Olympic boost for Mummy blockbuster?

By Rajesh Mirchandani
BBC News, Los Angeles

Brendan Fraser reprises his Mummy role for the third time

As all eyes turn to Beijing for the Olympics, the third instalment of the successful Mummy films offers its own take on China - swapping Egyptian Pyramids for the Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.

So is the timing a coincidence? Or are the filmmakers hoping for a box office boost from the Olympic Games?

Seven years after the bandages last came off, actor Brendan Fraser returns in The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor as archaeologist Rick O'Connell, this time retired, and with a grown-up son Alex.

When Alex, played by Australian actor Luke Ford, accidentally awakens the Dragon Emperor (Jet Li), his parents leap from their sedentary retirement to help save the world.

For Fraser, China offered the perfect setting for this latest romp.

"It's an archaeologically rich nation, many national treasures, the Great Wall, history, mystery, mystique," he says.

Apart from being slightly loose with the term 'mummy' (does it really include the un-dead, encased in clay?), the film also has some fun with Chinese history.

Terracotta Army

"I wanted to make a fantasy, which is what the film is, but I really wanted it to honour the Chinese culture," says director Rob Cohen.

"They have dynasties that have lasted longer than America's been in existence... I wanted to make [audiences] feel there was a love and respect for the Chinese culture. At the same time we've got mummies running around."

And lots of them - courtesy of China's awe-inspiring Terracotta Army.

Michelle Yeoh plays witch Zi Yuan in the film

In reality, they were 8,000 clay soldiers and horses buried alongside an ancient emperor, and unearthed in 1974.

In the film, thanks to impressive computer animation, they are the cursed legions of the evil Dragon Emperor, brought back to life in his quest for world domination.

And the only army that can defeat them are his undead enemies, who he buried beneath that other internationally-known Chinese symbol, the Great Wall.

But what do the Chinese think of that?

"This is not a documentary," says Malaysian-Chinese actress Michelle Yeoh who, as the elegant good witch Zi Yuan, is responsible for the curse that entombed the Dragon Emperor in the first place.

"This is a fun-filled action adventure, it's a fantasy. And it's just taking our precious Terracotta Army and giving you a fun ride with it, so don't take it too seriously!"

If the Olympics helped us... God bless the Olympics! Rob Cohen, director

And, according to the filmmakers, Chinese authorities welcomed them, to the extent that they were able to shoot large sections near Shanghai, making for more authentic locations.

"It's monumental," says Fraser, "in terms of it being the first Western picture and the one on the largest scale to have worked on the mainland and to have had the cooperative collaboration of the government and the Chinese filmmakers. It's groundbreaking."

Of course, the Chinese may have had another reason to look more favourably on the production.

"If the Olympics helped us," says director Rob Cohen, "God bless the Olympics!"

Synergy

Even if the Chinese did not have an eye on Beijing, Cohen muses that American corporate strategists would certainly not have missed the potential box office benefit of a China-based Hollywood blockbuster right ahead of the Games.

"I do think that when Universal heard there was a possibility to do this movie we got a lot of wind in our sails because of the synergy of the Olympics and the Mummy franchise lining up.

Action hero Ji Lee also stars in the sequel which opens next month

"We didn't do it for that reason, the producers had already been trying to make it in China for years before, but I have a feeling somewhere in the corporate structure the lightbulb went off... and I think at that point the movie was going to be made."

This summer's movie release schedule is crowded with blockbusters and it remains to be seen if The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor can repeat at least some of the success of its two prequels.

In China, however, it won't open until after the Games, and the film-makers can surely only dream they'll attract as big an audience.