Despite its rocky reception and underwhelming box office performance back in 2017, Tom Cruise’s The Mummy is enjoying a surprising resurgence on Peacock. The movie, which famously holds a dismal 15% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes, currently sits at #4 on the streaming platform’s rankings. This unexpected success showcases that, despite its flaws, the film has found new life among streaming audiences.

Directed by Alex Kurtzman, The Mummy was initially designed to kick off Universal’s ambitious “Dark Universe” franchise, aimed at reviving the studio’s iconic monster movies for a modern audience. However, the film’s mixed reviews and tepid box office returns, grossing $409 million globally on a budget of $125–$195 million, led to the collapse of those grand plans. Critics took issue with the film’s uneven tone, convoluted plot, and its over-reliance on action sequences over horror elements, while some praised Cruise’s dedication to his stunts and Sofia Boutella’s portrayal of the title character. Now, six years later, The Mummy seems to have found a second wind, perhaps thanks to the curiosity of viewers who missed it in theatres or are discovering it with lowered expectations.

What Was ‘The Dark Universe’?

The Dark Universe was Universal Pictures’ ambitious but short-lived attempt to create a shared cinematic universe, much like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, featuring its classic monsters. The idea was to revive iconic horror characters such as Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, the Invisible Man, and the Mummy, uniting them in a series of interconnected films.

The Dark Universe officially launched with the release of The Mummy in 2017, starring Cruise, Boutella, and Russell Crowe. This film was intended to be the cornerstone of the universe, with Crowe’s Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde character serving as a connective tissue between future films. Universal had big plans, announcing a star-studded lineup that included Johnny Depp as the Invisible Man and Javier Bardem as Frankenstein’s Monster. They even created a logo and assembled a high-profile team of writers and producers, including Kurtzman and Chris Morgan. However, after The Mummy was critically panned and underperformed at the box office, Universal put the Dark Universe on indefinite hold.

While The Mummy may not have been the franchise-launching hit that Universal had hoped for, its current popularity on Peacock shows that sometimes even critically panned films can find their place—and audience—over time. Stay tuned to see if The Mummy continues to climb the streaming charts and experience this monster-filled action romp for yourself on Peacock.