The Mummy returns for reboot

Director Len Wiseman is preparing to bring The Mummy movies back to life in a scary new reboot.

Rachel Weisz and Brendan Fraser starred in the original 1999 movie and its 2001 sequel, although the British actress dropped out of the third installment and was replaced by Maria Bello.

Underworld moviemaker Wiseman - who recently remade Total Recall - has now revealed he is preparing to reboot The Mummy series and he is planning to make the new film much darker and scarier than its predecessors.

He tells Deadline.com, "When I first heard Universal was relaunching this, that is the image that popped into my head, the period tale, the old monster, but when (the producers) pitched it, there was a great new take and approach, and a very different mummy as well. It's a darker twist on the material, a scarier version.

"One of the things that interested me with this mummy is, he's still in essence a man. They haven't turned his brain into a monster brain. He still has a personality and is very cunning and calculating. He's a true character in any form, and in creature form, even if he is that staggering creature, it becomes more important that he's a thinking, calculating person."

The new movie is due to hit cinemas in 2014.