| Видео-игры | The Mummy (1999) • The Mummy Returns (2001) • The Mummy Returns (Game Boy Color) (2001) • The Mummy: The Animated Series (Game Boy Advance) (2002) • The Mummy: The Animated Series (2004) • The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor (2008) |
| Персонажи | Рик О’Коннелл • Эвелин Карнахан • Джонатан Карнахан • Ардет Бей • Алекс О’Коннелл • Имхотеп • Царь скорпионов |
| Фильмы Стивена Соммерса |
|---|
|
Приключения Гека Финна (1993) • Книга джунглей (1994) • Подъём с глубины (1998) • Мумия (1999) • Мумия возвращается (2001) • Ван Хельсинг (2004) • Бросок кобры (2009) • Странный Томас (2013) |
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