Lee Cronin's The Mummy: Where to Watch the Evil Dead Rise Director's Brutal Reboot

The Mummy is back, and the version that landed in 2026 is unlike any of the previous attempts. Lee Cronin's The Mummy, written and directed by the Irish filmmaker behind Evil Dead Rise, opened theatrically in April and has now reached streaming, where a new wave of search interest is finding it. The film is being treated as the most credible reinvention the franchise has seen in decades, and the box office has backed that up.

Here is the full guide. Who Lee Cronin is, what this Mummy actually is, who is in the cast, where to watch it now, and how it compares to the older films.

Who Lee Cronin is

Lee Cronin is an Irish writer and director who broke through internationally with Evil Dead Rise in 2023, a film he wrote and directed for Sam Raimi's Ghost House Pictures. Evil Dead Rise reset the Evil Dead franchise into a tower block in Los Angeles and was widely regarded as the best entry in the series since the originals. It was Cronin's calling card, and it led directly to the Mummy job.

The pattern matters because it tells you what kind of Mummy this is. Cronin is a horror filmmaker who treats the genre seriously, prioritises atmosphere and dread over wisecracks, and trusts his audience to handle real intensity. He is not making a four quadrant action adventure.

What Lee Cronin's The Mummy actually is

This film is a supernatural horror feature, written and directed by Cronin and released by Warner Bros. Pictures. It opened in cinemas on April 17, 2026, after a premiere at the American Legion Post 43 in Los Angeles on April 9.

The premise reimagines the Mummy mythology around the Nasmaranian, an ancient Egyptian demon that possesses its victims. The film leans on exorcism imagery, body horror, and an unsettling slow build rather than the action adventure tone the Brendan Fraser films used. Anyone going in expecting a fun romp through CGI cities will be in the wrong cinema. Anyone going in expecting a serious horror film will find the version of the Mummy franchise they have been waiting for.

The cast

The film is led by:

• Jack Reynor as Charlie Cannon, a journalist at the heart of the story.
• Laia Costa as his wife.
• Natalie Grace as Charlie's missing daughter Katie.
• Shylo Molina and Billie Roy as Katie's siblings.
• Veronica Falcon, May Calamawy, May Elghety, and Hayat Kamille in further roles.

Reynor anchors the film, and the family centred cast gives the horror something real to threaten. That is the difference between an effective scary movie and a forgettable one.

The Mummy franchise: a quick history

The Mummy as a movie franchise has gone through three distinct eras before this one:

• The 1932 classic starring Boris Karloff established the entire archetype.
• The 1999 Brendan Fraser version reframed the property as a swashbuckling adventure and spawned a hugely popular trilogy.
• The 2017 Tom Cruise version attempted to launch a connected Dark Universe of monster films and famously did not stick the landing.

Cronin's 2026 film is a clear break from all three. It is closer in spirit to the Karloff original, treating the Mummy as genuine horror, but it is its own creation. The previous attempts at reviving the property tried to lighten or expand it. This one strips it back.

Where to watch Lee Cronin's The Mummy

The film has now moved from theatres to streaming, with a digital release on Prime Video and other major platforms in May 2026. That is what is driving the new wave of search traffic. Viewers who skipped the theatrical run, or who heard about the film through word of mouth, can now watch it at home.

To check what is streaming in your specific region tonight, use Discover to filter for what is available on your subscriptions.

The box office: a quiet success

Cronin's Mummy has grossed roughly $89 million worldwide on a production budget of around $22 million. That is a solid commercial result for a hard horror film, well into profitable territory for Warner Bros. and a strong vote of confidence in Cronin's vision. It is not Avengers numbers, but a horror film at this scale that quadruples its budget is doing exactly what it needed to do.

If you like Lee Cronin's The Mummy, watch these next

• Evil Dead Rise (2023), Cronin's previous film, and the most direct stylistic comparison.
• The Conjuring series, for the same exorcism adjacent dread.
• The 1932 Mummy with Boris Karloff, for the classic that the new film is in conversation with.
• Hereditary (2018), for another genuinely scary modern horror about family and supernatural dread.

Speaking of new horror making news, we have just written about the Blumhouse phenomenon Obsession, the $750K horror that became the year's biggest surprise hit.

Why Evil Dead Rise is the perfect calling card

Lee Cronin's earlier film matters because it is the reason this Mummy works. Evil Dead Rise took a franchise that had become defined by cult comedy and tonal looseness and rebuilt it as a genuinely upsetting horror film for a contemporary audience. Cronin kept what was essential about the Evil Dead brand, the unrelenting intensity, the practical effects, the sense that nobody on screen is safe, and stripped away the things that had become decorative.

That approach is exactly what The Mummy needed. The franchise had been defined first by 1990s adventure, then by failed reboot attempts, and a director who could prove they understood how to bring a horror IP back to its scary roots was the right hire. Evil Dead Rise was the audition. The Mummy is the job.

Why this kind of horror reboot lands when others fail

Hollywood has tried to revive almost every classic monster property in the last decade. Most have failed. The 2017 Mummy with Tom Cruise was the most expensive recent attempt, and its inability to launch a wider Dark Universe became one of the cautionary tales of the era.

The lesson of Cronin's Mummy is that the audience is not asking for monsters at scale. It is asking for monsters that scare. When the genre attempt is treated as a respectable, atmospheric horror film by a filmmaker with a vision, the audience shows up. When it is treated as an attempt to build a connected franchise universe with action set pieces, it does not. Cronin's Mummy made roughly four times its budget by being a real horror film, not by being the first chapter of a multi film plan.

What the success means for Universal's monster IP

Universal has spent the last two decades trying to figure out what to do with its classic monsters. Cronin's Mummy is technically a Warner Bros. release, but the broader lesson it carries reaches across the industry. The way back into these properties is through filmmakers, not franchise plans. Give a strong horror director the keys to a single monster and trust them to make a good film. The connected universe, if one ever materialises, has to be earned by the standalone successes rather than designed up front.

Whether other studios learn that lesson is a separate question. For now, Cronin's Mummy is the most encouraging recent example of how to do it right.

Frequently asked questions about Lee Cronin's The Mummy

Is this connected to the Brendan Fraser Mummy films?

No. It is a complete reimagining with no shared characters, plot, or continuity. The franchise has been restarted from scratch.

Is the new Mummy a horror movie or an adventure?

Pure horror. Cronin's film leans on dread, exorcism imagery, and body horror rather than the action adventure tone of the 1999 version.

Where can I stream Lee Cronin's The Mummy?

The film is now available on streaming services including Prime Video. Availability varies by region.

Was the new Mummy successful?

Yes. It grossed roughly $89 million worldwide on a $22 million budget, a solid commercial result that confirms Warner Bros. made the right bet on Cronin.

For more on what is worth watching, browse our streaming guides, or head to The Movies Finder to find your next watch.