Why didn't Rachel Weisz do the 3rd Mummy movie? Reasons explored

The 1999 film The Mummy has been responsible for Rachel Weisz's shot to fame to a great extent. Her portrayal of Evelyn, an adventurous yet complicated Egyptologist in the Cairo Museum of Antiquities was so popular that the character was brought back for a second instalment of the series. But why did Weisz not return for the series's third instalment, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor?

As per the conversations which were in circulation concerning the news of her exit from the third movie in the franchise, the one that had gained the most traction was that Weisz was not comfortable with portraying the role of a grown-up son's mother. Attesting to the same theorizations the film's director, Rob Cohen had said during a conversation with Digital Spy back in May 2008:

"I got a very angry phone call from her agent, saying she'll never play the mother of a 21-year-old. I said, 'OK, good, fine, bye.'"

However, Weisz's representative had sighted a completely different reason behind her absence from the movie's third instalment. According to them, the reason Weisz was unable to join the movie's cast was because she had a 2-year-old son who needed to be taken care of. She did not want to leave him behind and film the movie for five months at a stretch in China.

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Industry insiders cited other reasons for Rachel Weisz's departure from The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

Weisz had refused the third The Mummy movie due to its poor script(Image via Getty)

According to Cinemablend, industry insiders had reported that there was a completely different reason behind Weisz's departure from The Mummy franchise than the ones stated before. According to the news outlet, an insider had revealed:

"The script is still in the same shape that it was the last time I told you about, meaning that its still crap and Weisz finally took the high road out of there."

Additionally, several other rumors were doing the rounds back then, which stated that Weisz was absent from the movie due to scheduling conflicts.

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What projects has Rachel Weisz been associated with since refusing to star in the 3rd The Mummy movie?

The same year that The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor was released, two of Rachel Weisz's movies were released which were, Definitely, Maybe and The Brothers Bloom. The next year Weisz had two more releases, The Lovely Bones and Agora.

From 2010 to 2018 Weisz had a pretty hectic schedule with at least one movie release every year with small gaps in between. Besides, films she was also associated with many television series and actively took part in theatre.

Some of her most significant appearances in recent years include Sebastián Lelio's Disobedience (Ronit Krushka), Yorgos Lanthimos's The Favourite (Sarah Churchill), and Marvel Studios Black Widow (Melina Vostokoff).

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Was The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor a success?

The third entry in The Mummy series was a box office success. Made at a budget of $175 million, the movie earned approximately $405.8 worldwide. However, it did not fare well among the critics and the audiences. On the popular reviewing platform, Rotten Tomatoes, the movie currently has a rating of 13% from the critics and 30% from the audience.

Additionally, on another review platform, Metacritic, the movie has a Metascore of 31 from the critics and a User Score of 3.8 from the audience.

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Rachel Weisz is currently filming for Marvel Studio's Thunderbolts*, where she will be reprising her role from the Black Widow movie as Melina Vostokoff.