The Mummy Rises: Lee Cronin’s Horror Hit Buries Box Office Expectations

So, here’s one of those genre movie surprises that’s fun to watch play out: Lee Cronin's The Mummy just pulled off a box office win that a lot of folks didn’t see coming. This is not the action reboot with Brendan Fraser that's still brewing—it’s a straight-up horror ride with a title that’s got some people in a twist. Let’s break down exactly what’s happening with this thing.

What Exactly Is Lee Cronin’s The Mummy?

First up: if the name feels confusing, you’re not alone. Lee Cronin (who directed Evil Dead Rise, that bloody hit from last year) went and put his own name right at the front of the movie's title. Apparently, this is less about his ego and more to make sure horror fans don’t confuse it with Universal's mummified action blockbusters… or the next official Mummy sequel/reboot, which is supposedly still happening with Brendan "the real Mummy guy" Fraser.

In this one, you’ve got Jack Reynor, May Calamawy, and Laia Costa tangled up in supernatural disaster. The setup: A family gets back their long-lost daughter—who’s been found basically mummified in a sarcophagus. Let’s just say it's not a feel-good reunion. As you might expect, something is very wrong with her.

Crunching the Numbers: Box Office and Budget

• Release date: April 17 (U.S.)
• Opening weekend prediction (domestic): $15–20 million
• Actual opening (domestic): $13.5 million (over 3,304 screens)
• Total box office so far (April 27): $65 million ($23 million U.S., $42 million international)
• Production budget: $22 million
• Profit break-even point: Typically 2.5x budget (so, ~$55 million)
• Current estimated profit: At least $10 million, with more upside as it keeps playing

In plain English: Lee Cronin’s The Mummy wasn’t a breakout hit at first—it didn’t meet opening weekend projections—but word of mouth (or horror fans’ insatiable curiosity) helped it shoot past $55 million in just two weeks. Any studio bean-counter will tell you: that’s already a win.

Critics vs Audiences: Who’s Winning?

Now for the fun part—the critical slap-fight. Critics weren’t thrilled; the movie has a pretty rough 46% on Rotten Tomatoes (from 170 reviews), which is a step down from Cronin’s other films like Evil Dead Rise or The Hole in the Ground (both of those landed in the mid-80s). A lot of reviewers griped that the movie felt like it was trying to squish The Mummy into an Evil Dead Rise mold, with a lot of familiar horror tropes (read: some material they felt was borrowed from The Exorcist and company).

Audience response? Way, way better. It’s running at a 75% audience score (“Popcornmeter”) from over a thousand verified moviegoers. Horror fans seem to be into it because the vibe is more The Conjuring or Insidious than your dusty Egyptian museum trip. The main praise: People are actually getting scared (which—let’s be honest—doesn’t reliably happen with these kinds of retreads).

'A good number of moviegoers said they were genuinely scared by the film.'

Why This Actually Matters for Horror in 2026

There’s also a bigger picture here for the horror genre. This year has been all over the place for scary movies. Scream 7 was a monster success—$214 million on $45 million budget. Markiplier’s micro-budget freakout Iron Lung overperformed big-time too. Meanwhile, The Bride tanked, pulling in just $23 million from a $90 million outlay. Other genre entries (like Send Help, Return to Silent Hill, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, and They Will Kill You) are still in theaters, but none of them are setting the world on fire.

So, with horror not always finding an audience this year, Cronin’s The Mummy outperforming expectations is a welcome bit of good news—especially if you’re a filmmaker looking to get your ghost story greenlit.