Buried Alive: The Mummy 3

THE MUMMY: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR

A.K.A. "The One Without Rachel Weisz"

-Tyler McDaniel-

Okay, so you know how sometimes a franchise just... shouldn't make that third movie? The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is basically a case study in that. No Rachel Weisz. No Stephen Sommers directing. No Egypt. No actual mummy in the traditional sense. And somehow they still made $400 million. Today we're breaking down the most divisive entry in the Mummy trilogy - a movie that swapped pyramids for pagodas, scarabs for yetis, and Imhotep for Jet Li covered in terracotta. The director wanted to KILL Rick O'Connell. They almost brought back Imhotep as a GOOD GUY. And Brendan Fraser was literally held together with tape and ice by the time cameras rolled.

…Let's dig up and dissect this mess.

• QUICK PLOT BREAKDOWN

It's 1946, thirteen years after The Mummy Returns. Rick and Evie are retired and bored out of their minds in their English mansion. Their son Alex is now in his twenties and has dropped out of college to become an archaeologist - because apparently that runs in the family. Alex discovers the tomb of the Dragon Emperor, an ancient Chinese warlord who was cursed by a sorceress and turned into terracotta along with his entire army. Think Imhotep, but with elemental powers and shapeshifting abilities instead of sand control.

The British government sends Rick and Evie to China to deliver a magical artifact called the Eye of Shangri-La. Surprise - a rogue Chinese general wants to resurrect the Emperor to reunify China post-WWII. The artifact gets used, the Emperor wakes up, and now the O'Connells have to stop him from reaching Shangri-La where he'll become fully immortal and unstoppable. Cue Himalayan adventures, helpful, cheesy, cgi yetis, Michelle Yeoh as an immortal sorceress, a climactic battle between two undead armies at the Great Wall, and the Emperor turning into a three-headed dragon. Standard O'Connell vacation, honestly.

• WHY THIS MOVIE EXISTS

So here's the thing - this movie wasn't made because anyone had a burning creative vision. It was made because of the Beijing Olympics.

NBC was broadcasting the 2008 Olympics from China, and Universal saw an opportunity for cross-promotion. Set a Mummy movie in China, release it right before the Olympics, cash in on all that China buzz. Brendan Fraser has straight up said the only reason they went to China was to tie into the Olympics.

Stephen Sommers, who wrote and directed the first two films, passed on this one. His reasoning? "The first two really came together" and "third ones are just very hard." He knew. He saw what was coming and he got out.

Rob Cohen (xXx, The Fast and the Furious) took over directing. He was apparently super into Chinese culture and history, so when he heard the setting was China, he jumped at it. He insisted on actually filming there, which led to a co-production deal with Chinese studios - and all the script compromises that came with it.

• RETURNING CHARACTERS VS NEW FACES

Who came back:

Brendan Fraser returns as Rick, but the guy was basically held together with duct tape at this point. After years of doing his own stunts across the trilogy, he told GQ he was "put together with tape and ice" by the time they filmed in China. The physical toll of these movies had wrecked him.

John Hannah is back as Jonathan, and they FINALLY gave him the casino from The Mummy Returns that got cut for budget reasons. He owns a nightclub in Shanghai called "Imhotep's" - which is honestly a pretty great joke. He's still the comic relief, still getting into trouble, still learning nothing.

Fun fact: Fraser and Hannah are the ONLY actors to appear in all three Mummy movies.

The elephant in the room - Evie's recast:

Maria Bello replaced Rachel Weisz as Evelyn. We'll get into the drama of WHY in a later segment, but the reception was... not great. Audiences felt her British accent was shaky, the chemistry with Fraser wasn't there, and she just wasn't Evie. The movie even makes a meta joke about it - when Rick says Evie looks different, she quips "I know, I can't believe it either."

The new blood:

Luke Ford plays adult Alex O'Connell, and there's an awkward age problem here - Ford was only 13 years younger than Fraser and 14 years younger than Bello. They're supposed to be his parents but they look more like older siblings.

Jet Li plays the Dragon Emperor, though he spends most of the movie either as a terracotta statue or CGI because his schedule only allowed limited filming time. When he IS on screen in human form, he's magnetic, but that's not very often.

Michelle Yeoh plays Zi Yuan, the immortal sorceress who cursed the Emperor. She and Jet Li are real-life friends who've done multiple films together, but this marks the first time they played enemies. Rob Cohen called her "Queen of the World" in his production blog. Their sword fight was a highlight, though fans complained it was way too short.

Isabella Leong plays Lin, Zi Yuan's immortal daughter and Alex's love interest. Anthony Wong plays General Yang, the villain who resurrects the Emperor. Russell Wong plays General Ming, Zi Yuan's long-dead lover who gets resurrected for the final battle.

Who almost came back:

Arnold Vosloo was approached to bring back Imhotep - but as a GOOD GUY this time, a last-minute ally who helps defeat the Dragon Emperor. Vosloo turned it down because he hated the script and didn't want to make a Mummy movie without Sommers. When Oded Fehr heard Imhotep wasn't in the film, he also declined to return as Ardeth Bay. Can't blame them.

• THE RACHEL WEISZ SITUATION

Okay, let's talk about the biggest casting change. Rachel Weisz not returning for the third Mummy is one of the most discussed recasting decisions in franchise history. And there are like three different explanations floating around.

Explanation #1 - The script sucked:

An unnamed source told CinemaBlend in 2007 that Weisz left because the screenplay was awful. The quote was something like "the script is still crap, and Weisz finally took the high road out of there." Brutal. And honestly? Looking at the final product... maybe she had a point.

Explanation #2 - The age thing:

Director Rob Cohen told Heat magazine he got "a very angry phone call from her agent, saying she'll never play the mother of a 21-year-old." His response was apparently "Okay, good, fine, bye." Which... yikes. Hollywood's obsession with women's ages strikes again.

Explanation #3 - Scheduling and her newborn:

Weisz had just given birth to her son in 2006, and the production required five months in China. Some reports said she didn't want to be away from her toddler that long. However, Weisz herself has pushed back on this, pointing out she made two other films that same year (The Brothers Bloom and Definitely, Maybe). She's implied the baby had nothing to do with it.

What Weisz actually said:

In interviews, Weisz claimed she never even read the script because "it was going to be five months in China, and it was just out of the question." So maybe it was a combination of all three - bad script, age concerns, and logistics. Either way, the movie suffered for her absence. Maria Bello tried her best, but it's hard to replace someone with that much chemistry and history with the franchise.

• JET LI'S LIMITED SCREEN TIME

Remember how The Rock barely appeared in The Mummy Returns because of his WWE schedule? History repeated itself with Jet Li. Li's availability was so limited that the production made a deliberate choice: the Emperor would spend most of the movie either as a rotting mummy or encased in terracotta. That way, Li could play the human version in his limited shooting time, and CGI/stunt performers could handle the rest.

Audiences complained that one of the biggest martial arts stars in the world was barely in his own movie. The sword fight between Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh - two absolute legends - was disappointingly short. Fans expected epic wuxia action between these two icons who'd worked together multiple times. Instead, they got a few minutes. And ironically, audiences also complained the sword fight was choreographed more like Roman gladiators than Chinese martial artists. For a movie trying so hard to be authentically Chinese, that's a pretty big miss.

• REAL CHINESE HISTORY VS MOVIE NONSENSE

The Mummy movies have never been historically accurate, but this one actually gets some stuff surprisingly right while inventing other stuff wholesale.

The Terracotta Army - mostly real:

This is based on a real archaeological wonder. In 1974, farmers digging a well near Xi'an accidentally discovered thousands of life-sized clay soldiers buried for over 2,000 years. There are an estimated 8,000+ figures - soldiers, horses, chariots - all created to protect Emperor Qin Shi Huang in the afterlife. Each soldier has a unique face. It's genuinely one of the most incredible archaeological finds in history. The movie obviously takes liberties by making them come to life, but the basic concept? Real.

Emperor Qin Shi Huang - real, but different:

The Dragon Emperor is based on Qin Shi Huang, China's actual first emperor. He really did unify China's warring kingdoms in 221 BC. He really did build the first version of the Great Wall. He really was obsessed with immortality - he sent expeditions searching for the elixir of life and may have died from mercury poisoning from "immortality pills." But he wasn't a shapeshifter. He didn't have elemental powers. And he definitely wasn't cursed by a sorceress.

The booby traps - surprisingly real:

Those crossbow traps in the tomb? According to Chinese archaeologists, the excavation of the real Terracotta Army is progressing slowly PARTLY because the site may actually contain similar traps. Ancient Chinese texts describe the tomb having crossbows rigged to fire at intruders. Scientists have also found mercury levels 100 times the natural rate in the soil - matching ancient accounts of rivers of mercury inside the tomb. The real tomb hasn't been fully excavated because they're genuinely worried about what's inside.

Shangri-La - fictional, sort of:

Shangri-La is a fictional place from the 1933 novel "Lost Horizon" by James Hilton - it's a mystical Himalayan paradise. It's not from Chinese mythology at all. But the movie's concept of immortality pools and mystical mountain locations does draw from Daoist traditions about elixirs of life and sacred mountains.

The Wu Xing elements - real concept:

The Emperor's elemental powers (fire, water, earth, wood, metal) are based on the real Wu Xing - the five elements in Chinese philosophy. That's an actual ancient Chinese concept used in medicine, martial arts, and philosophy. The movie using Chinese elements instead of Western ones was a nice touch.

The Yetis - completely random:

Look, yetis are from Tibetan/Himalayan folklore, not Chinese mythology. Having them show up to help the heroes is just... weird. They're depicted with cat-like faces for some reason. It's one of those decisions that makes you wonder if anyone said "wait, why?" during production.

• THINGS THAT ALMOST HAPPENED

Rob Cohen wanted to kill Rick:

The director wanted to KILL OFF Rick O'Connell in this movie. Imagine - killing the main character of the franchise. Thankfully that didn't happen, but it shows how different this creative team's vision was from the original films.

The WWII script:

An early draft was set in 1940 during World War II, not after it. Rick and Evie were introduced as British spies in India, observing a Japanese officer who had a secret weapon - which turned out to be the Emperor. There were tensions between Chinese and Japanese characters, scenes of Japanese troops capturing insurgents for work camps, and Alex had secretly dropped out of Yale to try to enlist. Way darker than what we got.

More body horror:

Early drafts had way more gruesome stuff - a crocodile eating someone's arm, maggots and bone fragments seeping through the Emperor's wounds, the Emperor forming a new brain and eyeballs on screen. They toned all that down significantly.

The Peru sequel:

The movie ends with Jonathan moving to Peru because he wants to go "somewhere with no mummies" - then text reveals mummies were just discovered there. This was setting up a fourth film. They were planning "The Mummy: Rise of the Aztecs" with Antonio Banderas as the villain. Luke Ford was signed for three movies. Maria Bello was contracted to return. But the poor reception of Dragon Emperor, combined with Universal's desire to reboot with the Dark Universe, killed those plans.

• ALTERNATE CASTINGS THAT ALMOST HAPPENED

The Evie sweepstakes:

When Weisz dropped out, Universal considered a TON of actresses: Nicole Kidman, Priyanka Chopra, Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter, Lindsay Lohan, Piper Perabo, Mary Steenburgen, Andie MacDowell, and more. Imagine any of those as Evie. Lindsay Lohan as Evie O'Connell. Wild.

Alex Pettyfer as Alex:

Alex Pettyfer (who later did I Am Number Four and Magic Mike) was rumored to have been considered for adult Alex before Luke Ford got the role.

• EASTER EGGS AND HIDDEN DETAILS

Imhotep's nightclub:

Jonathan's Shanghai nightclub is named "Imhotep's" - a callback to the villain from the first two films. It's a fun meta joke about Jonathan capitalizing on his mummy-fighting history.

The Indiana Jones homage:

The motorcycle chase with sidecars is a direct homage to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, where Indy and his dad escape on a nearly identical bike setup.

The dynamite Easter egg:

The brand name on the dynamite used to blow up the tower is "P.J. Voeten" - named after the film's first assistant director.

The Rachel Weisz book tribute:

Maria Bello revealed that in one of Evie's novels (she's an author in this film), the character is described as looking like "an amazing, beautiful Rachel Weisz ingenue." A nice subtle tribute to the original actress.

The mummy count joke:

Rick says he's "put down more mummies" than Alex. Alex points out: "You put down one mummy, Dad." Rick's response: "Yeah. Same mummy... twice." A callback acknowledging they fought Imhotep in both previous films.

The faith callback:

After the Shanghai car chase, Alex says he was "willing to go on a little faith" - echoing Rick's journey in the first film.

• BEHIND THE SCENES CHAOS

Filming interrupted by the Chinese army:

The crew frequently had to stop filming when actual Chinese soldiers marched through or near Shanghai. The desert battlefield set was actually a training facility for the Chinese army that they leased. Imagine trying to film an epic battle scene while real military exercises are happening nearby.

Chinese government script approval:

Because it was a co-production with China, the script had to be approved by Chinese authorities. Cohen complained to Variety that they had to "depoliticize the script" and keep things "fantasy and not so historical." The WWII elements and Japanese tensions from the original draft? Gone.

Fraser's physical condition:

By this point, Brendan Fraser had accumulated years of injuries from doing his own stunts. He described himself as being "put together with tape and ice" during Chinese filming. The physical toll of the Mummy franchise was catching up to him in a major way.

Lord of the Rings tech:

The undead battle scenes used the same AI software (Massive) that created the battle scenes in Lord of the Rings. Different studios handled different effects - Rhythm & Hues did the yetis and dragons, Digital Domain handled the terracotta army battles.

• THE LEGACY

Tomb of the Dragon Emperor made $405 million worldwide - technically a success, but the lowest-grossing film in the trilogy. It has a 12% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes and a 30% audience score. Not great. The planned sequel with Antonio Banderas never happened. Universal eventually went with the 2017 Tom Cruise reboot instead, trying to launch the "Dark Universe" of interconnected monster movies. That flopped even harder and the whole shared universe was scrapped.

Brendan Fraser has publicly distanced himself from this one. He's said he considers it a standalone film, not really part of the series, and that it was made "just to tie into the Olympics." He's expressed that if there's ever a fourth Mummy movie, he wants to continue the story from the first two films - essentially ignoring this one. And now, with Fraser's career resurgence after The Whale and reports of a fourth Mummy film with him AND Rachel Weisz returning... It looks like the Dragon Emperor might be retconned into oblivion. Which, honestly, might be for the best.

OUTRO

Look, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor isn't COMPLETELY unwatchable. It's got Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh, even if they're underused. It's got some cool action sequences. The terracotta army concept is genuinely interesting. And Fraser is still giving it his all even when his body and the script was failing him. But it's missing the magic. No Rachel Weisz. No Egypt. No Imhotep. No Sommers. No scarabs. No real mummy, just a guy in clay armor. It feels like a different franchise wearing the Mummy's clothes. Sometimes just because you could make a third Mummy without everything that made the first two great…DOES NOT MEAN YOU SHOULD!