Up until now, I had been hopeful that the latest installment in The Mummy franchise would be able to pull off another good, if not great, movie with Mummy 3: Curse of the Dragon. My hopes were dashed with the news that studio has decided to recast the role of Evie O’Connell.
We already knew that Rachel Weisz, who played the role of Evie in the first two films, would not be joining the cast of Mummy 3 due to scheduling conflicts.
I actually had no problem with this news. I liked the idea of a father-son adventure. What better way to extend the life of a franchise with an aging action hero than to give him a son that’ll carry on the adventure? In fact, I believe Indiana Jones is trying the same technique for its fourth installment. Besides I liked what we saw of Alex O’Connell in The Mummy Returns and am interested in how he grew up.
A father-son adventure would allow the franchise to continue without Weisz. Her absence could be explained early on and it would leave the door open for Weisz to return in a later movie. If a female lead is needed, a love interest for Alex could always be added. But apparently, no one at the studio is listening to me. Variety announced that Maria Bello will replace Weisz as Evie.
I personally have nothing against Bello. I liked her as the no-nonsense bar owner on Coyote Ugly and as Mel Gibson’s girlfriend in Payback. I even liked her short stint on ER as Dr. Anna Del Amico. But you just don’t replace an actress on a well-established franchise. Fans will notice. By doing so, the studio has already said that it’s not out to make the best sequel that it can.
With so many options available — rewriting the script, casting another female lead in a different role, postponing the film until Weisz is available, the studio took the easy (and probably cheap) way out. Fans of the Mummy franchise will definitely notice. And this one is not happy about the decision. This sequel has just move down to my wait until it comes out on DVD list.
Bello joins a returning Brendan Fraser who will reprise his role as Rick O’Connell and Luke Ford as their son Alex (despite my previous report that Alex Pettyfer would have this role).
(photos courtesy of filmmonthly.com)
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This is a slap in the face of the fans of the mummy series. Rachel Weisz made the role of Evie and to replace her with another actress in the role is a disgrace. I had my doubts about this film when Rachel left it because of how bad the script is reported to be but after this, im not even going to waste my time. Maria Bello is a fine actress but she’s not as good as Rachel in terms of acting and she will be miscast in the role.
Chris, I totally agree with you. I think this is a bad career move for Maria Bello.
Bello is still easy on the eyes…don’t tell my wife, however I still perfer to see Weisz.
without rachel wesiz i think this movie will suck , even if the movie is not that good people will come and see it but now without “wesiz” i just don’t think it’ll work..
Eagle, I’d have to agree with you.
yeah your right. i really think it’ll suck. rachel did good for the last two “the mummy” movies………and i really want her to stil play the part………..
:l
Yah, this film will be no good without Rachel Weisz. It says on The mummy DVD on the character files that nobody else was ever considered for the role of Evie, so why are they casting someone else in her role so easily now? I don’t even want to watch it now…
I agree Rachel Weisz presence is too strong in the series and cannot imagine the success of this installment without her.
No offense to Maria Bello but without Rachel Weisz playing Evie, they are going to lose a lot of audiences, such as my family.
Hipcat, I wished they just waited until Weisz was available to film. I will not be heading to the theater to catch this sequel. If I watch it at all, it’ll be after it comes out on DVD.
i just hated the new actor she can not compare with the old one!
ARGH!!! This makes me so angry!! I mean, it took them long enough to decide to do a third bloody installment (which I wanted a lot sooner and instead got Scorpian King >.<”), and now they’ve thoroughly RUINED it before filming even begins. They have no respect for the fans or the storyline. It’s pathetic and frustrating and an utter offense to us faithful fans. I love Fraser, but it will not be the same without Rachel Weisz as Evie. She IS Evie. I can’t ever watch anything else of her’s without first thinking ‘she’s good, I liked her as evie,’ and *that’s* my convincing point.
On a random side note, I do like Maria Bello. I think she should be further respected and given more kudos as an actor. But this decision has made her career – she will be a has-been before she even becomes someone – she’ll be a sidenote on a blog.
I shoulda known this would happen the instant I saw the Mummy giftset in Wal*Mart – they always send out (or resend out, in this case) a gift set. Look at Hellboy.
Gah. I’ll stop fuming.
~neomarsy~
Neomarsy, I feel your pain. The series will never again be the same.
I just hope Oded Fehr will make an apperence somewhere. Ardeth Bey is truely my favorite character
Nik, I haven’t seen anything that suggests Fehr will be in this third installment. Another shame. I liked him in Charmed, too.
i was waiting on this movie for a long time but it seems i will have to be disapointed because rachel weisz did make every mother wantr to see the movie even though brendan fraiser is my favorite but still i wish they would bring her back if they make another movie
I don’t even want to see this movie since Weisz is gone. This news made me upset. If they make another mummy movie weisz has to be in it!
Hannah, you are right. It won’t be the same with out Weisz.
If they want to continue filiming without Weisz then they should have killed off her character. It could be like was stated above a father son adventure. DONT RECAST a perfrect role for a perfect person! No offense to Bello, but this movie will only be a joke to those who loved the feeling of the first two. You just cant replace a character like that. That would bee like replacing Fraser with Hugh Jackman or someone compleatly different. The movie loses its flow…..sad….
Airoh, I would have rather seen them write her out too.
the trailer looks could BUT maria bello looks crap .. no one could replace rachel weisz and if u watch the trailer you might notice how alex speaks with an austrailian accent (the actor is austrailian and i have no promblem with people from oz but alex is meant to be english!)
it would be good if they made a fourth mummy, fire maria bello and cast rachel weisz
.. maria bello is saying that although the character of evie has the same name they are two different characters THAT BITCH!
This whole replacing weisz’s character sucks. I mean if they thought about it they could have made some kind of excuse for her lack of appearance, then if they felt they still needed bello then they could have introduced her as O’connells cousin from america and switched the love focus to evie’s brother. I just see this movie having more potential in a scenario such as this one bc there is no way they can acheive the replace of weisz’s Evelyn with someone else. Evie is weisz, weisz is Evie: there is no way someone else can assume that role. It is a shame for maria bello to even try. It was even more disappointing watching the trailer and hearing bello’s voice yell for Rick when I was still trying to get over not seeing weisz. I’m hoping that this movie won’t be a total waste of my dollars but the only reason I am still going is because the other characters are originally cast (besides alex of course, who I believe could get away with an australian accent because he is the love child of egyptian english evelyn adn american rick, adn because traveling is supposedly their forte so the accent shouldn’t really matter).
Ohhh no… i can´t believe in this!
it has no sence!
Rachel IS Evie! with out her this movie won´t have the same sucess..i mean..OMG
how could they do this… this movie “won´t be” the MUMMY with out her…
Rachel = Evie 4ever
I love the Mummy movies and have watched them more than I can possibly count. It is too bad Rachel is not going to be in the third movie. But…it was Rachel who backed out and I don’t blame the studio for replacing her. She originally said yes and then changed her mind due to “scheduling conflicts” (apparantly she doesn’t think the Mummy movies are important enough and took several other roles instead…like Sin City 2). So…I plan on going to see the Mummy 3 (the trailer looks awesome) and I wish the best for Maria Bello and the rest of the all-star cast. In any event…I think Rachel made a big mistake (she is a fool for not doing a movie with Jet Li) and doesn’t care enough about her fans or where she came from. So forget her!
Wiesz was so elegent and Bello is so old looking and ragged!
i was waiting for a long time to watch the third mummy movie but since i heard ruchel is not in this movie i got dissapointed because we all missed such a good actor and also this movie is not made in eygypt. i think all mummy movies should be played in eygypt not any other countries.
aww am so disapointed
why is she even tryin day play evie. rach will always will be evie WHY 
:(:( . i saw the flim it was could but OMG y did she even try for she shoiuld get ouh go home >:( i think shes a terribe actor uuhh
I had no idea this was happening and was shocked. I just got back from seeing it and it was lame. Like Jessica said “Evie is weisz, weisz is Evie: there is no way someone else can assume that role.” As others above have posted, there were so many options that could of been done instead of casting another actress instead.
I should of waited for DVD.
I’m a very dedicated Mummy’s fan. I L<3ved the Mummy I and Mummy II with a passion, so naturally I was excited about Mummy III. I learned about the lack of Evie when I saw Maria Bello on a Mummy Pizza Box from Papa Johns. I was like, ‘What the fuck? Weisz looks different.’ So I did research and saw that she had been REPLACED. BIGGGG NONO! You cannot replaced Evie when she has such a defined and set character and appearance. If Rick and Jonathan doesn’t change drastically in appearance than neither should Evie. There’s no excuse for Bello’s casting. None whatsoever. Like others said, there were much more options. However, because I loved the series I watched it anyway. I got about half an hour through and couldn’t do it any longer. It felt wrong, fake, phony, and it sucked. Without the REAL Evie, there is no excuse. Not only did Bello fit the appearance wrong, but the personality. She was not Evie. She was an alien acting as a bad actress acting as Evie. Bello was fine in Coyote Ugly. Great even, but bad in the Mummy 3. As far as I’m considered, the Mummy 3 does not exist and I will not even glance at the new upcoming movies if Weisz is not casted.
Was disappointed that Rachel Weisz was not cast as Evie as the chemistry between her and brendan Fraser was great in the previous films, Didn’t feel that connection with Mario Bello. Having said that the whole family really enjoyed the film and I will still buy it when it is released on dvd.
I must admit i enjoyed watching the mummy 3 yesterday,but it was hard to accept maria bello as evelyn,they shouldnt include evelyn if rachel weisz didnt return.i think maria bello is a great actress but as evie c’mon she does not look great with brendan plus that fake english accent,it wasnt even real in my opinion.but nevermind.but luke ford as alex i can accept that because he looks similar to the young boy freddie boath in the mummy 2
Hold up! That was an ACCENT?! Seriously? I thought she had something in her throat!
Wait…you’re joking…you’re not? Gosh…
Yes me too i was so much disappointed that weisz was no longer in the 3rd Mummy. Bello really “sucks” and as what anybody always said “nobody can replace weisz as evie. Evie would always be weisz and weisz would always be evie, period!!!
I am saddened by this! Rachel was and will always be Evie! to me when the first mummy came out I loved it couldn’t wait for 2, and then after I couldn’t wait for 3, but I am so disappointed I will not be seeing this one. I am no longer a hugh fan Of the Mummy,and even if you change the original actor the new one should at least keep the personality of Evie! they just totally runined the character of Evie and I thought the point was to get more money by more people watching the sequels I can’t stand it. when you like a movie and the original actor don’t play in the next movie. Maybe they should of killed off Evie in the 2nd mummy if they were just going to replace her like that! then there would be an excuse to have Bello has Rick’s new wife :0D
An even easier way would be to have Rick, (after the bookstore scene), be shown comforting Evie and assuring her that “We WILL find a way to reverse this curse and get you back to your old self again!” Problem of different-looking Evie explained with acceptable reason. Film makers wouldn’t even have to show her being cursed, watchers who know the “Mummy” series would understand that the O’Connells had previously stumbled into another fine mess!
divona2000, you so made me laugh with that “we’ll find a way to reverse the curse, etc”… that was a really nice one. and i think it would have worked. i mean, i think to fans it’s preferrable than forcing us all to accept that “bello is the new evie”… because it just wasn’t right. i almost didn’t want to watch it when i heard they replaced weiz… well, i didn’t watch it in the cinema. i saw it somewhere else and i’m glad i didn’t pay to watch it. because i was just so disappointed! it seems like evie is suddenly a whole new person…. who sucks.
this movie could have been better without any female cast (instead of bello!!!!!)
they could have made it like weisz was on some kinda illness and put her outta the picture!!!
EXACTLY! Screw Bello and the new freaking director!
i miss rachel alot and people said she wanted to do it but she had another movie she asked too please delay the movie for 2 weeks and they people said theres a new director and he said NO and she left to do the other movie but she DID want to do this movie and i have a few words to the director to INPATIENT o and they should of talked about a past for alex. rick had a past evie did y not alex?
SCREW IT! How dare they use Maria Bello as Evy! I mean…you could’ve waited for Rachel to finish and make it work! Maria is NOTHING like Rachel and I could easily tell she was acting. I want an actress to make me feel like the movie is real like Rachel did. Honestly! Maria needs to get a new role and they need to remake this movie with Rachel as Evy!
You know what?! I hope BELLO reads this and Weisz does, too!!! If Bello does read this…Maria Bello, YOU SUCK! And if Rachel Weisz was to read this…Rachel you rock our socks!
Rachel and Brendan looked great together. Bello and Brendan looked incomplete and…fake together.
Yeah, you’re all right. I mean you can’t just have Rachel Weisz in the first two movies and have everyone love her and then BOOM! New, screwy, phony, fake, suckish actress instead of Weisz. It just does not work. I went to the movie the day it came out and I was like “WTF?! That isn’t Rachel!!!!” and I got up but my friend pinned me down to the seat and I started saying to her “Screw it! Let me go! That bitch on the screen is NOT Weisz!” but she made me watch the movie and at the end I yelled “SCREW MARIA BELLO!” And almost everyone started agreeing with me and before the credits started, we left the theater.
ok im really upset,I cant believed how they flip the scrip on a movie so powerful , and contaminated with changing the girl from mummy 1&2 for someone different in the 3rd ,she cant even act that role! sorry ,you should have paid that first actress whatever she wanted or wait for her if she was busy , but you wasted the best actors for this phenomenal movie , HEY! i was 1hour and a half robbed! if there is a 4th you better make up!
Rachel Weisz made the movie worth while. Now with her gone and that annoying Branden Frasier’s all that’s left, the movies won’t be worth all the time and money. They should have never made the third mummy, I was completely disappointed with it. Especially when all we have left to hear is Branden Frasier’s pathetic attempt to be funny.
Also, Maria Bello’s phony accent was enough to make me turn the movie off.
I was excited for the third one.. now it’s just sickening that they would even attempt it without Rachel. Branden Frasier has nothing to offer.