Tom Cruise starred in the 2017 reboot of The Mummy, a project designed to anchor a massive new franchise for Universal Studios. While the film was widely panned upon release, it has recently experienced a surprising resurgence in viewership on Prime Video.
The #4 spot on Prime Video's streaming charts
Despite its initial failure to capture the public's imagination, The Mummy has recently climbed to become the #4 most-streamed movie on Prime Video. according to the report, audiences are returning to the film a decade after its conceptual inception, perhaps driven by a curiosity about one of the few high-profile stumbles in Tom Cruise's otherwise dominant career.
This streaming spike suggests a shift in how audiences consume "critical failures." While the film struggled in theaters, the low-friction environment of Prime Video allows viewers to engage with the movie as a curiosity or a "guilty pleasure," detached from the heavy expectations of a theatrical blockbuster launch.
Universal Studios' failed bid for a Marvel-style monster empire
The 2017 film was never intended to stand alone; it was a proof of concept for the "Dark Universe," an ambitious attempt by Universal Studios to reboot its classic monster properties into a shared cinematic world. As reported, this move was a direct response to the massive success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the early launch of the DC Extended Universe, as studios scrambled to craete their own interconnected mythologies.
Universal Studios had previously attempted a "soft" introduction to this shared world with Dracula Untold, but that effort failed to meet the studio's internal standards for a franchise launch. The subsequent failure of The Mummy effectively killed the Dark Universe before it could expand, leaving the 2017 film as a lonely relic of an era defined by corporate desperation to replicate the Disney formula.
Nick Morton and the cursed tether of Princess Ahmanet
The plot of the film follows U.S. Army Sergeant Nick Morton, played by Tom Cruise, who accidentally awakens the ancient Egyptian Princess Ahmanet, portrayed by Sofia Boutella. The narrative centers on a supernatural bond between Morton and the sorceress, as Ahmanet seeks to use Morton's body to bring her vengeance upon the modern world.
While the premise promised a blend of supernatural horror and action, the execution left many dissatisfied. the film attempts to balance the high-octane energy of a Tom Cruise action flick with the gothic dread of a monster movie, but the result is a tonally confused experience that fails to satisfy fans of either genre.
Why Alex Kurtzman's vision fell short of the Brendan Fraser era
Directed by Alex Kurtzman and released on June 9, 2017, the film struggled to live up to the legacy of the franchise's peak years, specifically the era led by Brendan Fraser. Where the earlier films leaned into adventure and charm, Kurtzman's version felt rushed and overly focused on building a foundation for future movies that would never be made.
Several questions remain regarding the internal collapse of the Dark Universe. It is unclear exactly which executive decisions led to the "rushed" feeling of the production or why Universal Studios believed a PG-13 actiion-comedy tone was the right fit for characters as dark as the classic monsters. Furthermore, the source focuses on the film's failure and current streaming success, but leaves out the specific financial losses incurred by Universal Studios during the project's rollout.
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