“The Mummy” is back. Is Brendan Fraser as well?

What took so long for this franchise to come back? The first two “Mummy” movies came out in 1999 and 2001 to huge box office receipts and lively fanfare. Who can forget The Rock’s cheesy yet awesome role as the Scorpion King, laying the smack down prehistoric style? But does anyone still care about this franchise seven whole years after the second installment? The producers have smartly switched up the cast, adding hottie Maria Bello as the female lead and action-star Jet Li as the villian. They also switched up directors, replacing Stephen Sommers with Rob Cohen, auteur of millenial classics such as “The Skulls” and “The Fast and the Furious.”

Unfortunately, this trailer makes “Mummy 3″ look like CGI-hell. While an army of pixelated skeletons is somewhat intriguing, I don’t know if I want to sit through an hour of mind-numbing backstory before getting to the 30 minutes of action. This Entertainment Weekly review by Owen Gleiberman seems to echo my predictions for the film.

On another note: While everyone seems to be fawning over “The Dark Knight,” and “Iron Man” before it, shouldn’t a shout-out be given to Fraser? The man has returned from career oblivion to having two hit films in one summer (if “Mummy” box office predictions hold up, that is). “Journey to the Center of the Earth” has been a solid performer week-to-week, drawing in a wide swath of audiences and raking in strong business for the IMAX showings. To date, “Journey has grossed $64 million domestically and $12 million internationally, giving the film a solid total of $76 million worldwide on a $60 million budget. The film is likely to peak out around 95-100 million worldwide, and then do boffo-business on DVD. All in all, cheers to Fraser for sticking to his formula and persisting despite several years of flops.

The question is, will you see the new Mummy film? How well do you think it will do? Leave your thoughts, and for those who have seen it, tell me what you thought.