Brendan Fraser finally breaks his silence on The Mummy 4: "I’ve been waiting 20 years for this call"

Original Mummy star Brendan Fraser has finally broken his silence on returning to the franchise two decades later for The Mummy 4.

"I’ve been waiting 20 years for this call," said Fraser to Associated Press. "Sometimes it was loud, sometimes it was a faint telegraph. Now? It's time to give the fans what they want." Fraser then said that the upcoming movie is the one he wanted to make after the second Mummy film, before the threequel shook up the franchise. "The one I wanted to make is forthcoming."

We first met Fraser's treasure hunter Rick O'Connell in the 1999 movie The Mummy, also starring Rachel Weisz as his love interest, Evelyn. The two returned for the sequel, The Mummy Returns, in 2001. However, Weisz did not appear in the third Mummy movie, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Instead, the team cast Maria Bello as Evelyn. Tomb of the Dragon Emperor seemed to move away from the first two movies, taking Fraser's adventurer to China, where he battled an ancient warlord.

Brendan explained that the reason the third movie was set in China is because "NBC had the rights to broadcast the Olympics that year. So they put two together, and we went to China." However, the star does not regret making the third movie. "Working in Shanghai, an incredible experience. I'm proud of the third one because I think it's a good standalone movie. We picked up and did what we do with a different crew on deck and gave it our best shot."

When The Mummy 4 was first announced, it was made clear that it would disregard the events of the third movie and act as a sequel to the second film. At the end of The Mummy Returns, Rick resurrects Evelyn after her brush with death, and the two defeat the Mummy's partner in crime, The Scorpion King. No plot details for The Mummy 4 have been released yet, but with such a huge time jump between the two movies, we suspect that the sequel will catch up with Rick and Evelyn later in life, and possibly focus more on their son, Alex.

Scream 5 and Abigail directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett are on board to helm the movie. Aside from Fraser and Weisz, no other cast members have been locked in at this time. Universal Studios has yet to confirm a release date.

For more, check out our list of the best fantasy movies and keep up with the biggest movie release dates.