Nine years ago, a Tom Cruise movie trailer became an internet sensation for all the wrong reasons, and arguably, it's the best thing to come out of a franchise that crashed and burned before it even took flight. Think about it – Tom Cruise, the man who practically is action cinema, starring in a potential blockbuster that was ultimately overshadowed by… his own screams. How did this happen?
Cruise, a name synonymous with Hollywood success thanks to iconic roles in Top Gun and the Mission: Impossible series, found himself at the center of a colossal blunder in 2017. He was part of Universal's ambitious attempt to launch a new shared universe, the Dark Universe, populated by classic movie monsters. But the franchise never took off, and the only thing that truly resonated with audiences was a hilariously botched trailer for The Mummy.
The story goes like this: In the lead-up to the release of The Mummy, Universal Pictures dropped an IMAX trailer. The goal? To generate buzz and anticipation. The reality? A complete audio catastrophe. Someone, somewhere, made a critical error during the trailer's post-production. The musical score and sound effects vanished, leaving only snippets of dialogue and, most prominently, Tom Cruise… screaming.
Tom Cruise Screaming in The Mummy Trailer Became a Huge Meme
It's been nine years since Hollywood's greatest moment: Universal accidentally released the IMAX trailer for The Mummy with only Tom Cruise screaming. pic.twitter.com/RIEQfScMQc
— FilmX's Number One Fan (@GAltringham) December 20, 2025
Universal's grand vision for the Dark Universe was already on shaky ground. The idea was to create a connected series of films featuring iconic monsters like Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, and the Wolfman, similar to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But the initial attempts stumbled badly. The Wolfman (2010) with Benicio del Toro was intended to kick things off, but it failed to resonate with audiences. Then came Dracula Untold (2014), an origin story that also fell flat. The Mummy was meant to be the savior, the film that would finally launch the franchise. But this trailer… this trailer pretty much sealed its fate.
The IMAX trailer's lack of sound effects and music amplified Cruise's screams to an almost comical level. In the finished film, the sound design helped to contextualize the screams, muting their intensity and making them feel like a natural part of the action. But without those layers, it was just pure, unadulterated Tom Cruise screaming. It was so bad that Universal quickly tried to pull the trailer, but the internet, as always, was faster.
The botched trailer went viral, becoming a meme sensation. People began creating parody videos, overlaying Cruise's screams onto scenes from other movies. Imagine Darth Vader's anguished cry at the end of Revenge of the Sith replaced with Cruise's scream. Or Superman's reaction to killing General Zod in Man of Steel. Someone even used it during the iconic volleyball scene in the original Top Gun! It was reminiscent of the "Morbin' Time" craze surrounding Morbius, but on a much grander scale, as The Mummy had much bigger expectations.
Ultimately, the Tom Cruise screaming meme became far more memorable than anything that actually happened in The Mummy itself. And this is the part most people miss: It wasn't just funny; it highlighted a broader issue with the Dark Universe – a lack of focus and genuine creative vision. The franchise was meant to be a shared universe, but it felt more like a collection of loosely connected films with little to no connective tissue.
But here's where it gets controversial... Was the failure of the Dark Universe entirely The Mummy's fault? Or was it a sign of a changing landscape in Hollywood, where audiences are increasingly demanding originality and strong, independent stories, rather than just interconnected franchises?
What do you think? Was the Mummy trailer a blessing in disguise, a hilarious reminder that even the biggest stars can be part of spectacular failures? Or was it simply a case of bad luck and unfortunate timing? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
