On May 4, exactly twenty years ago, the sequel “ The Mummy’s Return, ” the second chapter in the beloved franchise starring Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz, hit theaters around the world and, despite having been criticized by experts, still has a special place for fans of adventure films.
Released in 2001, the feature expanded the mythology explored in the 1999 film and introduced several new characters, including Meela Nais / Anck Su Namun (Patricia Velásquez) and King Scorpion (Dwayne Johnson), in addition to bringing in Arnold Vosloo. to its iconic role. as the antagonist Imhotep.
To celebrate its twentieth anniversary, CinePOP has separated a brief list of ten curiosities behind the scenes of production.
Check:
COMMERCIAL SUCCESS
Despite mixed reviews, “Return of the Mummy” was a smash hit at the global box office, raising $ 435 million against a budget of $ 98 million. The feat even gave another sequel to the main saga, “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor” and a spin-off centered on the character of Johnson.
INTENSIVE TRAINING
Weisz and Velásquez, who played Evelyn O’Connell and Meela Nais respectively, as well as Egyptian warriors Nefertiri and Anck Su Namun in the past, trained for five months for the combat streaks. The actresses did the scenes without stuntmen.
IRREPARABLE PERSONALITY
While the characters Rick and Evelyn grew and matured considerably in the second film, especially after the marriage and birth of Alex (Freddie Boath), director Stephen Sommers was keen to make it clear that Jonathan (John Hannah) didn’t. absolutely nothing learned from the first adventure.
PORTFOLIO FAN
Enjoy watching:
Boath was a huge fan of “The Mummy“, having watched the film over 30 times. He turned down the opportunity to appear in ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ to star in the franchise’s second chapter – and he knew so much about the first feature film that he served as a sort of consultant for the new adventure.
CAUTION: RISK OF DEATH
Fraser fractured a spinal disc, a rib and injured his knees while filming the film. Johnson, on the other hand, suffered a food infection and heat stroke, losing nearly five pounds and saying it was the “worst time of my life.”
THE ONE WHO SHOULD NOT BE NOMINATED
Ardeth Bay (Oded Fehr) is the only person in the film who refers to Imhotep as “the creature”. This is explained in the romanization of the work, which states that Ardeth, like all medjai, is afraid to refer to Imhotep by name while the mummy is in its undead form.
PAINFUL METHOD
To maintain the smoothness of the body, Vosloo had to shave his entire body twice a day. Originally he tried using wax, but he couldn’t take the pain.
CONTRACTS
Tower Bridge was closed for filming. They were allowed to close it for only twenty minutes at a time, but the resulting traffic after the first time caused threats to stop Scotland Yeard and a reduced closing time of ten minutes.
PUBLIC SHOW
Additional cliffs have been digitally added to the tsunami footage, to obscure the hundreds of spectators viewing the footage.
QUICK SEQUENCE
The streak takes place almost ten years after the events of “The Mummy,” despite the fact that the films have an output difference of only two. Sommers joked that he decided to do the franchise this way because he “didn’t want to work with babies.”