Concerning why The Mummy 4 has not happened yet, there are a few reasons. For one, The Mummy Returns and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor were not as well-received as the first movie. Both received harsher reviews and were made on higher budgets, meaning their middling box office hauls saw the film franchise stall somewhat.

After The Mummy: The Tomb of the Dragon Emperor received a 13% critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes and grossed $400 million worldwide against a $145 million budget, Universal Pictures decided to reboot the Mummy franchise.

Capitalizing on the passing of time has benefited other franchise sequels, such as Bad Boys For Life, Rambo: Last Blood, and Top Gun: Maverick, and could also ensure that The Mummy 4 with Brendan Frasier brings success back to the franchise. Top Gun: Maverick is the more recent case in point.

Decades later in real time and more than 30 years after completing the Top Gun program, Captain Pete Mitchell (Tom Cruise) returned to the big screen to train pilot graduates for a special mission. Top Gun: Maverick was a huge success, as the other time gap sequels were in their own right, and it was partially due to the movie bringing back the sentimentality and utilizing the elements of the story that worked in the original movie.

The epic blockbuster called back to its predecessor with a persuasive soundtrack and action-packed aerial scenes simultaneously as the time gap informed Maverick’s narrative and unpacked the stories of Top Gun’s supporting characters. The Mummy 4 could take a step away from its own repeated formula and venture into the time gap blueprint that made Top Gun: Maverick so popular.