why is Rachel Weiss not in this flim? - The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008) Discussion

[–] hbenthow 13 years ago

She read the script, and found it so bad that she decided not to act in the movie. Plus, becoming a new mother had something to do with the descision, if I recall right.

Courage, men! We've not sunk before, and we'll not sink now!

reply

[–] shwen 13 years ago

actually this one is not any particularly worse than previous 2 movies

they're all pretty bad in terms of story

reply

[–] luckyboypro 13 years ago

No kidding! It couldn't have been more worse than the 2nd one! I agree with Roger Ebert that the 3rd one was the best in the series. Either way I like Bello better than Weiss; weiss gets annoying!

reply

[–] hbenthow 13 years ago

actually this one is not any particularly worse than previous 2 movies

they're all pretty bad in terms of story

The second one isn't as good as the first, but there is a huge difference in quality between the first and third.

In 1999, there was a test screening for "The Mummy". Few of the special effects had yet been added, those that had were in an unfinished, storyboard-looking shape. There was very little of the rotted Imhotep (and what there was didn't look good yet), no flying sand, no locusts, no fiery hail, and there were ping-pong balls instead of scarabs. Stephen Sommers was nervous. He figured that the audience would not like it, because of the lack of special effects. But he needn't have worried. The audience liked the characters and story so much that the movie brought down the house anyway!

One person who was at that test screening in in 1999 said:

Anyway, we all scrambled inside, took our seats and waited. At 730, an
older
man walked to the front of the theater and told us how we were going to see
a
film that was more of a work in progress than is usually presented to an
audience, that there would be scenes where no effects were present, others
in
a semi-completed state etc, and we would please bear with it, knowing that
all
would be perfect when the movie is released. Off he goes, and the picture
starts, beginning (very cool) with the classic Universal logo (the airplane
circling the globe).

What can I say that harry and others haven't said already? I was kinda
blown
away by how much I liked THE MUMMY... I wasn't really prepared that it
would
be so rich-looking, so detailed and so very funny in a few places. The lack
of finished effects did kind of bother me, surprisingly, but none of it was
hard to follow or imagine.

The cast. Brendan Fraser, who I never liked til I saw him in Gods and
Monsters is great as O'Conner (O'Connell? I swear he's called both)...the
other people in the cast aren't known to me except the other male lead, who
I
know was in Sliding Doors with Gwyneth Paltrow. He's very very funny. The
girl in the lead (she plays a librarian who wants to be taken seriously as
an
Egyptologist) is SO beautiful and such a great actress... I dont think I've
see her before (she has a British accent, but I'm not sure if she' s
actually
British). The Mummy (who isn't seen very often in full human form) was
played
by the guy who was the bad guy in John Woo's Hard Target with Jean Claude
Van
Damme.

Its a very old fashioned, rousing adventure movie...a little Gunga Din, a
lot
of Raiders of the Lost Ark, even a little Journey To The Center Of The Earth
(there are two opposing teams of treasure-hunters)

Unfortunately, Stephen Sommers didn't learn his lesson. For his next movie, "The Mummy Returns", he didn't worry about writing a good script like he did for the first. This time around, he focused not on the story as he done in the first, but on the action, and making it "bigger and better". It still did have some of what made the first one so good, but not enough to keep it from falling far short of its standards.

Rob Cohen and his writers made "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" into nothing more than a bad parody of the first and second movies in the franchise.

Courage, men! We've not sunk before, and we'll not sink now!

reply

[–] gonetobitz 13 years ago

"Cohen claims Weisz was furious that her character has an adult son in the new film, telling Heat: "I got a very angry phone call from her agent, saying she'll never play the mother of a 21-year-old. I said, 'OK, good, fine, bye.'"

i can believe that

reply

[–] gummydy 13 years ago

"i can believe that"

It was confirmed by several sources that Rachel Weisz did not return because of how bad the script was and many people have caught Rob Cohen contradicting himself several times on why Weisz left the film. Which means that Cohen's word on anything can't be trusted.

reply

[–] lilmarkuk 13 years ago

well if that was the case then its funny when she was interviewed about another film she said she wanted to lay off the action films for a whie because shes just had a baby

to be honest i doubt she passed on this because of the story lol look at part 2 that sucked big time lol

either way i liked the 3rd film alot more than the 2nd, and it made half a billion worldwide so it shows the film did not need her to make the money

thing is she complained about not having many action scenes in the 1st film thats why they gave her the fight scenes in the 2nd film which i will add sucked bigtime and you can even see when its her stunt double lol

the character in the 3rd film had dones of fight scenes that were alot better then in the 2nd movie

reply

[–] DarkseidInNameOnly 13 years ago

"It was confirmed by several sources that Rachel Weisz did not return because of how bad the script"

lol, sure. Because Fred Claus and Envy were real page turners for her according to those same sources too.

reply

[–] gummydy 12 years ago

"Because Fred Claus and Envy were real page turners for her according to those same sources too."

I rather sit though Fred Claus and Envy again before i sit though Mummy 3 again (Its that bad). A lot of people have said that Weisz made the right choice to turn it down and in fact, they are still saying that she did the right thing walking away. And Fred Claus and Envy are small roles compared to this.

"thing is she complained about not having many action scenes in the 1st film thats why they gave her the fight scenes in the 2nd film which i will add sucked bigtime"

Actually, Weisz's fight scenes are considered the highlight of the second film to a lot of fans and to me as well. As for her stunts, its impossible for an untrained actress to do acrobatics and if you expected her to do it, you're nuts. The director confirmed that Weisz did do a great deal of her own fighting and you can hear him on the Dvd confirming it.

reply

[–] ubcool 12 years ago

her not wanting a play a mother to a 21 year old seems much more believable. actresses have a hard enough time getting big roles past 40 and that isnt going to help her in the future if she allready has the image of an old mother.

reply

[–] 12 years ago

[deleted]

[–] DarkseidInNameOnly 12 years ago

"I rather sit though Fred Claus and Envy again before i sit though Mummy 3 again (Its that bad)."

Good for you. I assume you enjoy your time on the receiving end of Medievel forms of torture.

"A lot of people have said that Weisz made the right choice to turn it down and in fact, they are still saying that she did the right thing walking away."

A lot of people? Really? Couple of people on an internet forum (actually the same person with different user accounts) accounts to a lot of people?

"And Fred Claus and Envy are small roles compared to this."

Smaller roles in two atrocities vs a larger role in a (mostly) forgettable film with a potential higher paycheck. Hmm....choices.

reply

[–] Ysquare 12 years ago

Personally I think it had more to do with her having a baby. Doing a big blockbuster like this is a lot of work. Not just the shooting itself, but especially the promotion. Her roles in Envy and Fred Claus were rather small.
That being said, the third movie is the worst in the franchise so if she would have really liked the script I'm sure she would have signed on to do it.

reply

[–] 12 years ago

[deleted]

[–] gummydy 10 years ago

"Good for you. I assume you enjoy your time on the receiving end of Medievel forms of torture."

Compared to Watching Mummy 3 again, i would take it.

"A lot of people? Really? Couple of people on an internet"

A couple of film critics said it as well but hey, don't let facts get into the conversation.

""(actually the same person with different user accounts) accounts to a lot of people?"

Really? You mean like the person who got caught going to the Rachel Weisz boards under many sock accounts in order to attack her for not doing Mummy 3. You know the person who userally makes the acusation is userally the one guilty of the crime. Right?

"Smaller roles in two atrocities vs a larger role in a (mostly) forgettable film with a potential higher paycheck. Hmm....choices."

And yet people are still talking about how bad Mummy 3 was compared to those other small roles in those forgettable films. Yea, you don't live in reality much do you?

reply

[–] barkskiesradio 10 years ago

Aside from her not liking the script and timeline... Grown son and all... Here's my take on it.... There are plenty of movie where the female leads is supposed to be American, but there are British actresses portraying them with a horrible accent to boot. Why not have an American actress portray a British chippie with a terrible British accent. U say turn around is fair play. This goes for male roles as well... Ala wolverine... Etc...

reply