On May 4, 1999, Universal’s The Mummy hit theaters and became one of the biggest movies of the year, even outearning James Bond and Julia Roberts films released in the same window, with over $400 million worldwide. It solidified Brenden Fraser’s star power and put him in the action-hero category for a new generation. That level of success helped spawn two sequels, video games, a spin-off series with The Rock, and an animated television series.
Oh, and of course the ride at Universal Studios theme parks. It’s still an absolute banger and hasn’t been updated in 20 years over at Universal Orlando. Even if the sequels didn’t capture the same sort of magic, 25 years later Stephen Sommers’ The Mummy is still a crowd-pleaser that somehow didn’t get lost in the shuffle in a summer where everything fell under the shadow of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, and the one-two punch of sleeper hits The Matrix and The Sixth Sense.
Almost 100 years ago, Universal Studios’ band of monster movies helped forge a whole new genre and create a new batch of pop culture icons. These Classic Monsters–Dracula, Frankenstein, the Creature of the Black Lagoon, the Invisible Man (and Woman), the Wolf Man, and the Mummy made their own cinematic universe along the way with crossovers and tie-ins.