Blood, Sand, and Body Horror: Lee Cronin’s ‘The Mummy’ Trailer Just Dropped and It’s Actually Terrifying

Forget everything you know about quippy treasure hunters, CGI sandstorms, and Brendan Fraser’s infectious charisma. If the new trailer for Lee Cronin’s The Mummy—which clawed its way onto the internet today is any indication, we are officially moving straight into "nightmare fuel."

A Holy Grail for Horror Fans

Released this morning by New Line Cinema and the horror titans at Blumhouse and Atomic Monster, the first look at Cronin’s reimagining makes one thing very clear: this isn't your daddy’s Universal Monster movie. After the 2017 Tom Cruise debacle nearly buried the franchise in a shallow grave, it seems the studio finally learned that if you’re going to resurrect an ancient curse, you should probably make it scary.

Lee Cronin, the man who turned a cheese grater into a weapon of mass trauma in Evil Dead Rise, is bringing that same "mean-spirited" energy to the desert. The trailer opens not with a sweeping orchestral score, but with a suffocating silence as we meet a journalist (Jack Reynor) searching for his daughter, Katie, who vanished eight years prior. When she’s found alive inside a 3,000-year-old sarcophagus, the reunion isn't exactly a Hallmark moment.

The Horror of the Homecoming

The footage leans heavily into the "corrupted innocence" trope that Cronin excels at. Young Natalie Grace delivers the trailer’s standout (and most disturbing) line: "Don’t worry, Grandma. It’s fun to be dead." From there, the trailer dissolves into a montage of bone-snapping transformations and high-tension dread. There isn't a single dual-wielding pistol in sight; instead, we get ritualistic gore and a version of the titular monster that looks more like a parasitic infection than a guy wrapped in toilet paper.

The supporting cast, including Laia Costa and May Calamawy, look appropriately terrified, which is fair considering the trailer suggests the "Mummy" isn't just a physical creature, but a malevolent force hopping from host to host.

Why This Reboot Feels Different

For those of us at The TV Cave who still have a soft spot for the 1999 classic, let’s be real: we are also getting a legacy sequel with the O.G. cast in 2028. This allows Cronin’s version to be the R-rated, blood-soaked experiment the franchise has needed. By stripping away the blockbuster "Save the World" stakes and focusing on a localized, claustrophobic family tragedy, The Mummy (2026) feels like it has actual teeth.

The film is set to haunt theaters and IMAX screens on April 17, 2026. If the final product is even half as unsettling as this two-minute teaser, you might want to leave the kids at home and bring a spare set of nerves.

What do you think? Are you ready for a horror-centric Mummy, or are you holding out for the Brendan Fraser return? Drop your theories in the comments below.