Get an eyeful of this creepy new The Mummy poster

Sofia Boutella’s Princess Ahmanet has got her eye on us. An eye with two pupils.

Yes, that’s pretty creepy – and it seems to hint that Universal’s upcoming reboot of ‘The Mummy’ will be somewhat darker than the more recent entries in the franchise.

Ahmanet’s double-pupil eyes were already highlighted in an attention-grabbing shot in the first trailer for the Tom Cruise-led monster movie, and now this image has been made the focus of a new official poster.

Completely unrelated to 1999’s period adventure ‘The Mummy’ and its two sequels with Brendan Fraser, this new take on the classic Universal property (which debuted in 1932, with the legendary Boris Karloff in the title role) is set to relaunch the studio’s vintage monster movie brand; arguably the first ever cinematic universe, with characters from separate movies crossing over in such 1940s titles as ‘Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man’ and ‘House of Dracula.’

As well as being the first of Universal’s ‘Mummy’ movies to feature a female antagonist, this latest take is also the first to be set in the present day. Cruise stars as Nick Morton, a military man who is unwittingly dragged into “a new world of gods and monsters” after the Ancient Egyptian princess played by Boutella (‘Kingsman: The Secret Service,’ ‘Star Trek Beyond’) awakens in a vengeful mood.

The film from director Alex Kurtzman will also introduce Russell Crowe as iconic horror character Dr Henry Jekyll, expected to make an appearance in further planned Universal monster reboots – although at present the studio are playing their cards close to their chest as to what will be next in the series.

Universal’s second monster universe movie is scheduled for April 2018, with a third due February 2019, but the titles of both are being kept secret for the time being – athough it is reported that new takes on ‘The Invisible Man’ (with Johnny Depp in the lead), ‘The Wolf Man,’ ‘Van Helsing,’ ‘The Creature from the Black Lagoon’ and ‘The Bride of Frankenstein’ are all in the pipeline.

Universal have tried a number of times now to relaunch their monster brand, with 2004’s ‘Van Helsing,’ 2010’s ‘The Wolfman’ and 2014’s ‘Dracula Untold.’ Will ‘The Mummy’ finally succeed in bringing them back from beyond the grave? Here’s hoping.

‘The Mummy’ hits UK cinemas on 9 June.

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