By Travis Johnson
Deadline reports that Oscar winner Russell Crowe is in talks to take on the dual role of Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde in Universal’s upcoming reboot of The Mummy.
The film, which is set to star Tom Cruise under the direction of Alex Kurtzman, is ostensibly the first in an ongoing shared cinematic universe which brings together all the classic Universal Monsters – Dracula, Frankenstein, et al – for fun and, hopefully, profit. This is the third attempt to do so, following 2010’s halfway decent The Wolfman and 2014’s largely terrible but still enjoyable Dracula Untold. What sets apart this latest effort is the quality of cast Universal are trying to attract; Cruise is still one of the biggest and most reliably bankable stars in the world, and an appearance by Crowe in The Mummy will set him up for a lead role in a Jekyll and Hyde spinoff. Expect news of Daniel Day Lewis moving into the wolf cage of the London Zoo any day now.
Crowe will next be seen alongside Ryan Gosling in Shane Black’s The Nice Guys, which hits Australian cinemas on May 26.
