Some movie characters are just so bad that they should never have made it past the production room cut and yet somehow today, we have a Scorpion King franchise. The character first appeared in 2001’s The Mummy Returns played by a young Dwayne Johnson making his acting debut. His Mathayus was a very minor secondary villain to Arnold Vosloo’s main Mummy and is mostly remembered for the godawful CGI used to depict his monstrous form in the film’s finale. But in 2002, The Scorpion King got turned into an action-adventure fantasy film of its own back, set more than 5000 years earlier to tell Mathayus’s backstory of how he went from a desert warrior to the titular legendary hero.
Problem is, even with the charismatic Johnson in the lead, that movie was nowhere near as good as The Mummy films that spawned it. But somehow, despite a ridiculously cheesy story mixed with some more poor CGI, it made decent money at the box office. That led to the four direct-to-video sequels starring three different actors you’ve probably never heard of, with the most recent being 2018’s The Scorpion King: Book of Souls featuring Zach McGowan. Unfortunately, they were all rather terrible, with their most notable feature being that they were shot here in Cape Town so you’ll recognize quite a few local faces.
However, rather than see their poor quality as a sign that perhaps the franchise should just be left to live peacefully out in the desert, Universal Pictures would rather reboot the franchise (as revealed by Deadline) and try and turn it into something that could resemble a box office hit. And to do that, they are bringing back Johnson, who certainly knows a fair amount about making box office hits. Except this time, “The Rock” won’t be starring in the role that gave him his first movie break but serving as a producer with business partner Dany Garcia via their Seven Bucks Productions. The actor reflected on his original role and shared his excitement about the upcoming reboot:
The Scorpion King was my very first role ever on the silver screen and I’m honoured and excited to reimagine and deliver this cool mythology to a whole new generation. I’m thrilled that we at Seven Bucks Productions can help create those same opportunities for other hard-working actors today.
This new Scorpion King reboot will be written by Oscar-nominated Straight Outta Compton scribe Jonathan Herman, while a star and director have not yet been attached to the project. It’s also unclear if this will be a clean slate reboot with nothing left behind or some kind of sequel/reboot hybrid – maybe even a direct follow-up to Johnson’s original film ignoring the events of the sequels as has been all the rage in Hollywood lately? Whatever approach is taken, with Johnson’s many connections in the business and good knowhow on how to produce a hit movie, it will hopefully mean that we may actually get a decent Scorpion King movie.
Last Updated: November 12, 2020
Original Heretic
November 12, 2020 at 11:36
Cool. This was one of those “cool concept, bad execution” movies.
One of many in a long list.
BradeLunner
November 12, 2020 at 12:20
Agreed, we need more good adventure movies
Original Heretic
November 12, 2020 at 12:44
I’d love another Mummy movie.
Not that recent trainsmash, but like the ones Brendan Fraser was in.
For the Emperor!
November 12, 2020 at 13:19
Yeah, those were MUMMY movies, not Tom Cruise Action Movies. Preferred them over the new one as well.
Mandalorian Jim
November 12, 2020 at 14:00
Even the third one, with Jet Li has aged remarkably well. It’s definitely the weaker of the Brendan Fraser movies, but it’s still a fine Mummy movie in my books. Hopefully one day, he’ll get a chance to star in a new one (a bit like how Harrison Ford returned for that terrible Indiana Jones movie).
BradeLunner
November 12, 2020 at 13:19
Man I recently watched both Journey to the Center of the Earth movies, and DJ is great and all but Brendan Fraser was just so damn charismatic that you really miss his presence in the sequel
Original Heretic
November 12, 2020 at 15:23
My little boy LOVES those movies! I’ve watched them so many times in recent years.
And yeah, Fraser is one of those actors I always look out for.
I know it’s only his voice in Doom Patrol, but man he nailed it.
BradeLunner
November 12, 2020 at 15:23
wholesome adventure thats actually good. You´re lucky, dunno what my kid is going to be into
Original Heretic
November 12, 2020 at 15:28
Show him (her?) the right stuff, make it exciting.
My son takes his cues from me. So when something cool happens, I give a big over the top reaction.
Did that for a few years and now, when he sees that stuff, he also does it!
It’s like training a puppy that slowly starts talking (I stole that line from Scrubs!).
BradeLunner
November 12, 2020 at 15:29
This is some most excellent advice! I especially want to do this with Classic Rock.
Original Heretic
November 12, 2020 at 16:16
If show passion for the things you love, the kids will follow suit.
Just think of how many little ones you (used to…) see at sport games.
They’re cheering along wildly.
Same principle applies to movies, games, etc.
My (soon to be) 6 year old is ALREADY an awesome little gamer!
Kervyn Cloete
November 12, 2020 at 13:33
The 1997 movie is one of my favourites of all time. I love that movie so damn much.
Mandalorian Jim
November 12, 2020 at 13:59
Yeah, I love those movies too, especially the first Mummy. Brendon Fraser was such an unlikely action movie star that it actually made the movies more endearing. Arnold Vosloo was great too. Such a pity he never managed to become a Hollywood great, but at least he went for it, and chased his dreams.
Dee ham
November 12, 2020 at 17:53
The mummy sequels were hit or miss. The Scorpion King sequels were objectively bad
Mandalorian Jim
November 12, 2020 at 14:00
I like to rewatch these older movies, and while I didn’t enjoy it as much when I first saw it, it has aged well. It’s probably the campiest of his movies, but the Rock showed that he wanted to learn the acting craft and he’s definitely improved over the years.