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You know it. I know it. It's time for Dudley Do-Right II

Kim Hollis: A few weeks ago we posed the question whether Brendan Fraser is a box office draw. How does the Mummy's performance shade your opinion? Which of this or Journey to the Center of the Earth is the most surprising performer (good or bad) to you?

Tim Briody: Well, if Brendan Fraser doesn't do Mummy 3, it doesn't even get made, much less open to $40 million. Sorry, John Hannah. That said, the staying power of Journey to the Center of the Earth continues to impress me most. It's not quite going to get there, but it's getting way closer to $100 million than I think anyone thought it would.

David Mumpower: He has a chance at a pair of $100 million films this summer, which is pretty impressive. Both of them will fall somewhere in that $85-$110 million range, but I have to think that the film that earned only $21 million on opening weekend before showing old school legs is the better performer relative to scale. The Mummy is more surprising in that it was tracking in the mid-$60s but fell over $20 million shy of that range. For a $175 million production, it has done close to worst case scenario box office for an accredited sequel.





Jamie Ruccio: I think this discussion can mirror our Will Smith discussion after the opening of Hancock. I think Fraser is partially a draw but ultimately I think he picks projects that have a good chance of succeeding or at least not bombing.

Pete Kilmer: I really don't think Mummy 3 would have been made without Fraser. I hate to say it but almost everyone else in that cast is replaceable, but Fraser brings that swagger and charm to the table and people want to see it. I still don't get aging the characters as much as they did.

Brandon Scott: He is a draw in this type of vehicle. He has two films in the top five in the marketplace, which is not easy to do. I would still say Journey is the bigger surprise overall. The only thing surprising about the new Mummy is that the franchise wasn't wrapped in a tomb two films ago. The fact that it has made it this far still confounds me.

Scott Lumley: Sure, he might be a box office draw. Then again, if someone had me star in a $145 million production I might be a box office draw too. He's completely dispensable, and his track record does seem to back that up. Fraser is the guy they get when they couldn't budget in someone better.

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