I bought the script because it was written by George A. Romero of Night of the Living Dead fame, based on earlier drafts by Alan Ormsby (who wrote the Cat People remake) and John Sayles (the writer and director of Matewan and Eight Men Out but who also wrote The Howling and Piranha.).
As you can probably guess, this version is more horror-based. There's a lot of graphic violence described and spookier, bump-in-the-night style scares. Imhotep, once resurrected, must continually drain the lifeforce out of people, lest he shrivel back into a desiccated corpse, and his slave Karis, who maintains the classic bandaged look, shambles through the sewers, killing anyone who gets in his way.
The story is contemporary, with a stronger emphasis on the romance. Our main character is Helen, who we meet as a little girl on an archeological dig with her father. She is uncannily drawn to the desert. Years later, she is an accomplished archeologist and leads an expedition to explore a previously unknown site in Egypt, where she finds the tomb of the man she later learns is Imhotep.
Imhotep himself is more of a complex figure, and his tragedy is played up. He was a feared general who sold his soul to Set (portrayed here as the Satan of Egyptian gods) for victory, but he was forced to sacrifice the woman he loved, Anck-Su-Namun, a high priestess.
However, she survived his attempt to kill her, and he was exiled and buried alive in a distant tomb. The priests and soldiers who oversaw his punishment ritualistically committed suicide to keep the tomb's location a secret. Imhotep, through his loyalty to Set, had become so powerful, the ancient Egyptians cursed him, both for his crime and out of fear of what he had become.
Naturally, he's revived in the modern world and brought to an American city, where he escapes and is confused and overwhelmed (Most amusingly, he is puzzled by Ramses brand condoms.). He sets about restoring himself and, with Karis, recovering stolen artifacts he needs.
Helen is drawn to this mysterious, handsome man who has knowledge of the ancient world and protects her from neighborhood hoodlums. Eventually, she learns she is the reincarnation of Imhotep's lost love Anck-Su-Namun, which means he still must fulfill his vow to Set.
It's an interesting read, a fun what-if scenario and a look into how movie projects change and evolve during the development process.
I tell that story to share another:
Years ago, backstage during production of a play I was in called "Lost in Time," my castmates were discussing the Brendan Fraser version of The Mummy, and I mentioned the script I bought.
I described some of the big differences, including Helen's fiancé who, upon finding out his love needs to postpone their wedding for her expedition, the kind of once-in-a-lifetime opportunity careers are built on, accuses her of being selfish and running away from her commitments.
"I suppose it's possible to think," I said, "OK, he's a jerk, but I think the screenplay agrees with the fiancé."
To which my castmate Jessica replied, "A man wrote this script, right?"
"Three in fact," I answered.
No comments:
Post a Comment