With Mummy 4 filming expected to begin very soon, John Hannah has spoken exclusively about the long-awaited sequel, telling Digital Spy that the script is ‘terrific’ and that the whole reunion feels like anything but a cynical cash-in.
Hannah, who plays the bumbling Jonathan Carnahan across the original trilogy, gave the interview at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, where his first-person action-thriller Bad Day at the Office was having its world premiere. It is a setting that underlines just how busy he remains, and yet the conversation kept returning to the film that, by his own admission, still surprises him with its hold on people.
What John Hannah said about the Mummy 4 script
‘I read the script, and the script is terrific,’ Hannah told Digital Spy. He was quick to address the worry many fans will have quietly harboured: is this just a nostalgia grab? ‘My only reservations were about, is it a kind of cynical rehash just to get the audience back in the cinema,’ he said. ‘But in fact, the script is so good and the directors have got such energy. They’ll bring something new and fresh to it.’
He was equally effusive in a second pass at the same point. ‘They’re not going to settle for some rehashed [thing]. The script is always the starting point and it’s bloody funny, it’s bloody good, so I’m really looking forward to it.’ Enthusiasm like that, delivered twice in the same conversation, is not nothing.
The film will be directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, the filmmaking duo behind Scream VI and Ready or Not. On the cast, Hannah was warm about the whole ensemble. ‘Brendan [Fraser] is an incredibly brilliant, creative leading actor with an Oscar, Rachel [Weisz is] the same. We’re all still friends, I talk to Oded [Fehr], I talk to Arnold [Vosloo] regularly, Patricia [Velásquez] as well. Rachel’s the only one I haven’t seen for a while.’
It is worth noting that Hannah originally turned down a part in the first film twice, describing his former self as ‘pretentious and serious’. He came around eventually, and the role became one of the most beloved comic turns of the late 1990s.
Cast, producers and when Mummy 4 filming will reach cinemas
Beyond the returning faces, Kevin J O’Connor is reported to be back, which is its own puzzle given that his character was killed in the original film. Numan Acar and Michael Johnston are also joining the cast, though what roles they will play has not yet been revealed.
On the production side, Deadline reported that Sean Daniel will produce alongside William Sherak, James Vanderbilt and Paul Neinstein of Project X Entertainment. Universal confirmed its plans for the project in November 2025, according to IMDb.
Scheduling has already shifted in the sequel’s favour. Bloody Disgusting reported that the release date was moved up from 19 May 2028 to 15 October 2027, suggesting Universal has genuine confidence in where the production is headed.
Hannah also touched on something that clearly caught him off guard: the enduring devotion the original film commands. ‘I did a convention for the first time recently and I was thinking, “Who’s going to be interested in The Mummy? It was 30 years ago,”‘ he said. ‘But the number of people who watch it as their go-to happy film, they watch it with their grandparents or their parents, they weren’t even born when it first came out, but the number of people who it means something to, that was really actually quite humbling.’
He returned to the thought a second time, with what sounded like genuine surprise still fresh in it. ‘You don’t think it means so much to people, it was really humbling how much it meant to people and how excited they were by it. It’s extraordinary.’
Hannah can currently be seen in Benidorm Is Murder, and has also starred in Four Weddings and a Funeral. He spoke to Digital Spy as part of coverage of the Edinburgh International Film Festival.
The Mummy 4 is set for release on 15 October 2027.
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