USA: Film premiere of "The Mummy"

Record ID: 704686

  • Title: USA: Film premiere of "The Mummy"
  • Date: 7th May 1999
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (MAY 4, 1999) (REUTERS TELEVISION) C/U MUMMY C/A PRESS / ZOOM TO CROWD C/U HORSES HOOVES /ZOOM OUT TO CHARIOT M/S ODED FEHR ARRIVING W/S CROWD / ZOOM IN TO BRENDAN FRASER, JOHN HANNAH AND STEPHEN SOMMERS C/A PRESS ODED FEHR AND ARNOLD VOSOO POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS C/A MUMMY POSTER AND SET SOUNDBITE (English) ODED FEHR SAYING "It's very different. The life I led till the age of 21 was very different to the life I'm leading now and I'm sure a lot of my friends from the army would completely agree with me. Would definitely agree with me" SOUNDBITE (English) ARNOLD VOSLOO SAYING "Yeah the effects were quite extraordinary. I mean some of that stuff even the first time I saw it. I'd seen a lot of the composite sketches for it and the first time I saw it on the screen I thought, whoah buddy, what did they do to your face. That looks nasty. It turned out really well, very very well. I'm very pleased, very pleased" M/S JOHN HANNAH HESITATING ON STEPS BEFORE "E!" INTERVIEW SOUNDBITE (English) BRENDAN FRASER SAYING "Hmm, well I'll always throw salt over my shoulder if I spill a salt shaker, just because I think its funny. But aside from that I'm a real sort of see it to believe it kind of guy" SOUNDBITE (English) STEPHEN SOMMERS SAYING "Not at all, as long as the projector doesn;t rip any of the perfs and the film keeps rolling, I'll be very happy, I'll be fine. No superstitious here" SOUNDBITE (English) ODED FEHR SAYING "I like to think that I'm not but its very difficult not to be you know. I've got my little hicks and things that you know. It's difficult to take this Egypt and the history and not to wonder how it came about. It raises so many questions and so many things happen in our imagination that no wonder the mummy came about" SOUNDBITE (English) ARNOLD VOSLOO SAYING "Not at all. Not at all superstitious. Don't have any superstitions, not even weird actory superstitions. None of that" W/S PEOPLE GOING INTO THE THEATRE / PAN TO UNIVERSAL SIGN
  • Embargoed: 22nd May 1999 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz
  • Reuters ID: LVA6TY4PYO8QMDU690V036TDFOO4
  • Story Text: The new version of "The Mummy" premiered in Los Angeles on Tuesday night (May 4) at Universal Studios.The film, which stars Brendan Fraser is Stephen Sommers' baby, who wrote and directed the epic remake.
    Legionnaire Rick O'Connell (Brendan Fraser) almost comes a cropper when he accidentally stumbles across the lost ruins of Hamunaptra.A bloody battle with local bandits leaves all but him and his sidekick Beni (Kevin J.O'Connor) dead.
    Some years later, Egyptologist Evelyn (Rachel Weisz) and her brother, Jonathan (John Hannah) set off in search of the hidden treasure of Hamunaptra.When they discover that Rick knows where the ruins are, they enlist his help.Which is just well since he's on death row awaiting execution.
    A rival group of archaeologists are also in search of the treasure with Rick's old pal Beni at the helm.But whereas the motive for Evelyn, Jonathan and Rick is above board, their American competitors are only in it for the money.
    Legend has it that the Mummy (Arnold Vosloo)protects the gold of Hamunaptra and if disturbed he will release the ten plagues of Egypt over all the land.
    But greed is uppermost in the minds of the Americans and they take no notice of the famous curse of the Mummy.
    One by one they are subjected to the curse of the Mummy and suffer excrutiating deaths.
    Evelyn bears a remarkable resemblance to the Mummy's lover in his former life and he kidnaps her with the intention of sacrificing her in order to bring his ex back to life.
    Rick and Jonathan are forced to resort to desperate measures to try to rescue Evelyn and send the Mummy back to his desert grave once and for all.
    Stephen Sommers' version of "The Mummy" has been simmering away in his head since he "watched the original on tv when he was a kid.He was truly captured by the exotic locations and adventure as well as the horror" But when he actually got around to rewriting the screenplay, he was a lot older and decided that to make it "fast paced, exciting and adventurousin the nineties, it needed state of the art special effects"
    That up to the minute technology proved to be something of "a challenge to Brendan Fraser.He soon realised that just by swinging his sword too high or stepping off his mark by a couple of inches could ruin a shot that had been planned for weeks or even months"
    The sun claimed its victims too.The Mummy was filmed mostly in Morocco and "having a shaved head for the film brought out deep and heartfelt sympathy from Arnold Vosloo for anyone who was bald"
    Technology, sun and sand were the least of Rachel Weisz' worries, it was the bugs that got to the young actress.
    "Despite snake and scorpion wranglers, two crew members were shipped off to hospital when they got bitten, then to cap it all Rachel spent most nights killing cockroaches in the bathroom of her hotel"
    "The sound of them being crushed was almost more than she could bear, but singing to herself helped take her mind off things"
    Tuesday nights' premiere was a grand affair.Belly dancers, camels, a mummy and horse drawn chariots kept press and fans amused as they waited for the stars to arrive.
    When they did, they were like long lost friends, posing for photos and waving to the crowd.
    For some, it was all a bit overwhelming.Oded Fehr "used to be in the Israeli army, which is definitely a long way from Hollywood" and Arnold Vosloo confessed that "he got a bit of a shock when he saw how nasty he looked in the final cut, even though he's seen the composite sketches" And although he was obviously having a good time, it all seemed just a little bit confusing for John Hannah.
    Or maybe it was just another curse of the mummy.Some of the actors were adamant that superstitions were a lot of nonsense, but others were more inclined to "throw salt over their shoulder just in case"
    The Mummy opens in theatres across the United States on Friday May 7, 1999.
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