‘Mummy’ shows more of Boutella’s creepy villain
‘Annabelle’ reveals origin of Conjuring’s cursed doll
LOS ANGELES, April 3, (RTRS): Don’t mess with an angry mummy.
Universal dropped the terrifying new trailer for its latest take on “The Mummy” on Sunday, which shows Sofia Boutella’s evil mummy, Ahmanet, on a quest to swallow the earth. But don’t worry — she won’t if Tom Cruise has anything to say about it.
Cruise’s Nick Morton unearths Ahmanet from her crypt, and, as seen in the first trailer, dies in a plane crash while trying to transport the mummy. However, he’s resurrected himself, and is joined by Annabelle Wallis’ Jenny Halsey and Jake Johnson’s Sgt Vail on his quest to stop Ahmanet from destroying the world.
“She will not stop until she makes our world her own,” says Russell Crowe’s Dr Jekyll of Ahmanet in the new footage.
The trailer debuted earlier this week at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, where stars revealed to theater owners that Cruise did 64 takes in zero gravity for the plane crash sequence.
“We jump off buildings ... and Tom really does it all,” said Johnson. “My character dies. I almost died.”
Alex Kurtzman directed “The Mummy” from a script by Jon Spaihts. Kurtzman also produced with Chris Morgan and Sean Daniel. Courtney B. Vance also stars.
“The Mummy” will hit theaters on June 9.
The haunting new trailer for “Annabelle: Creation,” released on Sunday, gives an origin story to the titular cursed doll.
“Creation,” which is a prequel to 2014’s “Annabelle” — itself a prequel to the 2013 hit “The Conjuring” — takes us to the dollmaker who first created the toy that would become a demonic conduit, along with her husband. After tragically losing their own child, the couple takes in a nun and a group of girls, who can be seen being terrorized by the evil spirit in the trailer.
“The contact started small, but then it wanted permission to move into a doll so that it could be with us forever,” explains Miranda Otto in the footage.
The previous film, directed by John R. Leonetti, followed a couple that was plagued by Annabelle after welcoming the doll into their home. “Lights Out” helmer David F. Sandberg takes over directing duties for “Annabelle: Creation.”
Produce
“The Conjuring” and “The Conjuring 2” director James Wan returns to produce “Annabelle: Creation,” reteaming with Sandberg after working with him as a producer on “Lights Out.” The cast includes Talitha Bateman, Stephanie Sigman, Philippa Anne Coulthard, Lulu Wilson, Lou Lou Safran, Grace Fulton, Tayler Buck, Samara Lee, and Anthony LaPaglia.
Although none of the stars of “Smurfs: The Lost Village” wore the signature white Smurf hat when they walked the carpet for the film’s world premiere, it seemed like almost everyone else in the crowd did.
For a few hours on Saturday morning, the area in front of the ArcLight Culver City was transformed into a colorful Smurfs-themed street fair in honor of Sony’s animated feature. Under the shadow of a colorful bounce house, families had fun with carnival games and free food for a few hours before being treated to a show when many of the film’s stars, including Demi Lovato, Joe Manganiello, and Danny Pudi, made their arrivals.
Culver City, celebrating its centennial this year, did not hold back in celebrating its first world premiere in the city’s hundred-year history. Mayor Jim Clarke, proudly wearing a white smurfs hat, even officially declared one of the streets in the fair to be renamed Smurfs Lane for the day. The stars of the film, who all arrived on the top deck of a sightseeing tour bus, walked the carpet and talked about their enthusiasm for both the film’s premiere and the unique nature of the festival being held in the film’s honor.
Pudi, who plays Brainy Smurf in the film, talked about his excitement in sharing the movie with his children. “It’s something that I can share with my kids right now. They’re five years old, this is the first premiere I’m taking them to being together as a family. It feels really cool to share that,” said Pudi. “And the fact that I get to be Brainy Smurf and identifiable makes it real easy to point and say, ‘I’m that one. I’m the blue one without a shirt with glasses.’”
The film, unlike previous Smurfs movies, is fully animated, and many of the actors expressed their enthusiasm with the creative freedom that the medium affords. Jack McBrayer, who plays Clumsy Smurf, talked about the change and what it meant for the film. “With animation you can do anything, and the story that this one has followed is pretty spectacular,” McBrayer said. “It has some great messages for kids and parents, and it’s a beautiful movie.”