dpEXCLUSIVE: Numan Acar (Young Sherlock) has inked a deal to join The Mummy, the next installment in the action-adventure franchise from Universal Pictures. Also newly locked are a pair of franchise veterans, Kevin J. O’Connor and Oded Fehr.
Both O’Connor and Fehr were introduced in 1999’s The Mummy, with Fehr reprising in 2001’s The Mummy Returns. O’Connor played Beni Gabor, a former French Foreign Legion comrade of Brendan Fraser’s Rick O’Connell turned conman and servant of the resurrected Egyptian high priest Imhoptep. Fehr played Ardeth Bay, the leader of the secret society of elite warriors known as the Medjai who are sworn to protect Egypt from the franchise’s undead antagonist. No word yet on who Acar will play.
The new Mummy‘s plot is being kept under wraps. Revolving around one of the studio’s original movie monsters of the early 20th century, the Mummy films of the ’90s and 2000s followed the overseas adventures of Fraser’s roguish American adventurer, O’Connell, who alongside English Egyptologist Evelyn Carnahan (Weisz), battled ancient curses from the likes of Imhotep.
Fraser returns for the new film, along with Rachel Weisz and John Hannah. Obsession‘s Michael Johnston is a new addition.
Radio Silence’s Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett are directing from a script by David Coggeshall (The Family Plan, Orphan: First Kill), with a wide release date of October 15, 2027 locked in.
Franchise veteran Sean Daniel is producing alongside William Sherak, James Vanderbilt and Paul Neinstein of Project X Entertainment, as well as Clayton Townsend, with Fraser and Hivemind’s Jason F. Brown exec producing.
Executive Vice President of Production Development Jay Polidoro and Director of Production Development Jacqueline Garell will oversee the production for Universal.
Acar is a Turkish-German actor who first gained recognition with American audiences as Hassaim Haqqani on Showtime’s Homeland. More recently in television, he’s been seen on Amazon’s Young Sherlock and Netflix’s Legends. Upcoming, he’ll be seen in Terrence Malick’s The Way of the Wind and Liam Neeson action-thriller The Fix. He is repped by D2 Management and Accelerate.
With more than 35 features to his name, O’Connor’s breakout role was in Francis Ford Coppola’s Peggy Sue Got Married. Best known for roles in The Mummy, Deep Rising, Van Helsing, There Will Be Blood, The Master and Widows, he played Lt. Colonel Korn in Hulu’s Catch-22 and most recently recurred on Showtime’s On Becoming a God in Central Florida. He is repped by Innovative Artists Entertainment.
Israeli actor Fehr recently appeared in the biblical drama House of David and currently recurs on Apple TV+’s Your Friends & Neighbors. He’s also recently been seen on Star Trek: Starfleet Academy and Star Trek: Discovery and is also repped by Innovative Artists.
