The Mummy remake could star female actor with completely new backstory as Universal reboots classic monster films

By Caitlin O'toole For Dailymail.com

Published: 18:30 EST, 14 October 2015 | Updated: 18:41 EST, 14 October 2015

There is a new The Mummy movie in the works, and this time the ancient Egyptian could be female.

Universal are planning a remake of the popular film, as part of a plan to launch a series of Monster movies based on their old classic movies.

And for The Mummy, the studio is looking at both male and female actors to play the classic horror character, reports The Hollywood Reporter.

Scroll down for video 

Classic: Boris Karloff starred as The Mummy in the original 1932 film

The original 1932 film starred Boris Karloff as the mummy.

Actor Arnold Vosloo played the mummy in the 1999 action-adventure remake, which starred Brenden Fraser and Rachel Weisz. The hit film also launched two sequels.

But now director Alex Kurtzman is considering casting a female in the part, and coming up with a new backstory for the character.

Monsters: The new film may have a female mummy and an entirely new plot, with the director considering both female and male actors

Adventure story: Rachel Weisz played an Egyptologist in the 1999 version of The Mummy

The story will be set in the current day, and the plot will depend on whether or not they cast a male or female as the mummy, according to The Hollywood Reporter. 

The new film is scheduled to be released in early 2017.

It's the first in what Universal hopes will be a new blockbuster franchise around old monster films in their back catalog, including planned movies based on classic horror characters Dracula, Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein and the Invisible Man.

Tough spot: Universal Studios will roll out the new mummy movie as the first in their planned Monsters movies, based on classic spooky characters in their old films

Old school: Bela Lugosi played Dracula in the 1931 classic vampire horror film

He's back: The studio is also planning a new film about vampire hunter Van Helsing, played by Hugh Jackman in the 2004 version

They are also planning a remake around vampire hunter Van Helsing, who was played by Hugh Jackman in the 2004 film.

The openness to swapping the gender of the mummy comes as Hollywood is under growing pressure over the pay gap for female actresses and the lack of women behind the camera.

Yesterday, actress Jennifer Lawrence said she was done trying to be 'likeable' as she vowed to negotiate for equal pay after the Sony hacks revealed she made less than her American Hustle costars Christian Bale and Bradley Cooper.

Even stars like Sandra Bullock have struggled to find scripts with great female characters for them to sink their teeth into.

The lack of interesting female parts caused the Gravity star to take a role that was originally written for George Clooney, starring as a crisis management expert in new film Our Brand Is Crisis. 

Starring role: Sandra Bullock plays a part originally written for a man in her new film Our Brand Is Crisis

Comments (24)

Share what you think

• Newest
• Oldest
• Best rated
• Worst rated

 View all

The comments below have not been moderated.

 View all

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

Add your comment

Enter your comment

By posting your comment you agree to our house rules.

Submit Comment Clear

Who is this week's top commenter? Find out now