Okay so apparently Lee Cronin made a Mummy movie so unhinged that Universal is literally pretending it’s not a Mummy movie anymore. The film’s been renamed “The Resurrected” and honestly? After reading what happens with the scorpions, I get it.
Multiple test screening reports are flooding social media right now and they’re… a lot. According to Feature First (via FearHQ), the 120-minute runtime includes a scene where—and I need you to stay with me here—a scorpion crawls into someone’s mouth, severs their vocal cords, and then another person has to stick their fingers down the victim’s throat to manually press on the cords so they can speak.
I’ve read this three times. THREE TIMES. Still processing.
The Timeline Is Having a Normal One About This
The reports claim James Wan—yes, The Conjuring James Wan—couldn’t even finish the screening and left early. Now, do I fully believe that? The source material literally says “Not really.” But the fact that this rumor even EXISTS for the guy who made Malignant tells you something about what Cronin put on screen.
Wait no, back to the rebrand thing—
So Cronin (Evil Dead Rise) was hired to reboot The Mummy after Tom Cruise and Alex Kurtzman basically murdered the franchise in 2017. When they announced this in 2024, Cronin said: “This will be unlike any Mummy movie you ever laid eyeballs on before. I’m digging deep into the earth to raise something very ancient and very frightening.”
And we all just… thought he meant mummies? We thought he meant MUMMIES?
What Even Is This Movie Now Though
The plot—which sounds nothing like any Mummy movie ever—goes like this: journalist’s daughter disappears in desert. Returns eight years later. “True nightmare” ensues.
That’s it. That’s the movie.
No Imhotep. No ancient curses. No Brendan Fraser energy. Just desert trauma and—god I can’t stop thinking about the throat thing—
Cast includes Jack Reynor, Laia Costa, May Calamawy, Natalie Grace, and Veronica Falcón. Still releasing April 17 which feels… optimistic? Delusional? Both?
Film Twitter is currently in a three-way split between “unwatchable,” “inject it into my veins,” and “sorry WHAT happens with the scorpion?” Someone on Reddit apparently made a diagram of the vocal cord scene. I’m not looking.
Actually Wait This Might Be Genius
Here’s the thing—distancing from The Mummy IP might be the smartest move here. Cronin clearly made something closer to extreme exploitation horror than a franchise tentpole. Like he looked at Universal’s IP and went “what if Cronenberg but make it sand?”
The title “The Resurrected” is so generic it loops back to being perfect. It tells you nothing. It promises nothing. It’s giving straight-to-streaming energy but with theatrical gore ambitions.
—wait did I mention the journalist’s daughter is gone for EIGHT YEARS? What happens in the desert for eight years? What comes back? Why am I suddenly terrified of sand?
The Details Currently Eating My Brain
That Scorpion Scene — Multiple test screening attendees independently fixated on it. This is already “that scene” and the movie’s not even out.
The Wan Walking Out Rumor — Real? Fake? Marketing? Even as an unconfirmed rumor, it’s doing work. The Saw creator allegedly tapping out is a story in itself.
The Complete IP Abandonment — They’re not even trying to pretend this is a Mummy movie anymore. Just full “yeah it’s something else now, sorry.”
Cronin’s 2024 Warning — He literally told us. LITERALLY. “Ancient and frightening.” We thought wrapped corpses. He meant primal mouth horror.
Eight Years — EIGHT. YEARS. What happens to a child in the desert for eight—
FAQ: The Resurrected Test Screening Reports
Why is everyone saying this killed The Mummy franchise?
Because it’s apparently so far from any Mummy movie that they’re literally removing the name. No Egypt, no curses, no bandages. Just desert horror and what sounds like medical torture. The rebrand feels like admitting it was never really a Mummy movie at all.
Does the scorpion scene actually sound that disturbing?
It’s not even the gore level—it’s the specificity. The manual vocal cord operation through the throat is such a particular kind of body horror that people are physically recoiling from text descriptions. It’s the kind of detail that makes you involuntarily touch your own throat.
How is this going to perform at the box office?
The April release date suddenly makes sense—dump it before summer blockbusters. But also? This has “dare your friends to watch it” energy. Midnight screening cult classic potential. The kind of movie that trends on TikTok for all the wrong reasons.
Anyway i need to go stare at the ceiling and think about what eight years in the desert does to a child because that’s apparently where my brain lives now
