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Few films in recent memory have defied box office expectations quite like Obsession. Curry Barker’s supernatural horror thriller arrived in theaters this May on a budget of just $750,000, positioned as a minor curiosity in a crowded summer slate. Instead, the Focus Features release managed to increase its weekly box office haul in its second and third weekends, something almost unheard of in Hollywood, where most income comes from the release weekend. That momentum carried Obsession past $458 million globally, transforming Michael Johnston and Inde Navarrette from relative unknowns into two of Hollywood’s most in-demand new stars. Navarrette has already met with the director attached to Marvel Studios’ X-Men reboot to discuss a potential role. Now Johnston appears set to make his own leap into blockbuster territory.
The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that Johnston is in early talks to join The Mummy, the fourth installment in the horror adventure franchise led by Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz. The film reunites Fraser as Rick O’Connell and Weisz as Evelyn Carnahan alongside John Hannah’s Jonathan Carnahan, with Arnold Vosloo returning as Imhotep and Kevin J. O’Connor back as Beni Gabor. Radio Silence directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett are helming from a script by David Coggeshall, with longtime franchise producer Sean Daniel returning for a movie Universal has scheduled for October 2027.
Michael Johnston Could Have a Key Role in Brendan Fraser’s The Mummy
The new Mummy arrives 26 years after The Mummy Returns, the film Universal has confirmed the sequel will follow directly, bypassing 2008’s divisive The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor entirely. That gap means Rick and Evelyn’s now-adult son, Alex O’Connell, has to be addressed in some form. Freddie Boath originated the character as an eight-year-old in The Mummy Returns before Luke Ford took over the role for Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, now erased from the continuity. Boath stepped away from acting in 2013 and now works as an advertising and marketing professional in London, leaving the role vacant for someone new. Johnston, 30, sits close in age to where an adult Alex O’Connell would land in this timeline, and fans have already floated him as the obvious choice to inherit the part.
Returning to the Fraser era carries less risk than recent attempts to revive the Mummy mythology. Tom Cruise headlined a 2017 reboot meant to launch Universal’s Dark Universe, a shared universe built around classic monster characters. That film earned roughly $410 million worldwide against a budget near $195 million, but a 15% Rotten Tomatoes score and weak domestic returns buried the Dark Universe before a second installment could materialize. Earlier this year, filmmaker Lee Cronin released his own unrelated take on The Mummy through Warner Bros., a low-budget reinvention that grossed $90 million on a $22 million budget and landed a middling 47% critics’ score. Neither effort matched the affection still reserved for Fraser’s adventures. Bringing back the original cast gives the franchise its clearest path back to that goodwill, though pairing them with a newcomer like Johnston signals Universal wants this legacy sequel to offer something beyond nostalgia, and maybe even set the path forward for a new generation to carry on sequels.
The Mummy is scheduled to be released in theaters on October 15, 2027.
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3 Times The Mummy With Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz Confirmed It Was Perfect
