Lee Cronin’s The Mummy

Remakes, sequels and reboots, oh my!

Picture this, it’s January 2026, new year, new me, and aren’t I excited to see what films are releasing in the upcoming months. I’ll just take a look here and oh…

I get four films down the ‘Upcoming Movies 2026’ list I’m perusing before finding something I don't recognise. The Ark and the Aardvark (2026) isn't really my vibe and probably won't send me to the cinema (especially with these fuel prices) so I keep looking, and I am met with sequel, after remake, after sequel. Street Fighter (2026), The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (2026), Avengers: Doomsday (2026), Toy Story 5 (2026), Wuthering Heights (2026), Scary Movie 6 (2026), to name just a few.

Most recently I found myself seated for Lee Cronin’s The Mummy (2026).

Growing up, I, of course, enjoyed multiple viewings of The Mummy (1999) and its subsequent sequels - which are already sequels to a remake of the original The Mummy (1932) - so I was looking forward to what Lee Cronin had to bring to the table.

What he bought was confusing?

Confusion isn’t maybe the exact right word but I still can’t quite pin down how that movie left me feeling. We had Egyptian lore, as expected. We had a ‘Mummy’, if you count a child as a mummy (..ha). We had a pretty solid two hours of mystery and action and creepy underground pyramids. But we also had a storyline that was simply more reminiscent of 1973’s The Exorcist (really it was the Possessed Child of it all).

The question then must be begged, did Lee - Mr Cronin if you will - need to utilise ‘The Mummy’s existing branding and hand us another movie in an already reproduced universe, or would he have thrived presenting something new and unique (even if it was the same movie under a different title).

Do we always need to expand universes we’ve visited before, are we even close enough to the original that it’s worth existing under the same umbrella? Is there a similarity quota we need to reach to consider something a remake, a reboot, a sequel, or is a title enough? Do we feel comforted by the titles we recognise always coming back around, or will sequel fatigue soon come for us all?

I cannot speak for all audiences, nor voice an opinion everyone would likely agree with but for me, 2026 is the year I have, and will continue to, seat myself back row (always) for new and original concepts and projects.

I have already even discovered a new Top 3 of All Time for me in Project Hail Mary (2026), a new universe, with new beloved characters.

Even if it is a book adaptation…