‘Kingsman’ Star Sofia Boutella Cast as The Mummy in Upcoming Reboot

After it was announced that Tom Cruise would be starring in The Mummy reboot came rumors that the Mummy itself in the movie might actually be a woman. Well, Universal have kept their promise and gender-swapped the gauze-wrapped monster, casting Kingsman star Sofia Boutella (the sword-legged Gazelle) as the new Mummy.

The Hollywood Reporter says that Boutella is in talks to star in the title role in the film, with options to appear in future installments. Boutella would star alongside Cruise in the action-adventure-horror film, which, unlike the Brendan Fraser films, is expected to take place primarily in modern day.

The Mummy is the first of the Universal Monsters movies being rebooted to connect in a larger, monster universe with the studio also planning new Dracula, Frankenstein, Wolfman, Van Helsing and Bride of Frankenstein movies. How they would connect and what exactly they’re leading to (all the monsters team up like the evil Avengers?) remains unclear.

Before she was cast as Samuel L. Jackson’s uniquely equipped sidekick in Kingsman, Boutella was a classically trained dancer specializing in hip-hop and street dance who had toured with Madonna and Rihanna. Boutella stars next as a new alien ally to the U.S.S. Enterprise team in Star Trek Beyond.

Alex Kurtzman, who is overseeing this new Universal Monsters Universe with Fast and Furious writer Chris Morgan, is directing the film based on a script by Jon Spaihts (Prometheus).

The Mummy is set to open in theaters on March 24, 2017.