Brendan Fraser Returns for the Mummy 3

It seems Brendan Fraser is returning to The Mummy Series once again.

Fraser has just closed a rich deal to reprise of the role of Rick O' Connell in "The Mummy 3". Production is expected to begin this summer for a 2008 release.

The Mummy and The Mummy Returns were big box office hits. The Mummy Returns spun a spin-off, The Scorpion King which was a mild hit. Stephen Sommers, the writer and director of the first 2 Mummy movies will not be returning as writer no director. Rob Cohen (The Fast and the Furious) is taking over as Director and Alfred Gough and Miles Millar (TV'S Smallville) are writing the screenplay. The movie is about Rick O' Connell's now 20 year old son Alex unearthing a brand new mummy in china.

Sadly Rachel Weisz has dropped out of the film and will not be reprising the role of Evelyn O' Connell. Oded Fehr will also not be returning. It is unknown if John Hannah is returning as Uncle Jonathan. Alex Pettyfer (Operation Stormbreaker) will be playing Alex O' Connell and marital arts master Jet Li will be playing the new Mummy villain.

Universal is holding up greenlight at this point for final re-write but filming is still expected to start this summer for a summer 2008 release.

I'm 50/50 for this at this point. On one hand its cool to see Fraser back and I love the choice of the director and screenwriters. Plus Jet Li as the new mummy baddie? Too cool. But the lack of the other original cast scares me. Weisz would seem to be very important to the film, so her absence scares me. I'm a big fan of the first two films so I'm curious to see how this turns out.

Sources-Coming Soon, JK news