‘The Mummy’s Marketing Is Surprisingly Effective… and Genuinely Scary

It’s somewhat ironic that Evil Dead Rise director Lee Cronin passed on Evil Dead Burn to take a risk with Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema’s take on The Mummy, especially since the film is essentially being marketed like an Evil Dead movie.

The studio’s marketing has been surprisingly effective, really zeroing in on the body horror and the traumatic visuals of a little girl’s rotted corpse that’s possessed by something horrific. Over the weekend, they started dropping new footage that’s edited into short social spots – and they’re awfully frightening. Check out this banger.

Can you handle the darkness? #LeeCroninsTheMummy only in theaters and IMAX April 17. pic.twitter.com/8ElWyffcEM

— Warner Bros. (@warnerbros) March 29, 2026

In The Mummy (in theaters April 17), a journalist’s young daughter disappears into the desert without a trace. Eight years later, the broken family is shocked when she is returned to them, as what should be a joyful reunion turns into a living nightmare.

Regarding the Evil Dead comparisons, Cronin thinks the two films unfold in completely different ways and that Mummy is more of a maze than a roller coaster.

“Evil Dead Rise was a very clear roller coaster ride. It reaches a point and… it’s kind of like a rocket ship fuelled by blood, and it just goes and goes,” said Cronin in an interview with SFX Magazine. “This movie is a different type of fairground attraction. It’s more of a maze, and you don’t know whether you’re going to go left or right next, but you’re not in control. Ideally, if I’m doing a good job, I’ve got my hand on your back, and I’m telling you which way to go.