The Scorpion King
Short description
The Scorpion King is set in the ancient desert, before the pyramids were built, where the warlord Memnon is extending his rule over the region with the help of a seer whose visions guide his campaigns. The surviving nomadic tribes, long divided among themselves, put aside their quarrels and turn to an assassin named Mathayus to strike at the source of Memnon's power. Sent into the enemy camp, Mathayus finds that the seer is a young woman, Cassandra, and instead of carrying out the killing he takes her away with him. Memnon's forces pursue them, and Mathayus is drawn into a wider fight for the tribes.
The film was directed by Chuck Russell and written by Stephen Sommers, William Osborne and David Hayter. It is a spin-off from Sommers's The Mummy series, with Dwayne Johnson playing Mathayus, the character he had introduced in The Mummy Returns. Steven Brand appears as Memnon, Kelly Hu as Cassandra, Michael Clarke Duncan as Balthazar and Bernard Hill as Philos. It was Russell's sixth feature, arriving after Bless the Child and well before I Am Wrath.
Made for about 60 million dollars, the film took roughly 165 million worldwide, a strong return. Audiences were lukewarm: on IMDb it holds 5.5 out of 10 from about 151,000 votes, and on TMDB 5.6 out of 10 from some 3,400 votes. A critics' rating of 5 out of 10 from 135 reviews places it close to those audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- This film is a prequel to "The Mummy Returns," which in turn was a sequel to a remake of a film shot 70 years ago ("The Mummy").
- 29-year-old wrestling champion Dwayne Johnson earned $5.5 million for the role of Mathayus and entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the actor who received the largest fee for his first leading role in a film.
- The role of the main villain was intended for Chow Yun-Fat, however, his manager Terence Chang rejected the offer, stating that his client never plays negative characters so as not to disappoint his fans.
- During the fight scene between Matheus and Balthazar, Michael Clarke Duncan leaned forward too much, causing Johnson to hit him in the jaw with his elbow. From the powerful blow, the enormous Duncan fell backwards to the ground.
- The film is partially based on a true story. One of the rulers of Predynastic Egypt was called the Scorpion King, but scholars disagree about his identity.
- Vince McMahon became the executive producer of the film only because he owns the commercial rights to Johnson's nickname, 'The Rock'.
- The film features a fragment of the melody that Johnson usually used for his ring entrance during wrestling competitions.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
