The Mummy Trailer Without Music Or Sound Effects Is Hilarious - And Terrifying
Tom Cruise was having a strange time in 2017. Months before he released his acclaimed drug-smuggling biopic "American Made," the actor debuted an awkward dud in the form of "The Mummy," the first film in what was supposed to be Universal's now-scrapped "Dark Universe." Upon release, "The Mummy" was clowned by most critics and failed to impress at the box office. After its forgetful run in theaters, "The Mummy" largely fell into obscurity as a remarkable lowlight for Cruise. However, what many do remember about the maligned picture is its bumpy marketing.
When Universal Pictures officially debuted the first look at "The Mummy," official IMAX accounts accidentally released an unfinished trailer without sound effects and music. As you can expect, the results are terrifying, showing just how integral quality sound is. Pay specific attention to the 1:12 mark, when Cruise's character begins to yell as the plane he's in crashes. The moment is haunting, as all one hears is an echoless scream that doesn't even sound like the actor. When the mishap first happened in 2016, the shouting sequence immediately became a viral sensation.
Details surrounding the blunder have been minimal. Shortly after viewers discovered the botched trailer, IMAX, and Universal Pictures eagerly tried to take videos down. And they succeeded for the most part ... but this is the internet, where nothing ever dies. Since then, the video has become another meme that dominated in the late 2010s. One hilarious X (formerly known as Twitter) post from 2017 reads: "My favorite Christmas movie is the mummy trailer audio."
The legacy of the botched Mummy trailer
The soundless trailer for "The Mummy" is one of the funniest marketing mishaps to ever happen and the internet refuses to forget about it. Every couple of months, fans remember just how hilarious the trailer was, reintroducing it to a whole new audience. Even after its unimpactful removal, Reddit continues to memorialize the video.
While there are plenty of jokes to be had, many are using "The Mummy" trailer as an example of how just important sound effects are to filmmaking. "God, I love this ['The Mummy' trailer] for its hilarity, but it's also an insight into the underappreciated magic of sound design in movies,'" wrote u/Khearnei in a r/Movies post discussing the trailer. Some fans just want to point out the ridiculousness of it all, calling out Tom Cruise's strange screams. "I love how they literally just looped that exact same audio twice in a row, as if it was done so well the first time," shared u/ScalpelBurn2.
The screams in the trailer have found a strange fandom of their own. One of the most popular remixes to manifest from the "Mummy" trailer is a clip of Darth Vader screaming in "Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith." Instead of shrieking "No," the character screams just like Cruise, making for a hilarious crossover. Years after its release, "The Mummy" is mostly remembered for its chuckle-worthy trailer and how it failed to launch a cinematic universe. When the film was released, it served as a rare blunder for Cruise, but the actor later saw hits in the form of "Mission: Impossible – Fallout" and "Top Gun: Maverick" years later.