Perhaps sensing that the dough was going to rise (ha!) on this puppy, Papa John's Pizza is sponsoring the new trailer for The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor over on director Rob Cohen's blog, in preparation for the three-quel's forthcoming premiere on big screens and large pizza boxes everywhere come August 1.

Anyway, what's the difference between this new trailer and the one we got just a month back? Not all that much, really, which means that the film still looks to be an improvement over its noxiously overblown predecessor. Yes, after seven years, Brendan Fraser's character remains vocal about his wearying habit of fighting mummies. No, you're not crazy, Rachel Weisz isn't just bearing a passing resemblance to Maria Bello. Sure, their son seems to have aged ahead just enough to be both handsome and cocky in equal measure.

But all qualms aside, it isn't often when one gets to say that a movie looks to have a cooler Yeti than it does a three-headed dragon, so check out Cohen's blog for that trailer and other behind-the-scenes material, and here's to hoping that the film itself manages to be the most entertaining action-adventure blockbuster surrogate for the Indiana Jones franchise since... well, last month.

When you woke up this morning, tell me you weren't thinking the following: "I'm still alive and that's great, but it'd be better if at some point throughout the day I could take a look at a pic of some guy flying through the air with a knife." Above is one of several new pics from the upcoming third Mummy installment currently titled The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. They popped up over at the Russian site Filmz.ru, as do a lot of movie pics (which makes me wonder what the Russians are doing that allows them access to all this great stuff). I could be wrong, and I passed this by a few Cinematical writers before drafting this post up, but I believe that's Brendan Fraser doing his best "I'll cut you fool" impression. Either it's Fraser, as Rick, or Luke Ford, as Rick's son Alex. And if it's neither of them, then I don't know what to tell you.

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor shall follow our favorite Mummy adventurers Rick (Fraser) and Evelyn (this time played by Maria Bello), along with their son Alex (Ford) as they travel to the Far East where they uncover a mummy of the first Emperor of Qin (Jet Li). Only problem is this mummy is some sort of shape-shifting entity that was cursed by a wizard (Michelle Yeoh) centuries ago. I take it things will get messy for our heroes from there. Additionally, you can keep tabs on the film by checking out director Rob Cohen's Mummy blog which he frequently updates with all sorts of tidbits from the set. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is due out in theaters on August 1, 2008.

Looking at this new promo still for The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, I now realize what the first two Mummy movies were missing: martial arts! Never mind the fact that Jet Li looks awesome in this shot. I'm just excited because there's no possible way that Brendan Fraser (aka "Rick O'Connell") is going to get out of this fight alive. Imagine how great this sequel would be if Fraser got his ass kicked. Yeah, unfortunately, Fraser probably does win the battle somehow. Or if he does get served in this scene, he will win out in the end. In that case: poor Jet Li. How could he ever live with himself if he's seen on the big screen defeated by the guy who played George of the Jungle and Dudley Do-Right?

The photo comes courtesy of Rob Cohen, the sequel's director, who has been blogging the production ever since shooting began over a month ago. Since, we have seen a photo of "the Terracotta Army" and a photo of Maria Bello, who took over the part of "Evy" after Rachel Weisz dropped out. There have also been some videos on the blog, including footage of Fraser shooting at a river, falling out of a tree and throwing himself in some mud. And if you are really excited about the martial arts, you will want to check out the video about the stunt team, which doesn't feature any actual fighting but is still interesting enough. Say what you will about Cohen's directorial skills, he may in fact be better than Stephen Sommers at least, and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is sure to be the coolest installment of the series. Unless, that is, they decide to follow tradition and give us some really terrible CGI at the end. Pray that Jet Li doesn't end up rendered out of sand in the end.

Someone heavily involved with the third Mummy film must be screwing, er, working for someone over there at TMZ, because the celebrity gossip site has been all over this film for months. First, they told the world that Fast and the Furious director Rob Cohen was being released from development jail (after spending some time locked up following the atrocity that was Stealth) to helm Mummy 3. And now, TMZ has miraculously learned that Rachel Weisz has decided to ditch the project in order to a) attach herself to something a little less tacky and b) spend more time with her brand new baby boy.

Shall I make the joke? Why not. Yes, Weisz has dropped out of Mummy to be more of a Mommy. There! Happy! While it's certainly a serious blow to the film, sources say all is not lost ... yet. Brendan Fraser and Jet Li are still signed on to star, and Cohen will indeed helm. Seeing as the third film will reportedly revolve heavily around the trouble-seeking son of Rick and Evy, perhaps losing Weisz isn't such a big deal after all. With a quick rewrite, her character could be conveniently somewhere else while all the action is taking place. No word yet on whether Weisz will replace Mummy 3 with another film, though TMZ says her name is circling four other projects. Do you think she left because of baby issues or script issues? After all, one recent script review said the pic was a "blatant rip-off of Indiana Jones," featuring some of the worst "on-the-nose" dialogue" the writer had ever seen. Yikes, that's can't be good.

*Update: Variety has confirmed Weisz's departure.