A Tom Cruise Flop That Tried To Launch A Franchise Is Finding An Audience On HBO Max

"The Mummy" was supposed to be the grand debut of Universal's Dark Universe, but it actually proved to be a death knell for the entire project. Now, however, it seems the film is being given a second chance in the age of streaming. A notorious flop upon its theatrical release in 2017, the Tom Cruise-led action adventure outing has been resurrected by HBO Max subscribers, who have sent "The Mummy" to number 10 on the streamer's most-watched films charts in the United States.

Originally intended as a launching pad for several films, including an Angelina Jolie-starring "Bride of Frankenstein" project and a new "Invisible Man" movie, "The Mummy" proved to be dead on arrival back in 2017. Director Alex Kurtzman seemingly fell into the trap of franchise moviemaking by paying far too much attention to establishing future entries rather than making his own film worth watching. Today, "The Mummy" bears a lowly 15% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, where reviewers threw around phrases like "one of the year's worst films," "a mess of bones, bandages, and bald commercial cynicism," and "feels less like a movie than a series of compromises worked out by a corporate committee." In other words, critics really didn't like "The Mummy," and it quickly became infamous for embracing the worst impulses of franchise moviemaking — a lesson in how not to establish a shared universe in the wake of Marvel's dominance. It also made just $409 million on a $195 million budget, which, if you know how the box office actually works, is far from what Universal was hoping for.

Now, though, HBO Max subscribers are apparently intent to prove we all missed something when "The Mummy" debuted and have exhumed the corpse of this long dead misfire, propping it up in the streamer's charts.

In "The Mummy," Tom Cruise plays U.S. army sergeant Nick Morton, who ventures into the tomb of Egyptian princess Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella) alongside his ally Chris Vail (Jake Johnson) and British archaeologist Jennifer Halsey (Annabelle Wallis). Unfortunately for the group, Ahmanet has been entombed for centuries and is no longer a princess but an undead beast that decides Morton should become the new human vessel for Set, the god of death. Cruise's action hero must then do everything he can to stop Ahmanet's rampage and prevent the arrival of Set. But none of that really mattered, at least not to Universal, which seemed much more interested in setting up future movies. Frankly, the stalled "Dark Universe" deserved better than this anticlimactic debut, which makes the fact that the film is receiving a small reprieve on HBO Max bittersweet.

Eight years after "The Mummy" disappointed Universal Monster fans the world over, it was added to HBO Max. The film debuted on the platform October 1, 2025, and it seems that's really the only explanation for its appearance in the charts. As per FlixPatrol, a site that aggregates streaming viewership figures, "The Mummy" hit the most-watched films charts in the United States on October 10, 2025, seemingly for no other reason that it's a recently-added movie. Well, that and the fact that everyone's gearing up for Halloween. So, if middling, generic blockbusters with irresponsible budgets scare you, then this might be one to add to your spooky season watchlist.