Though a batch of younger theatergoers whitethorn person ne'er seen thing similar it, 1999's The Mummy took its root worldly from the 1932 Universal movie of the aforesaid sanction written by John L. Balderston, Nina Wilcox Putnam and Richard Schayer and starring Boris Karloff arsenic Imhotep, arsenic good arsenic the decently named David Manners arsenic accidental adventurer Frank Whemple.

Before heading to Hollywood, wherever helium got his commencement adapting Bram Stoker's Dracula and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein for the large screen, Balderston was a overseas analogous who was successful Egypt to witnesser the unsealing of King Tutankhamen's tomb successful 1923.

The 1999 film, written and directed by Stephen Sommers, "has galore of the aforesaid names and situations and the aforesaid exotic allure," prima Brendan Fraser told the Los Angeles Times up of its release, "but each brought up to velocity with peculiar effects."

But helium didn't truly cognize which genre The Mummy belonged to erstwhile helium signed up.

"Is it a comedy? Is it an enactment picture? Is it an adventure?" Fraser reflected to GQ. "All of it, nary of it—I tin inactive perceive [costar Rachel Weisz] going, 'Oh no, they're going to confiscate our equity cards.'"

Like seemingly each surefire-hit-in-hindsight ever made, it took years to reawaken The Mummy.

"After the [1992 Francis Ford Coppola] Dracula and [Kenneth Branagh's 1994] Frankenstein, The Mummy was the past Universal monster the workplace could bash a remake of," shaper James Jacks told the LA Times. There had been respective lackluster sequels to the 1932 film, nary featuring Karloff, and past a 1959 remake with Christopher Lee arsenic the titular monster.

Jacks and producing spouse Sean Daniel besides went done aggregate iterations that had "arguments for each of them—and arguments against."

The screenplay they settled on—cranked retired by Sommers successful six weeks successful 1997—was "the astir costly version" (con) but besides "the biggest movie" for Universal to marketplace arsenic a imaginable blockbuster (pro).

Universal dictated from the opening that the movie had to beryllium rated PG-13 arsenic a information of the studio's investment.

"I deliberation we're going for the 13," ocular effects supervisor John Berton told the LA Times of the "scary, not gross" peculiar effects his squad crafted.

Many of the past exteriors were changeable successful the Ouarzazate state of Morocco, which has provided settings for galore different epic productions, including Lawrence of Arabia, Gladiator, Game of Thrones.

Most interiors, including the Cairo Museum of Antiquities, wherever the bookish Evelyn works arsenic a librarian, were sets built astatine Shepperton Studios successful Surrey, England.

Fraser spoke with reverence astir the elaborate sets that took 15 weeks to physique atop a dormant volcano. 

"It was a superb acceptable made truthful that it could autumn apart," helium told journalist Bobbie Wygand successful 1999. "The past metropolis of Hamunaptra [known arsenic The City of the Dead] was designed by Pharoah Seti I, due to the fact that helium was nary fool, helium could flip a power and each of his treasure would descend backmost into the sand."

Nodding to the $80 cardinal budget, had added, "No disbursal was spared successful creating the satellite of the past and the 1 that we find successful the precise romanticist play of the 1920s and '30s."

Evelyn whitethorn not person thought overmuch of Rick astatine first, but Weisz felt unafraid doing stunts with Fraser from the start.

"I deliberation Brendan is incredibly strong," she told Entertainment Tonight connected set. "So I conscionable person to clasp his manus and I consciousness precise safe…I spot him."

Weisz besides said her starring antheral was casual to enactment with, "really instinctive, precise funny. He's got a immense scope arsenic an actor."

Looking backmost successful 2024, Weisz said she thought the funniest enactment she's ever had successful any movie was the "Oops" Evelyn utters aft she accidentally sends the shelves successful the room crashing to the crushed similar dominos.

"Lucky we did get it successful 1 take," Weisz told Newsweek. "We had immoderate superb technicians [and] my ladder seemed beauteous safe."

A 360-degree camera rig was utilized to get the tricky changeable successful 1 continuous take.

John Hannah said helium wasn't thought of arsenic a peculiarly comic histrion person to home, not adjacent aft being formed arsenic Evelyn's ne'er-do-well member Jonathan, who sets the enactment successful question by presenting his sister with the (um, stolen) representation to Hamunaptra.

"In this state the benignant of scripts I get sent are those small detectivey, doctory, what's going connected successful your beingness benignant of thing," helium told The Scotsman in 2007. "I ne'er get sent thing near tract similar this, you know? I accidental Sliding Doors was rather funny, but I'd done that earlier The Mummy."

But Sommers believed successful him and told him to spell for it.

"I retrieve Steve talking astir however large the surface was, however large the canvas was," Hannah explained. "You can't bash small, small introverted acting. We thin to deliberation you person to bash nothing, but it's hard to bash thing erstwhile there's an avalanche chasing you!"

Fraser called his acquisition connected the movie "thrilling," not slightest owed to Sommers.

"It had a small spot of, not information per se, but immoderate risk-taking to it besides that felt like, good what volition hap today? Will we survive?" helium recalled to GQ. "Stephen Sommers, 1 of his favourite directions that helium would springiness was, he’d go, 'Ready, and...don't suck! Action!' done a bullhorn. And we'd beryllium like, 'Ahh,' and things would stroke up and worldly would autumn down... 'OK, we got it. Let’s bash it again, we're here!' Stephen conscionable loves making movies. He loved his job, his enthusiasm’s infectious."

Speaking of thrilling, those were existent rats scurrying implicit Weisz portion she was manacled to the altar. 

"It wasn't successful the script, actually, the rats," she told Wygand of the chilling scene. "It was an invention by Steve connected that day."

She truly tried not to freak out, "though I americium frightened of rats," she said. "I deliberation astir radical are. But they were tame rats."

Arnold Vosloo, who plays the abruptly undead Imhotep, took a sympathetic attack to the titular Mummy.

"I saw this arsenic a expansive accidental to play not 1 of the seminal monsters, but 1 of the large romanticist figures," the South African histrion told the LA Times successful 1999. "And erstwhile I went successful to conscionable with the producers and Steve Sommers, I was adamant astir playing a antheral successful love. Nothing existed but himself and her."

As in, the princess helium mislaid 3,000 years agone and volition halt astatine thing to beryllium reunited with.

The formed spent 2 weeks learning to thrust camels and Fraser said helium "got connected beauteous well" with his designated animal. But, helium added, Kevin J. O'Connor, who played the duplicitous Beni Gabor, and his camel "despised each other."

And portion camels aren't known for being the friendliest animals, Fraser thought they were unfairly maligned.

"Sure, they're opinionated," helium told Wygand, "maybe they're a spot smelly. But if you fto 'em cognize who the brag is, past mostly you'll get to spell wherever you privation to go."

Weisz explained that the concealed to riding a camel was leaning backward.

"You consciousness insecure truthful you benignant of hunch forward," the English histrion told ET. "The happening is you person to thin close backmost and conscionable determination with the camel, oregon other different you volition autumn off. Horses person a graceful stride. Camels are conscionable benignant of, like, each implicit the place."

But riding 1 was besides beauteous uncomfortable, Weisz acknowledged, adding, "You get existent sores—on your butt, arsenic you telephone it successful America."

"We had kidnapping security taken retired connected us," Fraser marveled during a 2023 Popverse panel at Emerald City Comic-Con with costar Oded Fehr, who played Medjai main Ardeth Bay.

Fraser said their shaper Jacks, who passed distant successful 2014, assured him he'd taken retired $1 cardinal policies connected him and Weisz—"25 [thousand] to 35 connected me," Fehr quipped—leaving Kevin O'Connor to ask, "How overmuch did you instrumentality retired connected me?'"

Fraser recalled Jacks replying with a shrug, "Eh, 250."

Fehr said helium couldn't retrieve whether it happened connected the acceptable of the archetypal oregon 2001's The Mummy Returns, but astatine 1 constituent subject helicopters showed up to rescue them from a flash flood aft a storm.

Fraser was successful the car 1 night, helium recalled, erstwhile his operator pointed to the skyline and advised him, "'You spot that upland scope implicit there? If you spell past that upland range, you ne'er travel back.'"

Fraser had a small other inducement to marque it location safely from the perilous shoot: His wedding time with fiancée Afton Smith awaited.

They tied the knot Sept. 27, 1998—while The Mummy was successful post-production—and went connected to person sons Griffin, Holden and Leland unneurotic earlier divorcing successful 2009.

Rick and Evelyn flight definite decease countless times, but The Mummy astir killed Fraser.

During the Egyptian guards' failed effort to bent Rick, helium was lasting connected his toes with the enactment wrapped astir his neck. The manager ran implicit and asked Fraser if helium could effort to marque the choking much believable, the Oscar victor recalled connected The Kelly Clarkson Show successful 2023. "And I was like, 'All right, fine.' So I thought, 'One much take, man.'"

But alternatively of leaving it to Fraser's acting skills, whoever was holding the enactment pulled tighter.

"I was stuck connected my toes—I had obscurity to spell but down," helium said. "And truthful helium was pulling up and I was going down, and the adjacent happening I knew, my elbow was successful my ear, the satellite was sideways, determination was gravel successful my teeth, and everyone was truly quiet."

"I ever loved moving from a carnal standpoint forward," Fraser told IMDb, reflecting connected the storied enactment leader information of his career.

"As a child, games for maine erstwhile I played were teaching myself to bash judo flips, though I had nary thought what I was doing. That was me! But that consciousness of play ne'er near maine those earlier years of my career. The concealed is, it's a batch of fun."

But by the clip then-38-year-old Fraser was connected the acceptable of The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor successful 2007, it was his bones that needed a small other TLC.

"Every greeting I was putting myself unneurotic similar a gladiator with musculus portion and crystal packs," helium told The Telegraph in 2023, "strapping connected this Transformer-like exoskeleton conscionable to get done the scene."

The 6-foot-2 histrion yet underwent a laminectomy (which relieves unit connected the spine), lumbar surgery, a partial genu replacement and vocal repair—though not solely owed to his stunts successful The Mummy franchise. He besides did a batch of jumping, running, hurtling and screaming successful films specified arsenic George of the Jungle and Journey to the Center of the Earth.

"I got a small banged up from years of doing my ain stunts," helium said, "and needed a surgical hole connected the spine and the hinges."

All that country "took a batch retired of me," helium admitted. "I knew I would get better, but it took a agelong time."

Not that Fraser did everything himself.

"There was fighting, but my stuntman was awesome," helium told Popverse, seemingly referring to Mark Henson, who besides was his treble successful The Mummy Returns.

Rob Cohen directed the 3rd film, but Sommers isn't opposed to coming backmost for his ain third Mummy movie, should each the stars align.

Though possibly not all the stars...

"I'd astir apt bash a antithetic [villain]," the filmmaker told SYFY Wire successful 2023. "I emotion Arnold Vosloo, he’s 1 of my champion friends. I speech to Arnold each the time, but I deliberation you’d person to bash thing [different]. Bringing him backmost for the sequel, it truly worked and made consciousness and the rules worked. But sometimes, you conscionable person to alteration things up a small bit."

As for Fraser, who astatine the clip was astir to win his Best Actor Oscar for The Whale, Sommers said, "I'm truthful blessed for him and truthful arrogant of him. I emotion to spot him win. He was a dream."

Likening him to the arsenic bully and hard-working Hugh Jackman, the prima of his 2004 movie Van Helsing, helium added, "You truly don’t privation idiosyncratic who's whiny oregon a jerk. You don’t privation immoderate jerks astir and that was truthful bully to person each those people. They were conscionable great."