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In this episode of pop Culture Weekly, I have Lee
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Cronin on to discuss Lee Cronin's The Mummy.
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Let's go Welcome to pop Culture Weekly with Kyle McMahon
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from iHeartRadio your pop culture news, views, reviews and celebrity
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interviews on all the movies, TV, music and pop culture
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u Crab Weekly. Here's Kyle MCMAHONNTT.
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Nan Nett, Hello, and welcome to pop Culture Weekly with
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Kyle McMahon. I of course am Kyle McMahon, and this
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is the show where we celebrate pop culture, question our
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life choices, and occasionally unwrap something that absolutely should have
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stayed buried. Today it is all about Lee Cronan's The Mummy.
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I saw this and it is so good. It is
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so scary. Lee Cronan is a genius, And you know
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the Mummy. It's one of those characters that's basically been
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rebooted like more times than all of our abilities to
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make good decisions combined. You go all the way back
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to the classic universal Monster era, you know, the original
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The Mummy. They were like kind of slow, haunting and
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tragic and kind of genuinely unsettling, and there were some
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sequels and all that and then you know, you move
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flash forward to the nineties, which was basically like what
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if you know, this horror movie was also a roller coaster,
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which honestly it's iconic.
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No notes.
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I love those The Mummy movies. Those were like, you know,
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the Mummy movies when I was a kid, and of
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course I love the Mummy. Rye at Universal Studios. And
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then we got the modern action version, which felt less
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like The Mummy and more like Mission Sandstorm. But through
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all of that, you know, somewhere along the way, we
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kind of lost what makes the Mummy actually scary. You know,
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it went from this horror franchise to something else, and
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the Mummy it's not just a monster, you know, it's history.
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It's something ancient, something cursed, something that was never supposed
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to come back. And that's what makes this new version
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Lee Cronin's The Mummy so freaking interesting because it feels
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like we're going back to that idea. It's not, you know,
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bigger just for the sake of being bigger, louder, but
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it is more dark, it's more intimate, it's more uncomfortable,
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the kind of horror that doesn't just jump out at you,
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but it like kind of sits there waiting and then
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you realize, oh, sh nikes, this is terrifying, which is exactly,
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you know, for me, what I believe how the Mummy
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movies should be. So let's hop right into it. I'm
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talking with director writer Lee Cronin, who, if you've been
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paying attention to the show or horror, he has already
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proven that he knows how to take something familiar and
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make it feel completely unhinged, but like in the best
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way possible, you know what I mean. He's got a
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real understanding I would say, of tension and atmosphere, but
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more importantly, in my opinion, he knows how to make
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horror feel personal, which is exactly what the Mummy needs,
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because it's not. In my opinion, the Mummy shouldn't just
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be this like spectacle. It really has to feel like
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something is wrong, like something ancient is here in the present.
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So I talk with Lee about stepping into a legacy
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like the Mummy, what drew him to it, and how
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you honor you know, all of the films that have
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come before, but without being trapped by it, if that
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makes sense, And how do you bring a character like
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the Mummy back in a way that actually means something today.
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So we're going to jump right into it here. He
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is Lee Cronin. First of all, thank you so much
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for speaking with me.
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Lee.
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I love your work, I love your career, and I
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can't wait to talk about the Mummy. But I want
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to go back first, if that's okay with you. Absolutely
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my pleasure looking forward to our conversation. Awesome. So when
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you look back before any of you know this, what
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kind of filmmaker did you think that you would end
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up being?
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Oh wow, that's a good question, I guess because I'm
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still on the journey, I suppose. Look, I was a
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child of Amblin, definitely big Spielberg fan. My focus was
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always on entertaining and engaging audiences in dark rooms, and
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I think I was quite genre agnostic when I kind
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of started out in terms of like what I like
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to watch. I was a big, obviously big horror fan.
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But you know, probably when it was really clicking for me,
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when I was you know, like fifteen or whatever, and
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be like I'm really going to do this, I would
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be watching Reservoir Dogs over and over again and trying
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to write flashy dialogue that way. So the influence is
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kind of wax and way and as time goes by.
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But I think my focus has always been on on
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the spectacular, the event, whatever it might be, whether that's
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a small, simple story and it's a story that captures
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everybody's imagination in a particular way, or it's a big,
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glossy four quadrant movie. You know, I love my family
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films as well, So I don't know if I'm quite
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answering what you've asked, which is who did I think
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I'd be? But I guess I always hoped for big, noisy, loud,
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splashy movies was the hope, and I'm trying to push
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that direction as often as I can.
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I love that. And you know you have talked before
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in the past about being drawn to darker stories. What
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is it about horror specifically? That kind of is your
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I don't want to say your love language, but you're
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you know, speaks to you, if you will, a very
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dark love language.
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I think like there's a couple of aspects to it
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that certainly drew me personally in One of them is
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how it engages people. And that engagement for me came
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through my observations and I was very small watching my
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family and my siblings react to horror movies and thinking, WHOA,
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And when you're the youngest, and there's a big age
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gap in my family, when you're the youngest, you think,
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so that's how you get people's attention, That's how you
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get the grown ups attention. And I would somewhat be
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the clown in my family, and you know, sometimes the
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clown can tell a dark joke or do a dark thing.
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So I was definitely drawn from that point of view
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of like this, if you want to tell a story
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and you want to move people in some way, like
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you can be moved emotionally, you can be moved physically,
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and horror kind of felt that felt a very appropriate
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way of communicating and kind of getting I said, getting
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people's attention, because that's what it's all about, even if
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you bring it all the way to now, it's like
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you've got.
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To get people's attention so that they go to theaters. Yeah,
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And you know, one of the things that I think
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is interesting. I'm a huge horror above obviously. I mean
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I love all film, but especially horror. And I think,
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you know, especially being in this business, I've learned and
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I think it's getting better now. But I've learned that
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a lot of people have had in the past at
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least a very almost snotty attitude towards horror. And I
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find that, you know, artists like yourself and Jordan Peel
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and you know, people like that Mia Da Costa and
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stuff that are making these kind of more thought provoking
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you know, some call it elevated horror or whatever, brings respect,
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you know to this genre that I feel And look,
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you know, I'm one who loves the bad B movie,
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you know, crazy killer whatever movie as well. But there's
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there's that kind of movie in every genre, right and
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I feel like with horror, it you know it kind
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of people tend to go to that. And you've you
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and some of these other creators that I've mentioned have
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kind of brought this pastiche whatever that word is to
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the genre, which I think is so important. And now
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you look at the Oscars and you have something like
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Sinners and you know an Aunt Gladys. Yeah.
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Amazing, yeah, amazing to see. Like, like for me, it's funny.
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I was chatting some people the other day and it
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was actually with Jason Blum at the time, and we
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were doing some interviews and we were talking about like horrors,
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you know, become much more mainstream in a lot of ways,
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but without necessarily losing its teeth. I think that's important.
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And I was reflecting on and I used to work
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in a video store when I was in film school,
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like many moons ago, and yeah, of course the horror
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section was always kind of buried in some way. But
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I was thinking, now, if video stores were open again,
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which I wish they were, you'd probably walk in and
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be hit by a wall of horror as the first thing,
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you know. But the joy of it is the fact
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that it's really working from a theatrical experience point of view.
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And to me, that's where my focus always lies. As
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I said, is those is the dark room, the opening night,
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the collective experience which horror really presents itself for. But
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also I think as well, just there is incredible filmmaking craft,
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and it's there's some you know, we can also look
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backwards and look at a movie like Rosemary's Baby, which
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is a stunning piece of cinema classic at its own right.
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And sure there are horror movies that are maybe less
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about the film craft and maybe more just about all
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the gags that are trying to be is there all
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of the special effects that are there. I've always been
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interested in kind of blending the two. That's bringing it
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back to the earlier question in terms of where my
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compass has been pointed. Is definitely wanting to paint on
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a big canvas. And I'm quite excited for people to
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see this movie because there is it's visually, it's really
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fun in terms of how I've captured the imagery, where
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like we use these probe lenses which allowed me to
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do crazy super close up work, like right in like
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put literally put the lens of centimeter from someone's eyeball.
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But then we also have these incredibly vast, beautiful landscapes
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as well in the movie, these like these these stunning
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cinematic wide shots, and I often feel for me like
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horror movies for me are kind of told in the
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wide and the close because it's about the gnarly detail.
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But then it's also sometimes about just looking at something
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and going, well, what's in that corner? When you can
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see a little bit wider in those circumstances. But yeah,
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there's you know, incredible filmmakers who are who are making
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incredible movies inside the genre space, and I think Now
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what's fun is that we're not just getting audiences to
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the cinema just because they're gonna have a jump scare
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or you know, throw their popcorner screen. They get that,
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plus they get treated to real cinematic visual kind of
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you know, well treats, you know, really really beautiful movies.
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What creatively scares you.
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When I approach something like as in what scares me
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in terms of like can I do this? Or how
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do I do it?
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Exactly?
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Yea, yeah, everything, I think repeating a trick in a way.
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And that's not to say you won't do something similar
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to how you've done before, because if you're thinking of
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yourself a little bit when you're making a horror movie
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like a magician with a box of tricks or tools
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that you want to play with, of course there's you're
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gonna use the same type of slide of hand, or
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you're gonna you might have the same set up, put
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a different prestige to your trick. But I think for me,
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I never want my work to feel episodic. I always
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want to feel like it's building on what's happened before,
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and and that that leads into even though the work
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that I do does contain body horror and gore and
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blood and things like that. At times, for me, I
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don't let it define the story that I'm trying to tell,
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because whilst I'll do something really gnarly or crazy, I'm
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really interested in impressing you with that, but then moving
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on to the next trick. What's the next thing we
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can do? So that's why my work, although it might
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make burn into your eyes for a moment in terms
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of something really visceral, I also I'm not trying to
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punish you in any way, shape or form. I actually
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then maybe want to pull you over here and make
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you laugh or make you kind of grimace then a
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moment later. And I think that probably brings all the
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way back to the kid in me just trying to
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say and then, and then and then and impress my
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siblings in some way, shape or form. You know what
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about this trick? What about this trick? So yeah, I
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think what what I what I what I fear is
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is never building on what comes before. And I think
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this movie, what's very interesting about it is that it
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has a big mystery angle, it has a strong family drama.
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It's terrifying, but it's also fun it's a fun thrill ride.
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Even just today, I went to approve the movie in
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forty X, and I didn't realize how good this movie
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would be in forty X because it is a thrill ride.
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It's fun, you know, And I think what I'm really
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excited for audience to experience as well was going on
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the ride, getting to know these characters, letting me pull
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you into a lot of dark corners and freak you
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out in certain ways and make you wonder and make
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you think and make you tense, and then strap in
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for the last thirty forty minutes of the movie because
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you're gonna be held by the throat all the way.
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All right, Lee, What I love about this is you
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can really feel the intention behind it. It's not just
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let's remake the Mummy. It's let's make the Mummy matter again.
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We're gonna take a quick sixty second break to pay
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the bills, so when we come back, we're diving deeper
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into Lee Cronin's the Mummy. What makes this version different
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and why it's I think the one that's gonna stick
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with you. Don't go anywhere see in sixty All right,
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Welcome back to Pop Culture Weekly. We're here with the
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incredible Lee Cronan talking all things Lee Cronan's The Mummy.
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So do you feel you know, there there's a legacy
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with I don't want to say the story or the character,
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but with the Mummy, you know, dating back to the
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classic universal monster movies. Do you feel any pressure? You know?
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And I know this is this is its own world
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and its own thing, but do you feel any pressure
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for that? You know, you had the unrelated movies with
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Brendan Fraser and that sort of thing, and this is
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very much your movie, you know, very much. So yeah,
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but do you feel any kind of pressure with that
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at all? Or are you able to be like, no,
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this is Lee Cronin's The Mummy and this is what
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it is.
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Yeah. I would never, for a moment ever want to
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send arrogant and answering a question like this. But that's
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not the type of thing that I feel pressure from.
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I feel pressure from my own choices that I kind
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of make in terms of, oh my god, am I
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doing this right? I'm I going to entertain the audience.
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Here is the story good, here is the performance right?
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If I reflect back on Evil Dead Evil Dead Rise,
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you know that was a question I'd get asked, did
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you feel any pressure, and you know, in making this
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and taking it on, and I was like, the actual
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any pressure I felt in relation to the fact that
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it was this existing title that everybody loves, was being
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afforded the opportunity and not finding a story that I
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wanted to tell, so the pressure to say yes versus
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saying no. And thankfully I found the story I wanted
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to tell. So with this film as well, I kind
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of like the challenge more. It's more how I take
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a challenge on then feel pressure was Oh my god,
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we could make the most terrifying Mummy movie that's ever
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been made, and it very much felt like a challenge
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accepted thing for me. And whilst I have great reverence
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for the movies that went before, they're all super different.
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I'm as interested in the actual history and my interest
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as a kid in Egyptology as much as movies. So
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I keep saying it. You know, mummies were around long
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before we had cameras, so from that point of view,
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it didn't really get under my skin. And the pressure
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that I feel is can I deliver you something really
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really fresh. That's where the pressure comes in.
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And when do you get to a point where you
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can answer.
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That question, as in, have I delivered? I guess we
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live in a world where the opening weekend of a
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movie counts for a lot in terms of that. I think, truthfully,
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I actually got to very fortunately have I got to
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answer that question a couple of weeks ago. So when
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you're finishing a film, it can be in a lot
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of separate components towards the end of the process. So
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in the in the in the I think I finished
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the film maybe about three weeks, yeah, about three weeks ago,
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fully fully finished, And the couple of months preceding that,
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I'd see the movie so many times from an editorial
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point of view, visual effects point of view, color correction
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point of view, sound mix, all of these things. So
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I tended to be observing the movie for one particular
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facet of what the film currently was as opposed to
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the full show. And it, strangely enough, because we were
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racing to get it finished, as is often the case,
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and you've got a release date, it wasn't until I
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went to approve the IMAX version of the movie that
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I actually saw my completed work in full ever, basically
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fully completed, no more changes, because when I signed off
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the film, I would have been signing off the last
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thing you do is is with the sound miix. But
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I'm looking at low res picture and I walk away
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and it's like, Okay, we're done, because I looked at
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the picture yesterday and I was happy with it, but
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it didn't have the right sound on the movie. At
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that point, I watched it in Imax with some people
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that I really trust and care about, and I went
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in just being like, oh, I got to watch this
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again like the thirtieth time in the last month or whatever,
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and it actually did make me stop and pause and go,
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oh shit, this is the movie that you really wanted
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to make. This is it. You actually have put your
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vision on screen, And that was a lovely moment. So
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I just hope audiences can share in that and enjoy
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the story that I tried to tell and how I
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tried to tell it. And I do know that people
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that like my work or even love my work, will
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really enjoy the film. But beyond that, there's a lot
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to discover in terms of the mystery, the detective angle
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and I said, and the kind of dark humor, the
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levity and just the fun time of the movies. You know,
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you look different when you come out of the film.
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As I was trying to promise that you'll be sweat here,
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your neat hair won't be as nice as it was,
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your collar button will be open. And that's what I'm
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trying to do is make sure that you spend your
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hard earned money, go to the theater, and then you
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come out a little bit different.
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I love that so much, especially as a movie buff
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and as a fan of your work. And you know,
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couldn't be better. Said, what do you think is the
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biggest misconception about this film right now?
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I think people will always have a frame of reference
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for what they think a movie with a mummy should be.
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But having said that, it just it's generational. You know,
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there's people that look backly even or people depending on
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what their taste is. Like me and myself and James
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Wan have talked a lot about where our preferences lie.
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And he loves, you know, he loves the Hammer Mummy movies.
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That's that's where when he thinks about it, I think,
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I think there's always going to be those thoughts around,
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you know. Steven Sommer's movie, which again is an action
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adventure film and obviously Brendan Fraser is you know, is
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an amazing actor and a brilliant character in those movies,
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and they're really entertaining in their way. And I actually
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never feared there being a misconception. Even from the marketing
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of the film. We thought a great opportunity to change perception,
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not give people more of the same, even if they
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think it might be. And early responses to the movie
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when people have seen it recently, they come in and
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they go, holy shit, I was not expecting that, and
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I go, okay, excellent, that's what we want. You know,
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that's what we want.
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How far were you you knows, as you're filming, you know,
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how far did you push it tonally? You know, where
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did you find a balance between like Okay, I don't
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want to go that far and okay, this is enough
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to get my point across.
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Yeah, tone to me is everything I think. And one
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of the you we spoke a little bit earlier about,
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you know, pressure, things that you might fear in terms
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of approaching your work. Definitely, getting the tonal balance right
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in this movie was the type of thing that would
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be always ticking as a major thought in my mind
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because I was blending I've described this movie as Seven
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meet Poltergeist, and they're not necessarily obvious bedfellows. But if
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you take the tension and some of the kind of
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the weird, offbeat darkness of Seven and the detective angles,
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and then you bring in the heart and the hope
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and the missing kid aspect of Poultergeist, there actually is
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a crossover that you could create, which at least what
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I was trying to do, I think tonally, like again,
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I never want to punish anybody with the stuff that
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I make. I want you to have a good time,
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and sometimes I have a good time. You have to
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be scared, you know, in a crazy like I'm really
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bad with roller coasters, but like if I go on one,
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I still have a good time because it's a terrifying experience,
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but it's something that's real and it's happened. So for me,
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I said, I'll stick the knife in, but I won't
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twist it endlessly. That's the thing, and that's always the
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little kind of test for me. And there are some
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strong emotional moments in this movie as well, and people
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do feel it, you know. I think depending on how
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you like your horror films, I think with this movie.
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You can go in and you can experience terror. I
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think you can experience laughter, and you can you can
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definitely be moved because at the heart of it all,
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there is a story about a family who've lost somebody
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that they care about, and then that person has returned,
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and then it's a very mean thing to say. Oh,
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it's about a family that the worst possible thing has
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already happened to and now I'm going to make it
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worse for them.
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Yeah. I totally get what you're saying, and it makes
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context in the in the you know, uh context of
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the conversation, but outside of that that would sound horrible. Uh,
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you know, you actually answered one of the things I
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wanted to ask you is I truly believe that you know,
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good film no matter of the genre. What it comes
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down to is what's under the surface, you know, what
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is the story trying to say? Trying to tell you
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Unwrapping the Mummy, if you will, And and but I
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think you nailed it in regards to you know, what
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it truly is about is that the family.
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You know, totally you can and that's where it always
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starts as well for me, dude, because it's like, if
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you don't have a story to tell about people that
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you can identify with, then everything is just a bunch
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of special effects, right, you don't identify with them. And
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I think what's interesting is there is a metaphorical power
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in this movie that as we're unwrapping the secret, so
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is this family's emotions unraveling and the things they didn't
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talk about, or the responsibilities they didn't want to own
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up to, or the guilt that they feel in relation
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to the fact that their daughter went missing. And that
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was always really really interesting to me, this idea that
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and also the idea and I actually love when you
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put the trailer online and people go, hell, no, you know,
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I'm not bringing her home and I'm going But you would,
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because if you've lost somebody you truly love, you would
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do anything to have them back. Yeah, whatever, especially as
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some parents. And just because she doesn't look so good
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doesn't mean you're not going to try and make her better.
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And that to me, how you I think that's a
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really important thing when you make a horror movie is
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how you trap your characters. And sometimes you trap them
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with the phone lines are down. Sometimes you trap them
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with the bridge is broken, or you know, or shining
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the snow. We can't escape in this movie, there the
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characters are actually trapped by their own guilt because they
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feel responsible for the fact that their daughter went missing.
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So whatever state she's returned in the idea of being
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able to fix that guilt and plug the whole and
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plug the loss, they'll take a lot of pain, you know,
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they'll take it. They'll take a lot on board. And
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all of that was where the development started before. Well,
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at the same time, I'm always obviously conjuring up, you know,
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crazy set pieces, and I have ideas that I want
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to explore, but getting the flow of that correct was
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really really important to me.
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Do you you know, looking back at your first film
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or even beyond or even before you know, the whole
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the ground which was beautiful up until you know, right
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when you went to start shooting this, what have you
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taken through those earlier projects? What did you take into
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the Mummy? If anything?
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I think I think one of the things that I
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found quite interesting was that I could start to trust
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I always trust my instincts, but I could start to
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trust my instincts even further. And what I mean by
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that is I'm extremely, extremely visually precise and detail focused,
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and there's a lot of pre design done, and so
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say with something like the Hole in the Ground, I
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felt it necessary to storyboard er photograph every angle and
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make sure we were nearly following that bible with this movie. Yeah,
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I did that too, and then I just threw it
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00:25:53.559 --> 00:25:55.680
away and it was there. It was with me and
480
00:25:55.720 --> 00:26:01.519
my DP. It allowed us to both get the the controlled,
481
00:26:01.640 --> 00:26:04.000
precise thing we planned for, but it actually allowed us
482
00:26:04.039 --> 00:26:07.480
to do some pretty fun experimentation. And I'd probably never
483
00:26:07.519 --> 00:26:10.319
experimented on set before. And you can only experiment so
484
00:26:10.359 --> 00:26:12.559
much because you've got a schedule and a budget. But
485
00:26:12.640 --> 00:26:15.400
we did actually, you know, and Evil Dead, there was
486
00:26:15.680 --> 00:26:17.720
a lot of times as well where we were inventive.
487
00:26:17.720 --> 00:26:19.839
But with this, like I'll give an example, there's a
488
00:26:19.880 --> 00:26:22.640
sequence in it where there's a pretty aggressive volley of
489
00:26:22.680 --> 00:26:27.599
headbuts to put it mildly, and just as we were
490
00:26:27.680 --> 00:26:29.200
towards the end of the previous day and we were
491
00:26:29.200 --> 00:26:30.799
thinking about, you know, we got this kind of like
492
00:26:30.880 --> 00:26:33.160
low angle and profile and you know, and then I
493
00:26:33.240 --> 00:26:35.240
was like, man, we need to be the head butt.
494
00:26:35.319 --> 00:26:37.559
We just got to be the headbut and yeah, we
495
00:26:37.640 --> 00:26:39.559
rolled out one of our crazy probe lenses and we
496
00:26:39.640 --> 00:26:41.759
got our amazing grip on board, and they built this
497
00:26:41.880 --> 00:26:44.079
rig where we could be the point of view of
498
00:26:44.079 --> 00:26:46.480
a head butt that could get like as close as
499
00:26:46.480 --> 00:26:48.759
you could imagine to somebody's face as if it was
500
00:26:48.799 --> 00:26:53.039
actually going to hit and in a weird way. In
501
00:26:53.079 --> 00:26:56.440
the past, perhaps I might have figured out that idea,
502
00:26:56.440 --> 00:26:57.839
but I would have figured out something else. But I
503
00:26:58.599 --> 00:27:01.279
went into places like that knowing we have a good plan,
504
00:27:01.359 --> 00:27:04.359
but I think there's a better plan. And it's trusting
505
00:27:04.400 --> 00:27:07.880
that even at the at the last moment, you can
506
00:27:08.400 --> 00:27:11.319
better the ideas that you've had before. And that's that
507
00:27:11.400 --> 00:27:13.400
lead to me, leads back to trusting your instinct. It
508
00:27:13.400 --> 00:27:17.960
can be pretty seated the pants and terrifying. Also knowing
509
00:27:17.960 --> 00:27:20.200
that you can maybe crack it a bit further than
510
00:27:20.200 --> 00:27:24.200
you already have and trusting that that can work is
511
00:27:24.240 --> 00:27:29.079
probably so trusting myself and believing believing in in in
512
00:27:29.880 --> 00:27:31.519
better ideas even to the last moment.
513
00:27:32.119 --> 00:27:36.279
I love that. And what do you hope people take away?
514
00:27:36.400 --> 00:27:39.359
You know they're leaving the theater, what do you want
515
00:27:39.400 --> 00:27:43.000
them to say to themselves or to their friend or whatever.
516
00:27:44.200 --> 00:27:47.839
We need to watch this movie again. The hell that
517
00:27:47.920 --> 00:27:53.480
I just experienced. I think I'm always I think genuinely
518
00:27:53.480 --> 00:27:55.880
from a spectacle point of view, that that is the answer.
519
00:27:55.880 --> 00:27:57.839
I want you to leave the cinema, as I said
520
00:27:57.839 --> 00:28:00.599
earlier on, and have to go to the and splash
521
00:28:00.640 --> 00:28:02.519
water on your face and fix your hair, you know
522
00:28:02.559 --> 00:28:05.599
what I mean. That's that for me is the is
523
00:28:05.640 --> 00:28:08.200
the is the kind of the physical, which I think
524
00:28:08.240 --> 00:28:11.079
is really important because my movies play very physically as well,
525
00:28:11.079 --> 00:28:14.039
and we've got incredible sound. As you feel every crunch,
526
00:28:14.079 --> 00:28:18.240
you feel, every tear of skin, you know, you're you're, you're, you're,
527
00:28:18.000 --> 00:28:21.000
you get really dirty, you know what I mean, and
528
00:28:21.319 --> 00:28:23.799
you might need to like clean yourself up afterwards. But
529
00:28:24.200 --> 00:28:26.160
on an emotional level, no matter what I ever make,
530
00:28:26.200 --> 00:28:28.119
you always want people to also reflect on what the
531
00:28:28.160 --> 00:28:30.960
story is actually about. And for me, it's like what
532
00:28:31.000 --> 00:28:33.759
would I do in that situation? How would I feel?
533
00:28:35.200 --> 00:28:40.559
And it is a very interesting concept because, as I said, well,
534
00:28:41.200 --> 00:28:43.920
imagine you did lose someone very very important to you
535
00:28:43.960 --> 00:28:48.839
and you brought them home. What happens when all the
536
00:28:48.880 --> 00:28:52.000
fanfare dies down about the discovery or the recovery and
537
00:28:52.039 --> 00:28:55.119
you just close the door and it's Tuesday. All my
538
00:28:55.200 --> 00:28:58.000
stories are always you know I come at them from
539
00:28:58.039 --> 00:29:00.000
that point of view. It's like it's it's really interesting
540
00:29:00.079 --> 00:29:02.400
and I'll give you like a really weird, bizarre anecdote
541
00:29:02.440 --> 00:29:05.200
that shows how my brain works. The Queen of England
542
00:29:05.279 --> 00:29:07.160
died when I was working on this movie, or had
543
00:29:07.200 --> 00:29:09.519
early days thoughts, and it was a missing kids story.
544
00:29:09.720 --> 00:29:11.039
But it was the same thing. I thought, Okay, it's
545
00:29:11.039 --> 00:29:13.000
on the news and you know, all the sons and
546
00:29:13.039 --> 00:29:15.400
the princes and everyone's arriving back at the palace. But
547
00:29:15.400 --> 00:29:17.759
when the gates close and the media goes away, does
548
00:29:17.799 --> 00:29:21.000
someone go like, what I put on the kettle? You
549
00:29:21.039 --> 00:29:23.559
know what I mean? Yeah, shit, there's no toilet paper
550
00:29:23.599 --> 00:29:26.519
in the downstairs toilet. Like, there's all these everyday things.
551
00:29:26.559 --> 00:29:29.680
So in this movie, when we do bring Katie home,
552
00:29:29.920 --> 00:29:31.799
the family have to like bring her to her bedroom,
553
00:29:31.839 --> 00:29:33.839
put her to bed, try and remind her who she is,
554
00:29:34.240 --> 00:29:39.039
comb her hair, cut her nails, you know. And I
555
00:29:39.079 --> 00:29:40.880
think by having all of those things, I hope when
556
00:29:40.880 --> 00:29:43.279
people leave the cinema they'll look at it and reflect
557
00:29:43.319 --> 00:29:45.240
like what would I do in that situation? Because I
558
00:29:45.279 --> 00:29:48.440
think that gives you something to think about, and I
559
00:29:48.480 --> 00:29:52.039
really want to give you something to think about. And
560
00:29:52.119 --> 00:29:54.680
that you know and to entertain you.
561
00:29:55.480 --> 00:29:58.240
I absolutely love that, and I think your work is
562
00:29:59.240 --> 00:30:05.319
does that are there more stories to tell in this
563
00:30:05.440 --> 00:30:06.640
world that you've created?
564
00:30:07.960 --> 00:30:10.640
I think I've just created the world. Like again, you know,
565
00:30:11.119 --> 00:30:14.440
as as a writer and a filmmaker and an incessant talker.
566
00:30:15.799 --> 00:30:20.160
Of course, my mind definitely has expanded into other areas
567
00:30:20.200 --> 00:30:22.720
because what's cool about this movie is we have a
568
00:30:22.759 --> 00:30:25.359
new lore and we also it's a story about mummification
569
00:30:25.519 --> 00:30:27.759
for a different purpose. That was one of the key
570
00:30:27.799 --> 00:30:31.000
things that kick this off. We always think about mummy
571
00:30:31.000 --> 00:30:34.960
stories and we you know, as Pharaoh, the king, the queen,
572
00:30:35.960 --> 00:30:39.240
the rich and the famous of the time, and then
573
00:30:39.279 --> 00:30:41.559
maybe they're pulling the grave before they should have been,
574
00:30:41.720 --> 00:30:43.440
or they were cursed in some way, or they were
575
00:30:43.480 --> 00:30:46.759
broken hearted. And one of the major pillars in the
576
00:30:46.759 --> 00:30:49.960
starting points this movie for me was what if there
577
00:30:50.000 --> 00:30:52.160
was a different reason for mummification? And then I went, well,
578
00:30:52.160 --> 00:30:55.240
what if that mummification was just to your friend or
579
00:30:55.279 --> 00:30:57.640
your loved one or the person around the corner. Why
580
00:30:57.720 --> 00:31:00.160
would that be? And then that's what led me to
581
00:31:00.200 --> 00:31:02.240
the plot. So we've got a very different lore there.
582
00:31:02.640 --> 00:31:04.920
And even though our story takes place in the now
583
00:31:05.079 --> 00:31:07.480
and eight years earlier for part of the story as well.
584
00:31:08.200 --> 00:31:10.720
It's a story that's in the making for three thousand years,
585
00:31:10.759 --> 00:31:13.000
so there's definitely plenty of places that we could go
586
00:31:13.599 --> 00:31:17.200
on that timeline and within the world of our movie.
587
00:31:17.759 --> 00:31:21.960
This isn't the one and only Mummy that could exist
588
00:31:22.000 --> 00:31:24.960
within our universe. But I think the important thing and
589
00:31:25.000 --> 00:31:28.640
I talk to this. You know, there's a lot of
590
00:31:28.680 --> 00:31:30.279
smart people that I get to work with that are
591
00:31:30.279 --> 00:31:33.079
a lot smarter than me, that have built movie franchises,
592
00:31:33.079 --> 00:31:36.480
My wonderful colleagues over New Line and obviously with Jason
593
00:31:36.519 --> 00:31:39.240
Blum and James Wan, and it's like we were all
594
00:31:39.400 --> 00:31:43.400
here to let the audience decide, and if people love
595
00:31:43.440 --> 00:31:44.880
this movie and they want to know more of the
596
00:31:44.880 --> 00:31:47.720
world that's taken around in my mind, I'm going to
597
00:31:47.799 --> 00:31:50.559
want to try and answer some more questions and bring
598
00:31:50.599 --> 00:31:53.440
you some more crazy fun times at the movies.
599
00:31:53.599 --> 00:31:56.519
Awesome, And as we wind up this is kind of
600
00:31:56.799 --> 00:31:59.519
selfishly I'm asking this, but I'm a huge fan of
601
00:32:00.039 --> 00:32:04.519
physical format, you know, four K and you know I
602
00:32:04.880 --> 00:32:07.920
love that once the movie leaves the theater, I can
603
00:32:07.960 --> 00:32:10.759
go to my home theater and watch it and have
604
00:32:10.839 --> 00:32:14.559
it preserved with all these extras and commentary and all that.
605
00:32:14.920 --> 00:32:17.960
So I'm kind of selfishly asking if you have you
606
00:32:17.960 --> 00:32:22.160
know that in mind for the Mummy for physical later on.
607
00:32:22.759 --> 00:32:26.039
Yeah, of course, of course, and I'm delighted to say so.
608
00:32:26.079 --> 00:32:28.319
And I've seen our amazing artwork for like Steel Book
609
00:32:28.319 --> 00:32:31.279
that we're going to release. I've got recorded my director's commentary,
610
00:32:31.279 --> 00:32:33.640
which is a really interesting one to do when you've
611
00:32:33.839 --> 00:32:37.359
just finished the movie because I know to decompress, so
612
00:32:37.480 --> 00:32:40.319
I feel like it was it's definitely a raw one.
613
00:32:41.319 --> 00:32:42.960
But yeah, look, I'm a big fan of that too.
614
00:32:43.000 --> 00:32:45.480
And obviously previous movie, Evil Dead Rise was released in
615
00:32:45.480 --> 00:32:47.440
a number a number of different times in physical media.
616
00:32:47.519 --> 00:32:49.599
Arrow just did a really cool release of it as well.
617
00:32:49.799 --> 00:32:52.119
I just picked it up. Yeah, and I'm you know,
618
00:32:52.160 --> 00:32:53.599
I haven't actually got my hands on it yet. They
619
00:32:54.079 --> 00:32:56.839
they have arrived at my office in Ireland and I've
620
00:32:56.839 --> 00:33:01.000
been in the US endlessly recently, and but yeah, there
621
00:33:01.319 --> 00:33:04.759
there will be. And I think it's it's always great
622
00:33:04.759 --> 00:33:06.240
to be able if you if you go to the
623
00:33:06.240 --> 00:33:08.039
theater and you see a movie that you love, then
624
00:33:08.039 --> 00:33:10.880
being able to own it is in a real way
625
00:33:10.920 --> 00:33:13.160
and know that it's the filmmaker's vision and it can't
626
00:33:13.160 --> 00:33:16.519
be changed or edited or watered down in any way.
627
00:33:18.319 --> 00:33:19.960
But but I want everybody to go see it in
628
00:33:19.960 --> 00:33:20.680
the cinema first.
629
00:33:20.839 --> 00:33:24.440
Absolutely, absolutely, that's that's you know, you and I think
630
00:33:24.440 --> 00:33:26.440
alike in that way that I want to go and
631
00:33:26.480 --> 00:33:28.599
see it on this big screen that I can never
632
00:33:28.680 --> 00:33:31.640
get at home, Like I'm gonna go see The Mummy.
633
00:33:31.640 --> 00:33:34.039
I didn't realize it was coming in forty X, so
634
00:33:34.119 --> 00:33:36.960
I'll be going and seeing it there too. And then
635
00:33:37.119 --> 00:33:39.640
you know, then the second it goes up for pre order,
636
00:33:39.680 --> 00:33:42.359
I'll be pre ordering my copy for posterity.
637
00:33:42.519 --> 00:33:45.839
You know, I love that. And yeah, and very thankfully
638
00:33:45.920 --> 00:33:48.599
the movie is available to see it in a bunch
639
00:33:48.640 --> 00:33:50.440
of premium formats, which is cool as well. We've got
640
00:33:50.519 --> 00:33:53.079
IMAX and forty X and Screen X and Barco. And
641
00:33:53.519 --> 00:33:56.960
you know, it's if you, if you really love your
642
00:33:57.039 --> 00:33:59.559
night out of the movies and treat treated in that
643
00:33:59.559 --> 00:34:01.119
way that you want it to be the highlight of
644
00:34:01.119 --> 00:34:03.240
your week and and an event. That's what we said
645
00:34:03.240 --> 00:34:07.759
about creating ultimately was something that feels like you can't
646
00:34:07.759 --> 00:34:10.239
miss it in theaters. And I hope we've we've managed
647
00:34:10.239 --> 00:34:10.880
to achieve that.
648
00:34:11.320 --> 00:34:16.199
I don't think anybody will be saying otherwise. But finally,
649
00:34:16.639 --> 00:34:18.480
you know you are now at a point in your
650
00:34:18.519 --> 00:34:22.920
career that you are able to shape horror and conversations
651
00:34:23.000 --> 00:34:27.360
around horror. Where do you think that horror hasn't gone yet?
652
00:34:27.440 --> 00:34:28.199
If anywhere?
653
00:34:29.719 --> 00:34:32.119
I think it's not that it hasn't gone there. I
654
00:34:32.119 --> 00:34:34.559
think it's always really cyclical, and there's there's a lot
655
00:34:34.559 --> 00:34:36.199
of trends. There's a lot of trends that chop and
656
00:34:36.280 --> 00:34:38.079
change and stuff. I think what I'm really enjoying at
657
00:34:38.079 --> 00:34:41.480
the moment and hope it continues, is and what audiences
658
00:34:41.519 --> 00:34:43.480
seem to want, which is great because it's always what
659
00:34:43.519 --> 00:34:45.960
I want is horror plus and I mean by plus,
660
00:34:45.960 --> 00:34:48.119
I don't mean more blood and more goods. Necessarily, it's
661
00:34:48.119 --> 00:34:51.079
a horror experience that's also something else as well. And
662
00:34:51.760 --> 00:34:55.159
so with this movie, as I said, it's it's absolutely
663
00:34:55.159 --> 00:34:58.039
a fun time horror film, but it's a great detective
664
00:34:58.039 --> 00:34:59.679
story and a great mystery as well. So you get
665
00:34:59.719 --> 00:35:02.000
you get you get a taste of that. So I'm
666
00:35:02.039 --> 00:35:05.199
more wondering where we can start to push horror, where
667
00:35:05.360 --> 00:35:07.679
we start to invade other genres like that's it. It's
668
00:35:08.119 --> 00:35:10.000
it's time for the land grab, you know what I mean. Like,
669
00:35:10.320 --> 00:35:13.960
I've always wanted to make a really, really good romantic
670
00:35:14.000 --> 00:35:16.840
horror movie, like a really and I do. I've developed
671
00:35:16.840 --> 00:35:19.000
a couple of ideas that could both not necessarily be
672
00:35:19.039 --> 00:35:21.119
a rom com but could be like a strong romance
673
00:35:21.119 --> 00:35:24.320
story but also a badass horror film at the same time.
674
00:35:24.440 --> 00:35:26.880
So I think the more we cross pollinade and blend
675
00:35:26.920 --> 00:35:29.320
with genres and it allows us to be kind of,
676
00:35:29.400 --> 00:35:31.199
you know, all the horror filmmakers out there to be
677
00:35:31.440 --> 00:35:34.360
to be endlessly creative. And as we talked about earlier on,
678
00:35:34.440 --> 00:35:37.119
I'm really pleased that we're seeing things that are all
679
00:35:37.239 --> 00:35:43.719
so incredibly award worthy and big spectacle as well. You know,
680
00:35:44.039 --> 00:35:45.920
someone's going to want to make the Lawrence of Arabia
681
00:35:46.000 --> 00:35:48.559
horror movies. Yeah, and why not.
682
00:35:48.960 --> 00:35:51.880
Yeah. Absolutely, It's a great time to be a horror fan.
683
00:35:51.920 --> 00:35:54.199
And you are, you know, you are one of those
684
00:35:54.199 --> 00:35:56.599
that is leading that. I thank you so much for
685
00:35:56.639 --> 00:35:59.400
speaking with me. Lee. Please come on anytime you want
686
00:35:59.440 --> 00:36:01.400
and we'll talk or whatever else.
687
00:36:01.559 --> 00:36:03.840
Thank you, my opposute pleasure. That was a great chat,
688
00:36:03.920 --> 00:36:04.519
chairs dude.
689
00:36:04.639 --> 00:36:12.360
Thank you have a great daily. Lee Kronin. Yeah, Lee,
690
00:36:12.440 --> 00:36:15.519
Cronan's The Mummy is definitely the kind of movie that
691
00:36:15.719 --> 00:36:18.199
lingers with you, not just why you're watching it, but
692
00:36:18.280 --> 00:36:21.039
like I've been thinking about it a lot since I
693
00:36:21.119 --> 00:36:24.400
saw it, Like when it's quiet, and you know, when
694
00:36:24.400 --> 00:36:28.840
your brain decides to revisit things it absolutely does not
695
00:36:29.000 --> 00:36:33.679
need to. There pops out Lee Cronan's The Mummy. All right,
696
00:36:33.719 --> 00:36:36.039
that's it for this episode of pop Culture Weekly. If
697
00:36:36.079 --> 00:36:39.559
you enjoyed this episode and you're now reconsidering every ancient
698
00:36:39.639 --> 00:36:42.800
artifact in every museum you've ever walked through, make sure
699
00:36:42.840 --> 00:36:46.760
to follow or subscribe wherever you're listening, and of course
700
00:36:46.840 --> 00:36:48.480
I want to hear from you. If you're listening on
701
00:36:48.519 --> 00:36:50.880
the iHeartRadio app, which is free, you can hit the
702
00:36:50.920 --> 00:36:53.639
talkback button, leave me a message and your thoughts and
703
00:36:53.679 --> 00:36:56.800
I might just air them right here on the show.
704
00:36:57.320 --> 00:37:02.239
Or go to popcultureweekly dot com and hit that voicemail button.
705
00:37:02.639 --> 00:37:05.639
And for more interviews, deep dives and all things pop culture,
706
00:37:05.920 --> 00:37:09.239
go to my YouTube channel at pop Culture Weekly. I'm
707
00:37:09.320 --> 00:37:13.360
Kyle McMahon. And until next time, keep watching, keep listening,
708
00:37:13.519 --> 00:37:17.400
and maybe don't open anything sealed for thousands of years,
709
00:37:17.400 --> 00:37:20.159
Like it just feels like it's a bad idea. All right,
710
00:37:20.800 --> 00:37:23.000
all right, I love you, see you next time.
711
00:37:23.719 --> 00:37:27.079
Well, thank you for listening to Pop Culture Weekly. Here
712
00:37:27.119 --> 00:37:34.559
all the latest at popculturewekly dot com.
713
00:37:34.800 --> 00:37:42.280
Lee Cronins, The Mummy don't unwrap things that you can handle.
714
00:37:43.199 --> 00:37:44.559
Lee Cronins, The.
715
00:37:44.719 --> 00:37:51.000
Mummy scary and it's good. The Mum is misundstued.
