‘The Mummy’ 2017 Movie: Director Talks About Filming A Fight Scene Between Tom Cruise And Russell Crowe

Brendan Fraser may not be a part of the 2017 movie “The Mummy,” which is a reboot of the classic 1999 blockbuster film, but talented actors Tom Cruise and Russell Crowe are in it. Not to mention that the cast also includes “Kingsman: A Secret Service” actress Sofia Boutella.

One of the most highly anticipated scenes in the movie is a fight between Crowe and Cruise. Crowe’s character is named Henry Jekyll. “The Mummy” director Alex Kurtzman revealed that he is an enigmatic scientist operating out of a mysterious place called Prodigium. He is an ally of the movie’s main villain – the evil Egyptian Princess Ahmanet (Boutella). Meanwhile, Cruise is, of course, one of the good guys. He plays Nick Morton, a character described by Kurtzman as being amoral and absolutely-out-for-himself.

Talking about the fight scene that takes place between Cruise and Crowe, the director told Entertainment Weekly, “The physicality of shooting this scene over four days was really intense. Neither of them will take a stunt man on. They’re both utterly committed: ‘We’re doing this ourselves!’ There’s not gonna be any doubles. So now you’re talking about: What if they injure each other?”

Incidentally, the “Mission Impossible” actor wanted to work with the “Gladiator” star for 20 years. However, no project in which both actors starred every materialized. Until now.

“Once we started getting into it after a lot of rehearsals, you watch these two guys who understand their bodies like Olympic athletes,” Kutrzman added when talking about shooting their scenes together, “They really understand how to make it look utterly real without hurting each other. That being said, it’s painful to do that for four days. They were literally slamming each other into things. They were both unbelievably sore. It was hard to do, but it was totally joyful.”

“The Mummy” hits theatres on June 9, 2017.