April 16, 2026

Lee Cronin on Making ‘The Mummy’ Terrifying Again

Lee Cronin on Making ‘The Mummy’ Terrifying Again
Apple Podcasts podcast player badge
YouTube podcast player badge
Spotify podcast player badge
iHeartRadio podcast player badge
Audible podcast player badge
Amazon Music podcast player badge
JioSaavn podcast player badge
Spreaker podcast player badge
RSS Feed podcast player badge
Apple Podcasts podcast player iconYouTube podcast player iconSpotify podcast player iconiHeartRadio podcast player iconAudible podcast player iconAmazon Music podcast player iconJioSaavn podcast player iconSpreaker podcast player iconRSS Feed podcast player icon

White hot writer / director Lee Cronin joins me to talk all things Lee Cronin's The Mummy - from reinventing an iconic monster for modern horror audiences to why the genre is bigger, smarter and more ambitious than ever. We get into grief, guilt, mystery, spectacle, physical media, premium formats and where horror still has room to go next. Plus so much more!

If you’re into horror, filmmaking, movie theater culture, or just watching smart directors get deep about what makes genre storytelling actually work, this one’s for you.

Let's go!

If you dig the show, subscribe, rate, and share - and tell your friend who's always stealing your streaming passwords.

📍 Watch now on YouTube or listen on your favorite podcast platform

🎧 Subscribe for more celeb interviews, streaming picks and pop culture deep dives!

🗣️ Want to be featured on the show? 📱 Leave a voicemail here!

📧 Join the newsletter to get exclusive content, interviews & more once a week! Subscribe here!

--------------------------

Kyle McMahon's Death, Grief & Other Sh*t We Don't Discuss is now streaming. Listen here!

--------------------------

Get all the Pop Culture Weekly podcast info you could want including extra content, uncut interviews, photos, videos & transcripts at Podcast.PopCultureWeekly.com


Read the latest at PopCultureWeekly.com


Get Social with Kyle on:

Kyle McMahon Facebook
Kyle McMahon Instagram
Kyle McMahon TikTok
Pop Culture Weekly YouTube
Kyle McMahon Website

WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.120 --> 00:00:03.080
In this episode of pop Culture Weekly, I have Lee

2
00:00:03.240 --> 00:00:06.960
Cronin on to discuss Lee Cronin's The Mummy.

3
00:00:07.080 --> 00:00:12.279
Let's go Welcome to pop Culture Weekly with Kyle McMahon

4
00:00:12.279 --> 00:00:17.719
from iHeartRadio your pop culture news, views, reviews and celebrity

5
00:00:17.719 --> 00:00:21.199
interviews on all the movies, TV, music and pop culture

6
00:00:21.359 --> 00:00:30.719
u Crab Weekly. Here's Kyle MCMAHONNTT.

7
00:00:28.320 --> 00:00:32.200
Nan Nett, Hello, and welcome to pop Culture Weekly with

8
00:00:32.280 --> 00:00:35.640
Kyle McMahon. I of course am Kyle McMahon, and this

9
00:00:35.679 --> 00:00:39.000
is the show where we celebrate pop culture, question our

10
00:00:39.039 --> 00:00:44.719
life choices, and occasionally unwrap something that absolutely should have

11
00:00:44.799 --> 00:00:50.840
stayed buried. Today it is all about Lee Cronan's The Mummy.

12
00:00:51.000 --> 00:00:53.640
I saw this and it is so good. It is

13
00:00:53.719 --> 00:00:57.240
so scary. Lee Cronan is a genius, And you know

14
00:00:57.479 --> 00:01:00.960
the Mummy. It's one of those characters that's basically been

15
00:01:01.000 --> 00:01:05.359
rebooted like more times than all of our abilities to

16
00:01:05.400 --> 00:01:09.120
make good decisions combined. You go all the way back

17
00:01:09.159 --> 00:01:13.640
to the classic universal Monster era, you know, the original

18
00:01:13.840 --> 00:01:18.439
The Mummy. They were like kind of slow, haunting and

19
00:01:18.560 --> 00:01:22.640
tragic and kind of genuinely unsettling, and there were some

20
00:01:23.000 --> 00:01:25.560
sequels and all that and then you know, you move

21
00:01:25.799 --> 00:01:29.799
flash forward to the nineties, which was basically like what

22
00:01:29.920 --> 00:01:32.920
if you know, this horror movie was also a roller coaster,

23
00:01:33.040 --> 00:01:35.200
which honestly it's iconic.

24
00:01:35.319 --> 00:01:35.840
No notes.

25
00:01:36.239 --> 00:01:39.480
I love those The Mummy movies. Those were like, you know,

26
00:01:39.560 --> 00:01:41.760
the Mummy movies when I was a kid, and of

27
00:01:41.799 --> 00:01:47.719
course I love the Mummy. Rye at Universal Studios. And

28
00:01:47.760 --> 00:01:52.719
then we got the modern action version, which felt less

29
00:01:52.799 --> 00:01:58.599
like The Mummy and more like Mission Sandstorm. But through

30
00:01:58.719 --> 00:02:02.159
all of that, you know, somewhere along the way, we

31
00:02:02.280 --> 00:02:06.040
kind of lost what makes the Mummy actually scary. You know,

32
00:02:06.120 --> 00:02:11.479
it went from this horror franchise to something else, and

33
00:02:11.639 --> 00:02:16.280
the Mummy it's not just a monster, you know, it's history.

34
00:02:16.360 --> 00:02:21.639
It's something ancient, something cursed, something that was never supposed

35
00:02:21.680 --> 00:02:24.879
to come back. And that's what makes this new version

36
00:02:25.319 --> 00:02:29.280
Lee Cronin's The Mummy so freaking interesting because it feels

37
00:02:29.360 --> 00:02:33.520
like we're going back to that idea. It's not, you know,

38
00:02:33.680 --> 00:02:36.919
bigger just for the sake of being bigger, louder, but

39
00:02:37.000 --> 00:02:43.560
it is more dark, it's more intimate, it's more uncomfortable,

40
00:02:44.159 --> 00:02:46.680
the kind of horror that doesn't just jump out at you,

41
00:02:46.840 --> 00:02:49.800
but it like kind of sits there waiting and then

42
00:02:49.840 --> 00:02:55.960
you realize, oh, sh nikes, this is terrifying, which is exactly,

43
00:02:56.120 --> 00:02:59.599
you know, for me, what I believe how the Mummy

44
00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:05.280
movies should be. So let's hop right into it. I'm

45
00:03:05.319 --> 00:03:10.360
talking with director writer Lee Cronin, who, if you've been

46
00:03:10.400 --> 00:03:14.199
paying attention to the show or horror, he has already

47
00:03:14.240 --> 00:03:17.240
proven that he knows how to take something familiar and

48
00:03:17.360 --> 00:03:21.319
make it feel completely unhinged, but like in the best

49
00:03:21.439 --> 00:03:24.759
way possible, you know what I mean. He's got a

50
00:03:25.000 --> 00:03:29.719
real understanding I would say, of tension and atmosphere, but

51
00:03:30.240 --> 00:03:33.360
more importantly, in my opinion, he knows how to make

52
00:03:33.439 --> 00:03:39.240
horror feel personal, which is exactly what the Mummy needs,

53
00:03:39.800 --> 00:03:42.879
because it's not. In my opinion, the Mummy shouldn't just

54
00:03:42.960 --> 00:03:45.960
be this like spectacle. It really has to feel like

55
00:03:46.039 --> 00:03:52.039
something is wrong, like something ancient is here in the present.

56
00:03:52.840 --> 00:03:56.520
So I talk with Lee about stepping into a legacy

57
00:03:56.680 --> 00:04:00.439
like the Mummy, what drew him to it, and how

58
00:04:00.520 --> 00:04:03.439
you honor you know, all of the films that have

59
00:04:03.520 --> 00:04:06.800
come before, but without being trapped by it, if that

60
00:04:06.879 --> 00:04:10.360
makes sense, And how do you bring a character like

61
00:04:10.520 --> 00:04:13.719
the Mummy back in a way that actually means something today.

62
00:04:14.560 --> 00:04:17.480
So we're going to jump right into it here. He

63
00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:23.519
is Lee Cronin. First of all, thank you so much

64
00:04:23.560 --> 00:04:24.279
for speaking with me.

65
00:04:24.360 --> 00:04:24.519
Lee.

66
00:04:24.560 --> 00:04:26.680
I love your work, I love your career, and I

67
00:04:26.720 --> 00:04:28.920
can't wait to talk about the Mummy. But I want

68
00:04:28.920 --> 00:04:31.959
to go back first, if that's okay with you. Absolutely

69
00:04:32.120 --> 00:04:36.160
my pleasure looking forward to our conversation. Awesome. So when

70
00:04:36.240 --> 00:04:41.800
you look back before any of you know this, what

71
00:04:41.920 --> 00:04:46.439
kind of filmmaker did you think that you would end

72
00:04:46.519 --> 00:04:47.439
up being?

73
00:04:47.959 --> 00:04:50.399
Oh wow, that's a good question, I guess because I'm

74
00:04:50.439 --> 00:04:56.079
still on the journey, I suppose. Look, I was a

75
00:04:56.160 --> 00:04:59.879
child of Amblin, definitely big Spielberg fan. My focus was

76
00:05:00.079 --> 00:05:05.879
always on entertaining and engaging audiences in dark rooms, and

77
00:05:06.600 --> 00:05:11.680
I think I was quite genre agnostic when I kind

78
00:05:11.680 --> 00:05:13.160
of started out in terms of like what I like

79
00:05:13.240 --> 00:05:15.319
to watch. I was a big, obviously big horror fan.

80
00:05:15.439 --> 00:05:18.480
But you know, probably when it was really clicking for me,

81
00:05:18.560 --> 00:05:20.399
when I was you know, like fifteen or whatever, and

82
00:05:20.439 --> 00:05:23.079
be like I'm really going to do this, I would

83
00:05:23.120 --> 00:05:25.279
be watching Reservoir Dogs over and over again and trying

84
00:05:25.279 --> 00:05:28.199
to write flashy dialogue that way. So the influence is

85
00:05:28.279 --> 00:05:30.160
kind of wax and way and as time goes by.

86
00:05:30.759 --> 00:05:34.639
But I think my focus has always been on on

87
00:05:34.720 --> 00:05:37.879
the spectacular, the event, whatever it might be, whether that's

88
00:05:38.439 --> 00:05:41.920
a small, simple story and it's a story that captures

89
00:05:41.920 --> 00:05:44.759
everybody's imagination in a particular way, or it's a big,

90
00:05:44.800 --> 00:05:48.120
glossy four quadrant movie. You know, I love my family

91
00:05:48.160 --> 00:05:50.439
films as well, So I don't know if I'm quite

92
00:05:50.480 --> 00:05:52.040
answering what you've asked, which is who did I think

93
00:05:52.079 --> 00:05:59.040
I'd be? But I guess I always hoped for big, noisy, loud,

94
00:05:59.079 --> 00:06:02.480
splashy movies was the hope, and I'm trying to push

95
00:06:02.480 --> 00:06:03.879
that direction as often as I can.

96
00:06:04.240 --> 00:06:07.319
I love that. And you know you have talked before

97
00:06:07.600 --> 00:06:11.759
in the past about being drawn to darker stories. What

98
00:06:11.959 --> 00:06:16.399
is it about horror specifically? That kind of is your

99
00:06:16.439 --> 00:06:18.399
I don't want to say your love language, but you're

100
00:06:18.639 --> 00:06:20.600
you know, speaks to you, if you will, a very

101
00:06:20.680 --> 00:06:21.600
dark love language.

102
00:06:21.879 --> 00:06:24.800
I think like there's a couple of aspects to it

103
00:06:24.879 --> 00:06:28.199
that certainly drew me personally in One of them is

104
00:06:29.120 --> 00:06:33.319
how it engages people. And that engagement for me came

105
00:06:33.360 --> 00:06:36.279
through my observations and I was very small watching my

106
00:06:36.399 --> 00:06:39.759
family and my siblings react to horror movies and thinking, WHOA,

107
00:06:40.120 --> 00:06:41.879
And when you're the youngest, and there's a big age

108
00:06:41.920 --> 00:06:44.000
gap in my family, when you're the youngest, you think,

109
00:06:44.199 --> 00:06:47.040
so that's how you get people's attention, That's how you

110
00:06:47.079 --> 00:06:51.360
get the grown ups attention. And I would somewhat be

111
00:06:51.360 --> 00:06:53.519
the clown in my family, and you know, sometimes the

112
00:06:53.519 --> 00:06:55.879
clown can tell a dark joke or do a dark thing.

113
00:06:56.519 --> 00:06:59.319
So I was definitely drawn from that point of view

114
00:06:59.319 --> 00:07:01.519
of like this, if you want to tell a story

115
00:07:01.759 --> 00:07:03.480
and you want to move people in some way, like

116
00:07:03.519 --> 00:07:05.720
you can be moved emotionally, you can be moved physically,

117
00:07:06.279 --> 00:07:11.720
and horror kind of felt that felt a very appropriate

118
00:07:11.759 --> 00:07:16.000
way of communicating and kind of getting I said, getting

119
00:07:16.040 --> 00:07:17.920
people's attention, because that's what it's all about, even if

120
00:07:17.920 --> 00:07:20.600
you bring it all the way to now, it's like

121
00:07:20.639 --> 00:07:21.040
you've got.

122
00:07:20.959 --> 00:07:23.920
To get people's attention so that they go to theaters. Yeah,

123
00:07:23.959 --> 00:07:25.360
And you know, one of the things that I think

124
00:07:25.439 --> 00:07:27.759
is interesting. I'm a huge horror above obviously. I mean

125
00:07:27.759 --> 00:07:30.720
I love all film, but especially horror. And I think,

126
00:07:30.839 --> 00:07:33.560
you know, especially being in this business, I've learned and

127
00:07:33.560 --> 00:07:35.680
I think it's getting better now. But I've learned that

128
00:07:35.759 --> 00:07:39.000
a lot of people have had in the past at

129
00:07:39.079 --> 00:07:44.639
least a very almost snotty attitude towards horror. And I

130
00:07:44.720 --> 00:07:48.319
find that, you know, artists like yourself and Jordan Peel

131
00:07:48.600 --> 00:07:50.800
and you know, people like that Mia Da Costa and

132
00:07:50.800 --> 00:07:54.480
stuff that are making these kind of more thought provoking

133
00:07:54.800 --> 00:08:01.199
you know, some call it elevated horror or whatever, brings respect,

134
00:08:01.519 --> 00:08:04.399
you know to this genre that I feel And look,

135
00:08:04.680 --> 00:08:09.519
you know, I'm one who loves the bad B movie,

136
00:08:10.360 --> 00:08:14.720
you know, crazy killer whatever movie as well. But there's

137
00:08:14.920 --> 00:08:17.560
there's that kind of movie in every genre, right and

138
00:08:17.560 --> 00:08:20.560
I feel like with horror, it you know it kind

139
00:08:20.560 --> 00:08:23.920
of people tend to go to that. And you've you

140
00:08:24.040 --> 00:08:26.319
and some of these other creators that I've mentioned have

141
00:08:26.720 --> 00:08:31.079
kind of brought this pastiche whatever that word is to

142
00:08:32.240 --> 00:08:34.399
the genre, which I think is so important. And now

143
00:08:34.399 --> 00:08:36.240
you look at the Oscars and you have something like

144
00:08:36.320 --> 00:08:39.399
Sinners and you know an Aunt Gladys. Yeah.

145
00:08:39.919 --> 00:08:44.960
Amazing, yeah, amazing to see. Like, like for me, it's funny.

146
00:08:45.080 --> 00:08:47.480
I was chatting some people the other day and it

147
00:08:47.519 --> 00:08:49.080
was actually with Jason Blum at the time, and we

148
00:08:49.080 --> 00:08:51.080
were doing some interviews and we were talking about like horrors,

149
00:08:51.399 --> 00:08:54.399
you know, become much more mainstream in a lot of ways,

150
00:08:54.440 --> 00:08:57.519
but without necessarily losing its teeth. I think that's important.

151
00:08:57.720 --> 00:09:01.000
And I was reflecting on and I used to work

152
00:09:01.159 --> 00:09:03.639
in a video store when I was in film school,

153
00:09:03.799 --> 00:09:06.919
like many moons ago, and yeah, of course the horror

154
00:09:06.919 --> 00:09:10.000
section was always kind of buried in some way. But

155
00:09:10.080 --> 00:09:13.000
I was thinking, now, if video stores were open again,

156
00:09:13.039 --> 00:09:15.399
which I wish they were, you'd probably walk in and

157
00:09:15.440 --> 00:09:17.200
be hit by a wall of horror as the first thing,

158
00:09:17.320 --> 00:09:20.000
you know. But the joy of it is the fact

159
00:09:20.039 --> 00:09:24.799
that it's really working from a theatrical experience point of view.

160
00:09:26.000 --> 00:09:29.840
And to me, that's where my focus always lies. As

161
00:09:29.879 --> 00:09:33.159
I said, is those is the dark room, the opening night,

162
00:09:33.320 --> 00:09:39.519
the collective experience which horror really presents itself for. But

163
00:09:39.639 --> 00:09:42.679
also I think as well, just there is incredible filmmaking craft,

164
00:09:42.759 --> 00:09:45.480
and it's there's some you know, we can also look

165
00:09:45.519 --> 00:09:47.519
backwards and look at a movie like Rosemary's Baby, which

166
00:09:47.519 --> 00:09:49.879
is a stunning piece of cinema classic at its own right.

167
00:09:50.799 --> 00:09:53.799
And sure there are horror movies that are maybe less

168
00:09:53.879 --> 00:09:58.840
about the film craft and maybe more just about all

169
00:09:58.840 --> 00:10:00.440
the gags that are trying to be is there all

170
00:10:00.440 --> 00:10:03.600
of the special effects that are there. I've always been

171
00:10:03.679 --> 00:10:06.200
interested in kind of blending the two. That's bringing it

172
00:10:06.240 --> 00:10:08.039
back to the earlier question in terms of where my

173
00:10:08.120 --> 00:10:10.960
compass has been pointed. Is definitely wanting to paint on

174
00:10:10.960 --> 00:10:12.840
a big canvas. And I'm quite excited for people to

175
00:10:12.840 --> 00:10:18.320
see this movie because there is it's visually, it's really

176
00:10:18.360 --> 00:10:20.639
fun in terms of how I've captured the imagery, where

177
00:10:20.639 --> 00:10:23.000
like we use these probe lenses which allowed me to

178
00:10:23.039 --> 00:10:26.559
do crazy super close up work, like right in like

179
00:10:26.600 --> 00:10:29.879
put literally put the lens of centimeter from someone's eyeball.

180
00:10:31.600 --> 00:10:34.559
But then we also have these incredibly vast, beautiful landscapes

181
00:10:34.600 --> 00:10:36.639
as well in the movie, these like these these stunning

182
00:10:36.679 --> 00:10:41.120
cinematic wide shots, and I often feel for me like

183
00:10:41.240 --> 00:10:43.519
horror movies for me are kind of told in the

184
00:10:43.600 --> 00:10:45.919
wide and the close because it's about the gnarly detail.

185
00:10:46.120 --> 00:10:48.120
But then it's also sometimes about just looking at something

186
00:10:48.200 --> 00:10:50.039
and going, well, what's in that corner? When you can

187
00:10:50.039 --> 00:10:53.720
see a little bit wider in those circumstances. But yeah,

188
00:10:53.759 --> 00:10:57.120
there's you know, incredible filmmakers who are who are making

189
00:10:57.120 --> 00:11:00.360
incredible movies inside the genre space, and I think Now

190
00:11:00.360 --> 00:11:03.080
what's fun is that we're not just getting audiences to

191
00:11:03.120 --> 00:11:06.440
the cinema just because they're gonna have a jump scare

192
00:11:06.600 --> 00:11:08.919
or you know, throw their popcorner screen. They get that,

193
00:11:09.639 --> 00:11:14.399
plus they get treated to real cinematic visual kind of

194
00:11:14.519 --> 00:11:17.600
you know, well treats, you know, really really beautiful movies.

195
00:11:18.360 --> 00:11:20.399
What creatively scares you.

196
00:11:21.600 --> 00:11:25.480
When I approach something like as in what scares me

197
00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:28.320
in terms of like can I do this? Or how

198
00:11:28.320 --> 00:11:28.799
do I do it?

199
00:11:28.840 --> 00:11:29.360
Exactly?

200
00:11:29.440 --> 00:11:35.320
Yea, yeah, everything, I think repeating a trick in a way.

201
00:11:35.399 --> 00:11:37.799
And that's not to say you won't do something similar

202
00:11:37.799 --> 00:11:39.679
to how you've done before, because if you're thinking of

203
00:11:39.720 --> 00:11:41.399
yourself a little bit when you're making a horror movie

204
00:11:41.440 --> 00:11:44.000
like a magician with a box of tricks or tools

205
00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:47.240
that you want to play with, of course there's you're

206
00:11:47.279 --> 00:11:49.039
gonna use the same type of slide of hand, or

207
00:11:49.039 --> 00:11:51.120
you're gonna you might have the same set up, put

208
00:11:51.159 --> 00:11:53.840
a different prestige to your trick. But I think for me,

209
00:11:54.639 --> 00:11:58.799
I never want my work to feel episodic. I always

210
00:11:58.840 --> 00:12:02.039
want to feel like it's building on what's happened before,

211
00:12:02.639 --> 00:12:05.440
and and that that leads into even though the work

212
00:12:05.480 --> 00:12:08.919
that I do does contain body horror and gore and

213
00:12:09.879 --> 00:12:12.559
blood and things like that. At times, for me, I

214
00:12:12.559 --> 00:12:14.559
don't let it define the story that I'm trying to tell,

215
00:12:14.600 --> 00:12:18.799
because whilst I'll do something really gnarly or crazy, I'm

216
00:12:18.840 --> 00:12:21.159
really interested in impressing you with that, but then moving

217
00:12:21.159 --> 00:12:23.240
on to the next trick. What's the next thing we

218
00:12:23.279 --> 00:12:25.159
can do? So that's why my work, although it might

219
00:12:25.240 --> 00:12:27.879
make burn into your eyes for a moment in terms

220
00:12:27.919 --> 00:12:31.159
of something really visceral, I also I'm not trying to

221
00:12:31.159 --> 00:12:33.080
punish you in any way, shape or form. I actually

222
00:12:33.120 --> 00:12:34.559
then maybe want to pull you over here and make

223
00:12:34.559 --> 00:12:37.679
you laugh or make you kind of grimace then a

224
00:12:37.720 --> 00:12:40.480
moment later. And I think that probably brings all the

225
00:12:40.519 --> 00:12:42.399
way back to the kid in me just trying to

226
00:12:42.559 --> 00:12:44.279
say and then, and then and then and impress my

227
00:12:44.320 --> 00:12:46.519
siblings in some way, shape or form. You know what

228
00:12:46.600 --> 00:12:50.399
about this trick? What about this trick? So yeah, I

229
00:12:50.440 --> 00:12:54.399
think what what I what I what I fear is

230
00:12:54.399 --> 00:12:57.080
is never building on what comes before. And I think

231
00:12:57.080 --> 00:13:00.919
this movie, what's very interesting about it is that it

232
00:13:01.000 --> 00:13:04.480
has a big mystery angle, it has a strong family drama.

233
00:13:05.360 --> 00:13:09.720
It's terrifying, but it's also fun it's a fun thrill ride.

234
00:13:10.200 --> 00:13:13.080
Even just today, I went to approve the movie in

235
00:13:13.159 --> 00:13:18.159
forty X, and I didn't realize how good this movie

236
00:13:18.159 --> 00:13:20.840
would be in forty X because it is a thrill ride.

237
00:13:20.879 --> 00:13:24.840
It's fun, you know, And I think what I'm really

238
00:13:24.879 --> 00:13:27.080
excited for audience to experience as well was going on

239
00:13:27.080 --> 00:13:30.279
the ride, getting to know these characters, letting me pull

240
00:13:30.320 --> 00:13:32.480
you into a lot of dark corners and freak you

241
00:13:32.519 --> 00:13:34.360
out in certain ways and make you wonder and make

242
00:13:34.440 --> 00:13:37.360
you think and make you tense, and then strap in

243
00:13:37.399 --> 00:13:39.639
for the last thirty forty minutes of the movie because

244
00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:41.799
you're gonna be held by the throat all the way.

245
00:13:42.799 --> 00:13:46.440
All right, Lee, What I love about this is you

246
00:13:46.480 --> 00:13:49.720
can really feel the intention behind it. It's not just

247
00:13:49.840 --> 00:13:53.559
let's remake the Mummy. It's let's make the Mummy matter again.

248
00:13:53.799 --> 00:13:56.919
We're gonna take a quick sixty second break to pay

249
00:13:56.960 --> 00:13:59.519
the bills, so when we come back, we're diving deeper

250
00:13:59.559 --> 00:14:02.799
into Lee Cronin's the Mummy. What makes this version different

251
00:14:02.840 --> 00:14:06.279
and why it's I think the one that's gonna stick

252
00:14:06.320 --> 00:14:14.799
with you. Don't go anywhere see in sixty All right,

253
00:14:14.879 --> 00:14:17.799
Welcome back to Pop Culture Weekly. We're here with the

254
00:14:17.840 --> 00:14:22.120
incredible Lee Cronan talking all things Lee Cronan's The Mummy.

255
00:14:22.480 --> 00:14:26.879
So do you feel you know, there there's a legacy

256
00:14:27.000 --> 00:14:30.519
with I don't want to say the story or the character,

257
00:14:30.559 --> 00:14:34.559
but with the Mummy, you know, dating back to the

258
00:14:35.120 --> 00:14:40.919
classic universal monster movies. Do you feel any pressure? You know?

259
00:14:40.960 --> 00:14:43.159
And I know this is this is its own world

260
00:14:43.240 --> 00:14:46.759
and its own thing, but do you feel any pressure

261
00:14:47.000 --> 00:14:49.759
for that? You know, you had the unrelated movies with

262
00:14:50.080 --> 00:14:54.399
Brendan Fraser and that sort of thing, and this is

263
00:14:54.600 --> 00:14:57.480
very much your movie, you know, very much. So yeah,

264
00:14:57.519 --> 00:15:00.559
but do you feel any kind of pressure with that

265
00:15:00.679 --> 00:15:03.279
at all? Or are you able to be like, no,

266
00:15:03.480 --> 00:15:06.679
this is Lee Cronin's The Mummy and this is what

267
00:15:06.720 --> 00:15:07.039
it is.

268
00:15:07.919 --> 00:15:11.080
Yeah. I would never, for a moment ever want to

269
00:15:11.080 --> 00:15:13.360
send arrogant and answering a question like this. But that's

270
00:15:13.480 --> 00:15:16.480
not the type of thing that I feel pressure from.

271
00:15:17.120 --> 00:15:20.720
I feel pressure from my own choices that I kind

272
00:15:20.759 --> 00:15:23.600
of make in terms of, oh my god, am I

273
00:15:23.639 --> 00:15:25.799
doing this right? I'm I going to entertain the audience.

274
00:15:25.799 --> 00:15:27.799
Here is the story good, here is the performance right?

275
00:15:28.080 --> 00:15:30.480
If I reflect back on Evil Dead Evil Dead Rise,

276
00:15:30.519 --> 00:15:32.039
you know that was a question I'd get asked, did

277
00:15:32.039 --> 00:15:35.240
you feel any pressure, and you know, in making this

278
00:15:35.360 --> 00:15:36.879
and taking it on, and I was like, the actual

279
00:15:36.879 --> 00:15:38.840
any pressure I felt in relation to the fact that

280
00:15:38.879 --> 00:15:42.480
it was this existing title that everybody loves, was being

281
00:15:42.519 --> 00:15:45.559
afforded the opportunity and not finding a story that I

282
00:15:45.600 --> 00:15:48.519
wanted to tell, so the pressure to say yes versus

283
00:15:48.600 --> 00:15:50.799
saying no. And thankfully I found the story I wanted

284
00:15:50.799 --> 00:15:54.399
to tell. So with this film as well, I kind

285
00:15:54.399 --> 00:15:57.879
of like the challenge more. It's more how I take

286
00:15:57.879 --> 00:16:00.919
a challenge on then feel pressure was Oh my god,

287
00:16:00.919 --> 00:16:03.120
we could make the most terrifying Mummy movie that's ever

288
00:16:03.159 --> 00:16:04.879
been made, and it very much felt like a challenge

289
00:16:04.919 --> 00:16:07.159
accepted thing for me. And whilst I have great reverence

290
00:16:07.159 --> 00:16:10.320
for the movies that went before, they're all super different.

291
00:16:10.360 --> 00:16:13.759
I'm as interested in the actual history and my interest

292
00:16:13.799 --> 00:16:16.320
as a kid in Egyptology as much as movies. So

293
00:16:16.360 --> 00:16:18.559
I keep saying it. You know, mummies were around long

294
00:16:18.600 --> 00:16:22.600
before we had cameras, so from that point of view,

295
00:16:22.679 --> 00:16:26.279
it didn't really get under my skin. And the pressure

296
00:16:26.320 --> 00:16:29.879
that I feel is can I deliver you something really

297
00:16:29.919 --> 00:16:32.120
really fresh. That's where the pressure comes in.

298
00:16:33.840 --> 00:16:37.360
And when do you get to a point where you

299
00:16:37.399 --> 00:16:38.240
can answer.

300
00:16:37.960 --> 00:16:43.240
That question, as in, have I delivered? I guess we

301
00:16:43.519 --> 00:16:45.320
live in a world where the opening weekend of a

302
00:16:45.360 --> 00:16:48.440
movie counts for a lot in terms of that. I think, truthfully,

303
00:16:48.559 --> 00:16:52.759
I actually got to very fortunately have I got to

304
00:16:53.000 --> 00:16:55.600
answer that question a couple of weeks ago. So when

305
00:16:55.600 --> 00:16:58.679
you're finishing a film, it can be in a lot

306
00:16:58.720 --> 00:17:01.960
of separate components towards the end of the process. So

307
00:17:02.399 --> 00:17:04.039
in the in the in the I think I finished

308
00:17:04.039 --> 00:17:06.319
the film maybe about three weeks, yeah, about three weeks ago,

309
00:17:06.759 --> 00:17:10.720
fully fully finished, And the couple of months preceding that,

310
00:17:10.960 --> 00:17:13.480
I'd see the movie so many times from an editorial

311
00:17:13.480 --> 00:17:16.359
point of view, visual effects point of view, color correction

312
00:17:16.440 --> 00:17:18.400
point of view, sound mix, all of these things. So

313
00:17:18.440 --> 00:17:21.279
I tended to be observing the movie for one particular

314
00:17:21.359 --> 00:17:24.559
facet of what the film currently was as opposed to

315
00:17:25.279 --> 00:17:29.920
the full show. And it, strangely enough, because we were

316
00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:31.799
racing to get it finished, as is often the case,

317
00:17:31.799 --> 00:17:34.000
and you've got a release date, it wasn't until I

318
00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:36.359
went to approve the IMAX version of the movie that

319
00:17:36.440 --> 00:17:41.319
I actually saw my completed work in full ever, basically

320
00:17:41.359 --> 00:17:44.240
fully completed, no more changes, because when I signed off

321
00:17:44.240 --> 00:17:45.680
the film, I would have been signing off the last

322
00:17:45.680 --> 00:17:47.079
thing you do is is with the sound miix. But

323
00:17:47.119 --> 00:17:49.200
I'm looking at low res picture and I walk away

324
00:17:49.200 --> 00:17:50.599
and it's like, Okay, we're done, because I looked at

325
00:17:50.640 --> 00:17:52.319
the picture yesterday and I was happy with it, but

326
00:17:52.319 --> 00:17:53.920
it didn't have the right sound on the movie. At

327
00:17:53.920 --> 00:17:56.839
that point, I watched it in Imax with some people

328
00:17:56.839 --> 00:17:59.240
that I really trust and care about, and I went

329
00:17:59.279 --> 00:18:00.720
in just being like, oh, I got to watch this

330
00:18:00.799 --> 00:18:04.240
again like the thirtieth time in the last month or whatever,

331
00:18:05.599 --> 00:18:09.519
and it actually did make me stop and pause and go,

332
00:18:10.279 --> 00:18:12.319
oh shit, this is the movie that you really wanted

333
00:18:12.319 --> 00:18:15.079
to make. This is it. You actually have put your

334
00:18:15.160 --> 00:18:17.839
vision on screen, And that was a lovely moment. So

335
00:18:18.160 --> 00:18:21.799
I just hope audiences can share in that and enjoy

336
00:18:21.960 --> 00:18:23.640
the story that I tried to tell and how I

337
00:18:23.680 --> 00:18:28.240
tried to tell it. And I do know that people

338
00:18:28.279 --> 00:18:32.799
that like my work or even love my work, will

339
00:18:32.839 --> 00:18:34.920
really enjoy the film. But beyond that, there's a lot

340
00:18:34.960 --> 00:18:38.160
to discover in terms of the mystery, the detective angle

341
00:18:38.480 --> 00:18:41.079
and I said, and the kind of dark humor, the

342
00:18:41.160 --> 00:18:44.400
levity and just the fun time of the movies. You know,

343
00:18:44.720 --> 00:18:46.440
you look different when you come out of the film.

344
00:18:46.440 --> 00:18:48.279
As I was trying to promise that you'll be sweat here,

345
00:18:48.640 --> 00:18:50.559
your neat hair won't be as nice as it was,

346
00:18:50.680 --> 00:18:54.839
your collar button will be open. And that's what I'm

347
00:18:54.839 --> 00:18:56.480
trying to do is make sure that you spend your

348
00:18:56.480 --> 00:18:58.640
hard earned money, go to the theater, and then you

349
00:18:58.680 --> 00:18:59.880
come out a little bit different.

350
00:19:00.640 --> 00:19:03.359
I love that so much, especially as a movie buff

351
00:19:03.400 --> 00:19:06.319
and as a fan of your work. And you know,

352
00:19:06.400 --> 00:19:09.960
couldn't be better. Said, what do you think is the

353
00:19:09.960 --> 00:19:13.880
biggest misconception about this film right now?

354
00:19:14.839 --> 00:19:18.000
I think people will always have a frame of reference

355
00:19:18.000 --> 00:19:20.920
for what they think a movie with a mummy should be.

356
00:19:21.920 --> 00:19:24.240
But having said that, it just it's generational. You know,

357
00:19:24.279 --> 00:19:27.119
there's people that look backly even or people depending on

358
00:19:27.160 --> 00:19:29.079
what their taste is. Like me and myself and James

359
00:19:29.119 --> 00:19:31.759
Wan have talked a lot about where our preferences lie.

360
00:19:31.799 --> 00:19:34.079
And he loves, you know, he loves the Hammer Mummy movies.

361
00:19:34.160 --> 00:19:37.680
That's that's where when he thinks about it, I think,

362
00:19:38.960 --> 00:19:41.279
I think there's always going to be those thoughts around,

363
00:19:41.359 --> 00:19:43.319
you know. Steven Sommer's movie, which again is an action

364
00:19:43.400 --> 00:19:46.680
adventure film and obviously Brendan Fraser is you know, is

365
00:19:46.720 --> 00:19:49.920
an amazing actor and a brilliant character in those movies,

366
00:19:50.799 --> 00:19:55.400
and they're really entertaining in their way. And I actually

367
00:19:55.440 --> 00:19:58.319
never feared there being a misconception. Even from the marketing

368
00:19:58.319 --> 00:20:02.319
of the film. We thought a great opportunity to change perception,

369
00:20:02.599 --> 00:20:04.720
not give people more of the same, even if they

370
00:20:04.720 --> 00:20:08.319
think it might be. And early responses to the movie

371
00:20:08.359 --> 00:20:11.039
when people have seen it recently, they come in and

372
00:20:11.079 --> 00:20:14.279
they go, holy shit, I was not expecting that, and

373
00:20:14.319 --> 00:20:17.680
I go, okay, excellent, that's what we want. You know,

374
00:20:17.839 --> 00:20:18.599
that's what we want.

375
00:20:19.920 --> 00:20:25.440
How far were you you knows, as you're filming, you know,

376
00:20:25.519 --> 00:20:31.079
how far did you push it tonally? You know, where

377
00:20:31.200 --> 00:20:34.440
did you find a balance between like Okay, I don't

378
00:20:34.440 --> 00:20:38.000
want to go that far and okay, this is enough

379
00:20:38.079 --> 00:20:40.079
to get my point across.

380
00:20:40.640 --> 00:20:43.880
Yeah, tone to me is everything I think. And one

381
00:20:43.920 --> 00:20:46.480
of the you we spoke a little bit earlier about,

382
00:20:46.519 --> 00:20:48.480
you know, pressure, things that you might fear in terms

383
00:20:48.519 --> 00:20:51.240
of approaching your work. Definitely, getting the tonal balance right

384
00:20:51.279 --> 00:20:53.000
in this movie was the type of thing that would

385
00:20:53.000 --> 00:20:55.599
be always ticking as a major thought in my mind

386
00:20:56.839 --> 00:20:59.720
because I was blending I've described this movie as Seven

387
00:20:59.759 --> 00:21:02.880
meet Poltergeist, and they're not necessarily obvious bedfellows. But if

388
00:21:02.880 --> 00:21:06.559
you take the tension and some of the kind of

389
00:21:06.960 --> 00:21:09.880
the weird, offbeat darkness of Seven and the detective angles,

390
00:21:09.880 --> 00:21:12.119
and then you bring in the heart and the hope

391
00:21:12.119 --> 00:21:14.519
and the missing kid aspect of Poultergeist, there actually is

392
00:21:14.559 --> 00:21:16.519
a crossover that you could create, which at least what

393
00:21:16.519 --> 00:21:19.319
I was trying to do, I think tonally, like again,

394
00:21:19.359 --> 00:21:23.119
I never want to punish anybody with the stuff that

395
00:21:23.160 --> 00:21:25.119
I make. I want you to have a good time,

396
00:21:25.519 --> 00:21:27.759
and sometimes I have a good time. You have to

397
00:21:27.799 --> 00:21:29.880
be scared, you know, in a crazy like I'm really

398
00:21:29.920 --> 00:21:32.599
bad with roller coasters, but like if I go on one,

399
00:21:32.680 --> 00:21:35.240
I still have a good time because it's a terrifying experience,

400
00:21:35.279 --> 00:21:39.519
but it's something that's real and it's happened. So for me,

401
00:21:39.759 --> 00:21:42.519
I said, I'll stick the knife in, but I won't

402
00:21:42.519 --> 00:21:46.039
twist it endlessly. That's the thing, and that's always the

403
00:21:46.039 --> 00:21:48.319
little kind of test for me. And there are some

404
00:21:48.839 --> 00:21:52.039
strong emotional moments in this movie as well, and people

405
00:21:52.119 --> 00:21:55.200
do feel it, you know. I think depending on how

406
00:21:55.279 --> 00:21:58.720
you like your horror films, I think with this movie.

407
00:21:58.720 --> 00:22:02.240
You can go in and you can experience terror. I

408
00:22:02.240 --> 00:22:05.720
think you can experience laughter, and you can you can

409
00:22:05.759 --> 00:22:08.799
definitely be moved because at the heart of it all,

410
00:22:08.839 --> 00:22:11.599
there is a story about a family who've lost somebody

411
00:22:11.599 --> 00:22:14.160
that they care about, and then that person has returned,

412
00:22:14.160 --> 00:22:16.240
and then it's a very mean thing to say. Oh,

413
00:22:16.319 --> 00:22:18.279
it's about a family that the worst possible thing has

414
00:22:18.279 --> 00:22:20.519
already happened to and now I'm going to make it

415
00:22:20.559 --> 00:22:21.799
worse for them.

416
00:22:22.759 --> 00:22:25.599
Yeah. I totally get what you're saying, and it makes

417
00:22:25.640 --> 00:22:28.960
context in the in the you know, uh context of

418
00:22:28.960 --> 00:22:34.279
the conversation, but outside of that that would sound horrible. Uh,

419
00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:37.519
you know, you actually answered one of the things I

420
00:22:37.519 --> 00:22:40.640
wanted to ask you is I truly believe that you know,

421
00:22:40.759 --> 00:22:43.559
good film no matter of the genre. What it comes

422
00:22:43.559 --> 00:22:46.559
down to is what's under the surface, you know, what

423
00:22:46.880 --> 00:22:50.680
is the story trying to say? Trying to tell you

424
00:22:50.880 --> 00:22:55.359
Unwrapping the Mummy, if you will, And and but I

425
00:22:55.400 --> 00:22:58.599
think you nailed it in regards to you know, what

426
00:22:58.640 --> 00:23:00.640
it truly is about is that the family.

427
00:23:00.880 --> 00:23:03.160
You know, totally you can and that's where it always

428
00:23:03.200 --> 00:23:06.240
starts as well for me, dude, because it's like, if

429
00:23:06.279 --> 00:23:09.640
you don't have a story to tell about people that

430
00:23:09.680 --> 00:23:11.880
you can identify with, then everything is just a bunch

431
00:23:11.920 --> 00:23:15.039
of special effects, right, you don't identify with them. And

432
00:23:15.079 --> 00:23:17.640
I think what's interesting is there is a metaphorical power

433
00:23:17.680 --> 00:23:23.079
in this movie that as we're unwrapping the secret, so

434
00:23:23.359 --> 00:23:26.920
is this family's emotions unraveling and the things they didn't

435
00:23:26.920 --> 00:23:30.200
talk about, or the responsibilities they didn't want to own

436
00:23:30.279 --> 00:23:32.160
up to, or the guilt that they feel in relation

437
00:23:32.240 --> 00:23:34.559
to the fact that their daughter went missing. And that

438
00:23:34.680 --> 00:23:38.079
was always really really interesting to me, this idea that

439
00:23:38.599 --> 00:23:40.720
and also the idea and I actually love when you

440
00:23:40.759 --> 00:23:43.480
put the trailer online and people go, hell, no, you know,

441
00:23:43.720 --> 00:23:46.880
I'm not bringing her home and I'm going But you would,

442
00:23:46.880 --> 00:23:50.680
because if you've lost somebody you truly love, you would

443
00:23:50.680 --> 00:23:54.119
do anything to have them back. Yeah, whatever, especially as

444
00:23:54.160 --> 00:23:57.440
some parents. And just because she doesn't look so good

445
00:23:57.680 --> 00:23:59.400
doesn't mean you're not going to try and make her better.

446
00:23:59.839 --> 00:24:02.559
And that to me, how you I think that's a

447
00:24:02.559 --> 00:24:04.440
really important thing when you make a horror movie is

448
00:24:04.440 --> 00:24:07.400
how you trap your characters. And sometimes you trap them

449
00:24:07.440 --> 00:24:10.039
with the phone lines are down. Sometimes you trap them

450
00:24:10.079 --> 00:24:12.799
with the bridge is broken, or you know, or shining

451
00:24:12.799 --> 00:24:16.000
the snow. We can't escape in this movie, there the

452
00:24:16.079 --> 00:24:19.920
characters are actually trapped by their own guilt because they

453
00:24:19.960 --> 00:24:22.440
feel responsible for the fact that their daughter went missing.

454
00:24:22.519 --> 00:24:25.799
So whatever state she's returned in the idea of being

455
00:24:25.839 --> 00:24:28.960
able to fix that guilt and plug the whole and

456
00:24:29.039 --> 00:24:32.039
plug the loss, they'll take a lot of pain, you know,

457
00:24:32.079 --> 00:24:34.400
they'll take it. They'll take a lot on board. And

458
00:24:35.200 --> 00:24:40.480
all of that was where the development started before. Well,

459
00:24:40.519 --> 00:24:42.759
at the same time, I'm always obviously conjuring up, you know,

460
00:24:42.799 --> 00:24:45.079
crazy set pieces, and I have ideas that I want

461
00:24:45.119 --> 00:24:49.400
to explore, but getting the flow of that correct was

462
00:24:49.480 --> 00:24:50.599
really really important to me.

463
00:24:52.680 --> 00:24:56.160
Do you you know, looking back at your first film

464
00:24:56.240 --> 00:24:59.960
or even beyond or even before you know, the whole

465
00:25:00.119 --> 00:25:06.079
the ground which was beautiful up until you know, right

466
00:25:06.160 --> 00:25:09.480
when you went to start shooting this, what have you

467
00:25:09.680 --> 00:25:13.839
taken through those earlier projects? What did you take into

468
00:25:13.920 --> 00:25:15.240
the Mummy? If anything?

469
00:25:16.319 --> 00:25:21.079
I think I think one of the things that I

470
00:25:21.119 --> 00:25:25.720
found quite interesting was that I could start to trust

471
00:25:25.799 --> 00:25:27.480
I always trust my instincts, but I could start to

472
00:25:27.480 --> 00:25:32.240
trust my instincts even further. And what I mean by

473
00:25:32.240 --> 00:25:36.680
that is I'm extremely, extremely visually precise and detail focused,

474
00:25:38.440 --> 00:25:42.160
and there's a lot of pre design done, and so

475
00:25:42.240 --> 00:25:44.039
say with something like the Hole in the Ground, I

476
00:25:44.039 --> 00:25:48.480
felt it necessary to storyboard er photograph every angle and

477
00:25:48.519 --> 00:25:51.920
make sure we were nearly following that bible with this movie. Yeah,

478
00:25:51.960 --> 00:25:53.519
I did that too, and then I just threw it

479
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.