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SCMP Reporter

The all-new Mummy episode moves to China for history and action-packed fun
Everyone's favourite sarcophagus movie  is back. The first  episode of the Brendan Fraser  hit, The Mummy,  was released in 1999 and went on to  gross US$415 million worldwide.
Realising they were on to a winner, Universal Studios   released The Mummy Returns  in 2001, which grossed a similar amount. Given that both  had a budget of less than  US$100 million, the films were a resounding financial success.
The producers were perhaps justified in upping the budget for third instalment, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor,  to US$175 million,  suggesting we should expect something  rather impressive.
Rather than returning to Egypt a third time,  Tomb of the Dragon Emperor adopts a Chinese theme. Stephen Sommers, who directed the previous films,  has stepped down as director to  be replaced by Rob Cohen.
Cohen  is responsible for films such as xXx and The Fast and the Furious, so  expect  an  action-packed ride.
Fraser is back as the comedic hero-cum-explorer Rick O'Connell. He and his wife Evelyn (Rachel Weisz has been replaced by Maria Bello) are now retired, but they must go to China to help their son Alex (Luke Ford) who has  unearthed the  Terracotta Army.
The former army leader,  Emperor Han (Jet Li), is woken up from a 2000-year-old cursed sleep by Alex's excavations  and  decides to resurrect his massive army of  warriors.
Accompanied by  Evelyn's blundering brother Jonathan (John Hannah), the family must stop the Dragon Emperor by  resurrecting his dead enemies who  lie buried under the Great Wall of China.
Li is not the only famous Chinese face in the film.  Malaysia's  Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon,   Tomorrow Never Dies), plays a sorceress,  and American-born Chinese Russell Wong - who  appeared in Romeo Must Die with  Li - plays one of the undead warriors  who fight against the emperor.
With a huge crew of 2,000, the film was shot in Montreal, Canada, and China.  Filming in China took 40 days,  the longest time a Hollywood feature film has spent in production on the mainland.  The China theme and storyline should further promote  the country's image in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics.
CGI  was used  to  create the Dragon Emperor's vast army of 10 000 troops.  This is the same software  that was used in the Lord of the Rings trilogy  to create the  amazing battle scenes.
The idea of the emperor mummy is based on the first emperor of unified China, Qin Shi Huang. Known as the First Emperor,  he  undertook the huge project of building the Great Wall of China and was buried with thousands of terracotta warriors after his death.
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is out now



All wrapped up