The Remake Of 'The Mummy' Takes Its Title Literally, Considers Casting A Female Lead

Universal's remake of The Mummy is set for a 2017 release date and is intended to help kick off an entire new cinematic universe starring the studio's classic monsters. And while production has to begin soon-ish to hit that release date, the studio and director Alex Kurtzman still have a major decision left on their plate – the gender of the Mummy itself.

Yes, the star of the new Mummy movie may very well be woman, giving a big injection of estrogen into one of the great horror boys' clubs. While we have raised a concerned eyebrow at much of the news coming out of these new Universal Monster movies, this one gets a tentative nod of approval. It's certainly an interesting choice.

Everything you need to know about the Mummy remake and the rest of the new Monster Universe can be found after the jump.

The news comes to us from The Hollywood Reporter, who say that Kurtzman and writer Jon Spaihts have two versions of the story ready to go. One version features a traditional male Mummy and the the other stars a lady, who will have her own "unique backstory." Apparently, the final decision will come down to casting, as the production will see both men and women for the part and make their decision after that.

The great Boris Karloff played the Mummy in the original 1932 version of this story and Arnold Vosloo played him in the 1999 remake and its sequel. Since another male actor will simply be treading on well-worn ground, why not shake things up and go for a female Mummy? It's not like he's going to top the genius of Karloff, so a totally different direction may be the way to go.

The big question now is if a female version of the Mummy would maintain the same motivations as her male counterpart. In both previous versions, the ancient Egyptian priest Imhotep rises from the grave and stalks around Cairo and beyond, searching for the reincarnation of his long-lost lover. That's a story that could easily be gender-swapped, but Kurtzman and Spaihts may very well give it an update.

Honestly, this is one of the first reports about the new Universal Monster movies that hasn't filled us with dread. Our worst fears were confirmed when we learned that these horror icons would be shaped into an action-adventure mold and would exist in a "shared universe." People threw around phrases like "the Avengers of horror," a collection of words that is the mental equivalent of a pound of shattered glass in your guys. However, Kurtzman, who is spearheading all of these new movies in addition to directing The Mummy, promised that there would be horror in these movies after all.

Still, that's not too reassuring – we saw Dracula Untold. Even if that debacle gets swept under the rug and a new Dracula gets cast, that film is evidence that Universal may not get the appeal of these characters. They are tragic creatures who are victims and villains in equal measure, not superheroes.

THR also reports that Universal is prepping potential films based on Dracula (hopefully not starring Luke Evans), Frankenstein, the Invisible Man, the Bride of Frankenstein and Van Helsing (hopefully nothing like the Hugh Jackman movie). We know that Prisoners writer Aaron Guzikowski, Now You See Me writer Ed Solomon, and Noah Hawley, the man behind FX's brilliant Fargo series, have been hired to write scripts for the Monster Universe, so feel free to imagine some potential match-ups in your head.

Nothing would make us happier than a new slew of Universal monster movies that do justice to these incredible characters. We're even down for some major changes! Gender-swap away, if that's what it takes to make the best possible movie! All we can do is beg of Universal to remember, and respect, these characters' legacy. They've lived on for 80-plus years for a reason.