Will there be another Scorpion King movie?

The actor will produce a new Scorpion King movie at Universal through his Seven Bucks Productions company, EW has confirmed, reviving the character that first launched him to big-screen stardom. While the lead role will be recast, Johnson could potentially appear in the film in another capacity. Oscar-nominated writer Jonathan Herman (Straight Outta Compton) will pen the script, with Seven Bucks' Dany Garcia and Hiram Garcia also producing.

Johnson first appeared as the Egyptian warrior Mathayus, also known as the Scorpion King, in 2001's The Mummy Returns. The villainous character received his own spin-off film the next year, marking Johnson's first leading role. The prequel followed the character's origin story and rise to power, and grossed more than $178 million, propelling Johnson to leading-man status.

"The Scorpion King was my very first role ever on the silver screen and I'm honored and excited to reimagine and deliver this cool mythology to a whole new generation," the actor said in a statement. "I wouldn't have had the career I'm lucky enough to have had it not been for The Scorpion King and I'm thrilled that we at Seven Bucks Productions can help create those same opportunities for other hard-working actors today. I believe Jonathan Herman will put in the hard work to deliver a fantastic script for our global audience."

Unlike the original film, the reboot will reportedly be a "contemporary" take set in more recent times. Further plot details are scarce at the moment.

The ever-busy Johnson has numerous projects currently in the works, including DC's Black Adam movie, the Netflix action film Red Notice, and an NBC series, Young Rock, based on his life. (Could that series cover the production of The Scorpion King? We smell crossover potential!)

Universal had come to us and really wanted to figure out how we can open up that world again. So we’ve been having a lot of fun figuring out how we want to crack that. But that is in the works. We’re looking at bringing a Scorpion King world back to life. And it’s such a special property because for me, it was my first film I ever worked on. It’s when I realized I wanted to be a producer. It was DJ’s first starring role. So there’s a lot of love for that franchise. And if we can figure out how to bring it back to the fans in a fun way, it would be really rewarding for us.”

Although Jonathan Herman (Straight Outta Compton) was already working on the script when the project was announced last year, it sounds like it’s still going to be a while before this one is ready to go into production.

Released in 2002, The Scorpion King was a sword and sandal fantasy set in ancient Egypt. Johnson played

Mathayus, one of the last surviving Akkadians, who is hired by King Pheron to kill the tyrannical Memnon and his sorceress Cassandra.

The film was a prequel to The Mummy Returns, which introduced the Scorpion King character as a supernatural villain brought to the screen through some bad visual effects. There were four direct-to-video follow-ups: The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior, The Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption, The Scorpion King 4: Quest for Power, and The Scorpion King: Book of Souls. In those films, which take place about 5000 years before the events of The Mummy Returns, the role of Mathayus was passed on to Michael Copon, Victor Webster, and Zach McGowan. If you’re a fan of the cheap sword and sandal movies of the VHS era, there’s actually some fun to be found in those Scorpion King movies as well.

When the reboot was first announced, it was said this would be a “contemporary take set in modern times”. Johnson has said he will not be reprising the role of the Scorpion King in this film.

A spinoff of the Brendan Fraser-starring Mummy franchise, 2002’s The Scorpion King starred Dwayne Johnson as Mathayus, the titular Scorpion King, spawning its own film franchise that to date includes five installments. Johnson returned for precisely none of them, but he will be on board as producer for a brand new reboot on the way from Universal Pictures.

As we learned last year, Jonathan Herman (Straight Outta Compton) has been hired to write the reboot for Universal and Johnson & Dany Garcia’s company Seven Bucks Productions.

Last we heard, the reboot was set to be a contemporary take on the character set in modern times, but what’s the latest on all that? Screen Rant provides an update this week.

Producer Hiram Garcia tells the site, “Universal had come to us and really wanted to figure out how we can open up that world again. So we’ve been having a lot of fun figuring out how we want to crack that. But that is in the works. We’re looking at bringing a Scorpion King world back to life. And it’s such a special property because for me, it was my first film I ever worked on. It’s when I realized I wanted to be a producer. It was [Dwayne Johnson’s] first starring role.

“So there’s a lot of love for that franchise. And if we can figure out how to bring it back to the fans in a fun way, it would be really rewarding for us.”

“The Scorpion King was my very first role ever on the silver screen and I’m honored and excited to reimagine and deliver this cool mythology to a whole new generation,” Johnson said in a recent statement. “I wouldn’t have had the career I’m lucky enough to have had it not been for The Scorpion King and I’m thrilled that we at Seven Bucks Productions can help create those same opportunities for other hardworking actors today. I believe Jonathan Herman will put in the hard work to deliver a fantastic script for our global audience.”

The Scorpion King first appeared in 2001’s The Mummy Returns.

Related Topics:Dwayne JohnsonThe MummyThe Scorpion King

John Squires

Writer in the horror community since 2008. Editor in Chief of Bloody Disgusting. Owns Eli Roth's prop corpse from Piranha 3D. Has four awesome cats. Still plays with toys.

Continue Reading

Advertisement

You may like

• 
  

  Monsters Among Us: Why ‘The Mummy’ Endures 90 Years Later

• 
  

  Luca Guadagnino Proposes a Remake of ‘The Mummy’ That Goes Back to Classic Horror Roots

• 
  

  ‘The Mummy 4’? Brendan Fraser is Open to Returning!

Click to comment

Movies

Published

on

By

In an early present from Bloody Disgusting, History of the Occult, one of the most successful Latin horror films of all time, is now streaming on SCREAMBOX!

From writer/director Cristian Ponce, History of the Occult was notably the highest-rated horror movie of 2021 on Letterboxd‘s Year in Review roundup, as rated by Letterboxd users.

“History of the Occult pulls viewers deep into a world of conspiracy and witchcraft.

In the Lovecraftian horror film, “Producers of the nightly show ’60 minutes to Midnight’ have been dutifully planning a riveting final broadcast, but even they could not have predicted what their guest, Adrian Marcato, has in store. As the final frames of the legendary show flicker from televisions across the country, Marcato readies himself to expose a conspiracy that could shake the very foundation of their nationhood; that the government is aligned with a dangerous supernatural coven.”

During its festival run, the bone-chilling film won the Le Film Français prize at Cannes’ Blood Window sidebar, Best Argentine Breakthrough Performance Actor and the Special Jury Award for Best Latin American First Feature at the Mar del Plata Film Festival. In addition, History of the Occult was nominated for Best Motion Picture at Sitges, Spain’s premier festival specializing in fantasy and horror films.

“Mystery, conspiracy and the supernatural, intrigues and excites something in all of us,” said Brad Miska, Managing Director of Bloody Disgusting. “Cristian (Ponce) melds these themes together in such a brilliant way, making History of the Occult the kind of film viewers can’t look away from. We are thrilled to bring this horror film, which ended up as the highest-rated horror film of 2021 on Letterboxd, to our SCREAMBOX viewers!”

The film joins Screambox’s growing library of unique horror content, including Terrifier 2, Deep Fear, Pennywise: The Story of IT, All Jacked Up and Full of Worms, Masters of Horror, 13 Nights of Elvira, PussyCake, When the Screaming Starts, Toxic Crusaders, Satan’s Little Helper Uncut, Vietnamese Horror Story, Dawning, and Living With Chucky.

Screambox is available on iOS, Android, Prime Video, YouTube TV, Comcast, and the newly redesigned Screambox.com.

Was there a Scorpion King 2?

Is there a Scorpion King 5?

Was the Scorpion King a success?

Why isnt The Rock in Scorpion King 2?