Universal Eyes Dwayne Johnson to Revive Franchise After Tom Cruise’s Failed Avengers Ambitions

In one of Hollywood's more persistent rites — resurrecting old franchises whether you asked or not — Universal now appears to be calling up Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson for a potential return to the dusty, CGI-laden world of The Scorpion King and The Mummy. Yes, again. Because apparently, you can never have too many ancient curses, computer-generated scorpions, or Dwayne Johnson flexing his way through a sandy landscape.

Universal Wants The Rock Back (For Real This Time?)

The latest industry rumor comes courtesy of Daniel Richtman (a.k.a. Daniel RPK, for those keeping score at home). According to Richtman, Universal is eager to dust off their old adventure-adjacent properties and is actively trying to pull Johnson back into the fold — not only for a new Scorpion King project but also for the next installment of The Mummy.

If you need a refresher: Johnson got his movie start two decades ago as Mathayus, a.k.a. The Scorpion King, first showing up in The Mummy Returns (2001) sporting all the digital artistry that 2001 had to offer (so, not great), then starring in his own spinoff in 2002. After that? The franchise trundled along without him for four more direct-to-video movies — which, let’s be honest, nobody but completists rewatched.

In 2020, Universal announced a Scorpion King reboot with Johnson attached as a producer, partnered up with Dany Garcia and Hiram Garcia. That project never made it out of the desert, and things went quiet — until now.

So... Could This Actually Happen?

Richtman’s new report is giving fans another flickering torch of hope that Johnson will put on the leather braces one more time — and possibly, just possibly, help revive the 'cinematic universe' that Tom Cruise’s The Mummy (2017) tried (and very much failed) to launch.

Here’s the big twist: according to the same report, Universal’s latest plan involves not just reviving Scorpion King but also roping in Johnson for The Mummy 4, which is already making headlines because Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz are in talks to return. (Yes, the original Mummy stars. No, not Tom Cruise. The good kind of Mummy.)

Johnson commented to Entertainment Tonight about possibly revisiting the role, and — in classic Rock fashion — gave an answer that wasn’t really a yes but definitely wasn’t a no, either:

'Oh man, I don't know. I'm always open. To be clear, that is Brendan Fraser's franchise. I love that man. He's one of my greatest supporters. We support each other. And if they want to call the Scorpion King, I know a guy who knows a guy. I would certainly consider it. Because that franchise changed my life.'

Translation: if someone at Universal gets serious (and there’s enough cash), he’ll probably show up. Hey, at least the special effects would look less like someone’s first Unity project this time around.

About That Notorious Dark Universe

The elephant — or, more accurately, ancient Egyptian god — in the room here is Universal’s disastrous attempt at a “Dark Universe.” For anyone who’s blocked that era out: back in 2017, Universal rebooted The Mummy as a star vehicle for Tom Cruise, with studio hopes of spinning it into their version of the MCU, but for monsters instead of superheroes.

The result was a legendary flop. Cruise’s Mummy managed to suck out all the fun from the Brendan Fraser days, earning a generous 15% on Rotten Tomatoes and a reputation as the franchise that killed a universe before it even started. The global box office was just under $410 million; sounds decent, but against its $195 million production budget and what studios really need to break even (about 2.5x), it probably left Universal in the red.

Here’s how The Mummy 2017 stacked up:

• Release date: June 9, 2017
• Director: Alex Kurtzman
• Screenplay: David Koepp, Christopher McQuarrie, Dylan Kussman
• Rotten Tomatoes: 15%
• IMDb: 5.4/10
• Global box office: $409 million

Critics summed it up like this: 'Lacking the campy fun of the franchise's most recent entries and failing to deliver many monster-movie thrills, The Mummy suggests a speedy unraveling for the Dark Universe.'

The Graveyard of Universal's Would-Be Monster Universe

Before Cruise’s Mummy got mummified at the box office, Universal had a surprisingly ambitious plan to build its own connected movie-verse, reviving classic monsters. Here’s a quick rundown of all the projects that got tossed in the tomb when things unraveled:

• Van Helsing: After the flop of Hugh Jackman’s 2004 take, Universal was prepping a reboot with Channing Tatum poised to star. Once the Dark Universe plan died, so did Tatum's vampire-hunting career.
• Dracula Untold 2: The 2014 flick made money ($220 million on a $70 million budget), and they even did reshoots to potentially stitch it into the shared universe. Sequel? Never happened.
• Bride of Frankenstein & Frankenstein: Angelina Jolie was (reportedly) in discussions to play the Bride for a modern reboot. They had Bill Condon lined up as director, Javier Bardem attached as Frankenstein’s Monster, and a script that would flash-forward to the present day. It was all scheduled for a 2019 release, then quietly vanished.
• Creature from the Black Lagoon: Scarlett Johansson was a studio favorite for the remake in 2015, but after decades of failed attempts, we’re still waiting for any sign of life.
• The Rock as The Wolfman: There were actual rumors Johnson would play the Wolfman in this 'shared universe.' Given he was already the Scorpion King, it’s not hard to see why that never made any sense (and yeah, nothing ever materialized).
• Invisible Man: Johnny Depp was supposed to star in a reboot, with Alex Kurtzman and Chris Morgan producing. That movie evaporated before Depp ever got his hands on an invisibility cloak.
• Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: Russell Crowe already debuted as the character in Cruise’s Mummy, clearly intended as a springboard for his own movie. With the Dark Universe dead, so is the dream of more Russell Crowe transformations.

The studio was also eyeing the Phantom of the Opera and the Hunchback of Notre Dame for potential reboots — and was openly saying they wanted to connect all these monsters into a sprawling mythos. To quote Alex Kurtzman from back then: 'We know we’re going to do Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, Dracula, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Phantom of the Opera, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Invisible Man… There are characters within those films that can grow and expand and maybe even spin off. I think that digging into deep mythologies about monsters around the world is fair game for us, as well, and connecting the monsters that we know to some surprising monsters could also be really interesting.'

So, Is Another Johnson-Led Monster Franchise Actually On the Table?

At this point, Universal seems to be considering the 'Hey, what if we just bring The Rock back?' strategy to revive more monster mayhem. Is this a savvy move, wishful thinking, or just proof that what’s old is eventually new again in Hollywood? Time will tell, but if they nail down the timing (and the digital effects budget), maybe there’s hope for some shambling, campy life in these old properties yet.

Either way: you have to admit, seeing Dwayne Johnson back in ancient Egyptian armor and Fraser cracking wise in the desert would be a major nostalgia blast. Now, just pray they don’t let the bad CGI crawl back in, too.