Cinematical

It looks like all is not well with Mummy 3. Last week Erik finally confirmed that Rachel Weisz would not be returning to reprise her role as the plucky librarian/adventurer. So while the official reason provided by Weisz's reps was scheduling conflicts and quality time with her family, sources for IESB .net say the real problem might have been the script. Early reviews of the Mummy script weren't favorable, but now IESB's sources say the script is being re-tooled as a father and son adventure to accommodate Weisz's absence -- which sounds a little too close for comfort to some of the ideas bandying around for the latest Indiana Jones. Now titled Mummy 3: Curse of the Dragon, the film leaves Egypt behind (and Oded Fehr for that matter), and is set in China. The story will have our hero, Rick O'Connell, battling cursed Terra Cotta Warriors. Jet Li is still in talks for the film, but consensus seems to be that his signing is pretty much a foregone conclusion.

Weisz had been mentioned as a possible contender for Sin City 2, which according to Rosario Dawson, is shooting this summer. This could lend some weight to the rumor that Weisz is joining Rodrguez's cast and maybe is the source of her "scheduling conflict." Either way, bailing out of Mummy 3 might be the smarter choice, Enough bad word of mouth just might be the final "nail in the sarcophagus" for the franchise. I guess we will have to wait until Summer 2008 to find out.