"New Girl" star Jake Johnson has joined Tom Cruise in "The Mummy" reboot. Universal Studios is planning a series of reboots of shared monster films.
An exclusive report from Hollywood Reporter reveals that Jake Johnson from the TV series "New Girl" will join the cast of "The Mummy," which is slated to be released next year. As of now, Tom Cruise and Sofia Boutella are already on board the movie. There are rumors of Annabelle Wallis joining in the film too. She is rumored to take the role of Rachel Weisz as an archeologist in the story.
The rising trend of interconnected characters across film and TV series based on comic books inspired Universal Studios to create their own shared monster universe, reports Screen Rant. Universal Studios have already plans to reboot "Dracula," "Van Helsing," "The Bride of Frankenstein" and "The Invisible Man." The studio plans on showing one monster film each year and it will reportedly kick off with "The Mummy."
"The Mummy" will be a modern-day story with Tom Cruise playing the role of a former Navy SEAL who encounters the resurrected Egyptian. Screen Rant further tells that there will be a gender twist to the original story -- Sofia Boutella of "Kingsman: The Secret Service" will play the role of the mummy. According to Donna Langley, Universal Studios chairman, the film is set out to be an action film rather than horror. The Studio is aiming for a PG-13 rating.
In a role written specifically for Johnson, he will play a member of the military alongside Cruise, The Hollywood Reporter reveals. Johnson also starred in the blockbuster hit, Jurassic World. The "New Girl" actor also made appearances in comedy hits like "21 Jump Street," "Neighbors," "Let's be Cops" and "A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas," per to Screen Rant.
"The Mummy" reboot will be directed by Alex Kurtzman who also helmed "Transformers" and "Star Trek Into Darkness." The movie is set to open in theaters on June 9, 2017.
