New The Mummy Hints at Connection With 1999's The Mummy

As the first movie in line to kick off Universal's monster movie universe, a lot was expected of The Mummy. Between setting up a cinematic universe, distinguishing itself from past installments, and establishing key plot devices to be used in upcoming movies, The Mummy had its work cut out for it. But, amidst all the uncertainty, the film did well in carving out a path for future monster movies as well—as potentially establishing a connection with a franchise from a decade ago.

Those of us who've seen the film know the fight between Dr. Jekyll (Russell Crowe), Nick Morton (Tom Cruise), and Jenny Halsey (Annabelle Wallis) was definitely one of the highlights. Although, it was rather disappointing that Jekyll didn't hulk out during his transformation. Only minor differences were visible, sans the maniacal psyche. Still, Hyde made for quite a formidable adversary—evidenced by Nick and Jenny showing difficulty in restraining Jekyll/ Hyde. Their struggle with Hyde even came down to using random artifacts scattered around the Prodigum to tame the beast inside Jekyll; one of which turned out to be the Book Of The Dead.

The book can be seen briefly as Jenny swings it around to strike Hyde in the face. The patterns and star insignia on the book's cover match perfectly to an artifact from 99's The Mummy.

In that movie, the book was at the center of the plot, as it was the sole item used to bring the dead back to life. Here, it merely lays dormant in a museum. We shouldn't rule out the possibility, however, of a stronger connection between these movies.

Perhaps the Book Of The Dead was more than just a nod to fans. Considering how The Mummy dropped several Easter eggs pointing towards future installments in the Dark Universe, it wouldn't be a surprise if this turned out to be a direct tie-in with the 1999 Mummy movie. For all we know, this small nod may confirm the prospect of both movies existing within the same universe. If that's true, then a connection between characters like the O'Connells and the Prodigum could be established.

Since the 1999 The Mummy movie took place in the 1920's, it might be impossible for the characters of that movie to appear in the rebooted version. But the Book Of The Dead is the only connection between the two, and considering how the book can bring the dead back to life, it wouldn't come as too much of a surprise to see the book used revive the O'Connells.

Then again, the Book Of The Dead could have been merely a nod to the prior films, in which case the O'Connells are of no relevance.

Do you think the connection between the two Mummy movies ends with the Book Of The Dead?