The Tom Cruise movie Alex Kurtzman called “the biggest failure of my life”
From the Mission: Impossible franchise to Top Gun and Magnolia, Tom Cruise has starred in an array of hit movies and successfully covered many bases. He might be one of the world’s most famous actors and one of the highest-grossing of all time, but he’s still partaken in his fair share of box flops.
One of the most egregious and recent examples is the 2017 reboot of The Mummy. Directed by Alex Kurtzman, the fantasy action flick stars Cruise as US Army Sergeant Nick Morton, who accidentally unearths the tomb of Egyptian Princess Ahmanet – played by Sofia Boutella. It also stars Russell Crowe, Annabelle Wallis, Jake Johnson, and Courtney B. Vance.
The movie was also set to sound the launch of Universal’s ‘Dark Universe’, which would have seen a host of the studio’s classic monsters return to the screen. It was said that Nick Morton would star in future films featuring the likes of Dracula, Frankenstein, The Bride of Frankenstein, The Invisible Man, Wolfman and The Creature from the Black Lagoon.
Despite all the makings of success, The Mummy was a complete failure. A box office flop, it received widespread condemnation from critics and audiences, and although it grossed $410 million worldwide, it lost $95m due to high production and marketing costs. Ultimately, the ‘Dark Universe’ was initially discontinued and then cancelled due to such a monumental letdown. Who was Universal kidding? Nothing was ever going to top the Brendan Fraser Mummy films.
When speaking on the Bingeworthy podcast in 2022, the director of The Mummy, Alex Kurtzman, conceded that he had “about a million things I regret about the movie” and called it “the biggest failure of my life”, indicating just how immensely bad The Mummy performed.
“I tend to subscribe to the point of view that you learn nothing from your successes, and you learn everything from your failures. And that was probably the biggest failure of my life, both personally and professionally,” Kurtzman said. “There are about a million things I regret about it, but it also gave me so many gifts that are inexpressibly beautiful. I didn’t become a director until I made that movie, and it wasn’t because it was well directed – it was because it wasn’t.”
Whilst he said the experience of the movie was “brutal”, Kurtzman thinks it made him become a better director and stronger person. He explained: “And as brutal as it was, in many ways, and as many cooks in the kitchen as there were, I am very grateful for the opportunity to make those mistakes because it rebuilt me into a tougher person”.
He concluded: “I’m very clear now when I have a feeling that doesn’t feel right – I am not quiet about it anymore. I will literally not proceed when I feel that feeling. It’s not worth it to me. And you can’t get to that place of gratitude until you’ve had that kind of experience.”
