Lee Cronin Describes Journey From ‘Evil Dead Rise' to ‘The Mummy'
Few genres in the world of film have proven to be the springboard to success the way horror has been for so many young filmmakers. Studios have been plucking indie horror directors at a rapid rate and putting them in charge of massive IPs.
It wasn’t long ago when Lee Cronin made his first feature with 2019’s “The Hole in the Ground,” which was distributed by A24. While the small indie film didn’t break the bank at the box office, critics loved the Irish horror story. Some indie filmmakers might have to make a couple of successful films before landing a massive franchise, but Sam Raimi has been using the “Evil Dead” franchise as a showcase for young filmmakers.
Cronin’s “Evil Dead Rise” was a huge box office and critical success. After that film was such a hit, Cronin had plenty of options, but “The Mummy” wasn’t at the top of his mind.
“I think there’s a lot of colleagues I have, possibly sometimes that are writers and not writer-directors that will always be like, if you throw anything at them, you say ‘RoboCop’ and they go, ‘here’s what I do with ‘RoboCop.’ Like I’ve never been quite like that. I’m more reactive to situations,” Cronin told Newsweek in an exclusive interview. “So even though I harbored a huge ambition to make an ‘Evil Dead’ movie, I didn’t have a, what I do to ‘Evil Dead’ in my back pocket. Cause I’m always busy generating other ideas. And until something’s in front of me as a specific challenge, I don’t think about it a whole lot.
“And so ‘The Mummy’ was one that I didn’t harbor any grand passions as an, or have this want to, oh, you know, if the day, if the time ever comes, this is what I would do with a mummy movie. It was more reactionary to the proposition of what would you think about trying to make the most terrifying mummy movie there’s ever been? And I went, let me think about that. And then I went off and thought about what would allow me a platform to do that.”
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Many young filmmakers will have to wait years to make their next film. Some indie directors never even get the chance to make a second or third film. For Cronin, he has now made three films in less than a decade, which would be considered prolific for many, but in his mind, he wishes things moved more quickly.
“I’ve been speaking to some people recently, and they’ve said it’s very quick, but to me, it actually feels kind of slow,” Cronin told Newsweek. “And I think probably part of that is some of … the spaces in between is in like, I actually shot ‘The Hole in the Ground’ in the middle of 2017, but it wasn’t released until 2019.
“And ‘Evil Dead’ was finished in the middle of ’22, but wasn’t released until April ’23. So it’s been a really interesting journey with plenty of time to reflect. And then, unlike this movie where I’ve had no time to reflect, I finished it four and a half weeks ago, and then bang, it’s out in the world.”
One of the notable things about the latest “The Mummy” movie is it’s actually titled “Lee Cronin’s The Mummy.” It’s not often that a film’s title is preceded by the name of the filmmaker. Cronin was initially hesitant about putting his name in front of the title, but he was flattered that the producers had that amount of confidence in him.
“It comes from a place of, you know, the producers reading the screenplay and really feeling that it had a sense of identity and that they felt like it was, it was a really interesting approach to actually double down on that identity because they read it and they were like, ‘only you could do this,'” Cronin told Newsweek.
“‘Only you could go about it this way.’ So I’m just, I’m just really flattered. And I think one of the things that’s been, you know, when you hit an opening weekend and all of the pressures that come with it, I think one of the things that I’ve been, has been really humbling and a real high point has just been the engagement from genre fans out there who’ve, who’ve really kind of dove in hard behind me and been really supportive of the movie and what it is and how it’s different.”
“Lee Cronin’s The Mummy” is currently playing in theaters.
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This story was originally published April 24, 2026 at 9:31 AM.