See Dwayne Johnson Celebrate The Success Of His Mummy Returns Co-Star

Dwayne Johnson has congratulated Brendan Fraser on his success in The Whale, which is the man's comeback movie.

By Matthew Creith | Updated 1 year ago

For over 20 years, Dwayne Johnson has gone from wrestling icon to action star with grace and humility. With a career that has seen him headline multiple film franchises, including Fast & the Furious and the reboot of Jumanji, Johnson has taken his role as a movie star quite seriously. Imprinting his now-famous style and humor to every project he takes on, Johnson is full of surprises that have led to being one of the most bankable stars on planet Earth. But much of this would not be possible if it wasn’t for a few people that helped usher in his brilliance early in his career. Now, it appears that Dwayne Johnson is publicly addressing his humble beginnings by thanking those that got him to where he is in his film resume.

With a splash of modesty and a touch of chivalry, Dwayne Johnson applauds actor Brendan Fraser for his recent appearance at the premiere of his new film, The Whale. Johnson and Fraser costarred in The Mummy Returns in 2001, the sequel to the wildly popular The Mummy. The Mummy Returns marked the acting debut of then-wrestler Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, which helped to catapult Johnson into a budding movie career. In his post to social media via Twitter, the actor explained his admiration for Brendan Fraser and The Whale director Darren Aronofsky, congratulating the two men on what will hopefully be a successful run for their newest film. The post comes after a six-minute standing ovation for Fraser at the Venice Film Festival over the weekend, according to Variety.

The Mummy Returns was a welcome addition to an up-and-coming franchise that would see Brendan Fraser return to his action star persona. Starring alongside fan favorites John Hannah, Rachel Weisz, and Arnold Vosloo, who all reprised their roles from the 1999 original, Dwayne Johnson joined the cast as Mathayus, aka The Scorpion King. The movie went on to gross $435 million against a budget of $98 million and spawned a spin-off called The Scorpion King, starring Johnson in his first lead role in a movie. Despite the favorable box office returns, critics were not as kind to The Mummy Returns upon its release. Rotten Tomatoes currently ranks the film with a 47% on its Tomatometer based on 141 critics’ reviews. The Audience Score on Rotten Tomatoes is a bit better, with over 250,000 ratings giving it an average of 63%.

In contrast, Brendan Fraser’s new film, The Whale, is facing some of the best reviews of the 53-year-old actor’s career. After spending time on set with Dwayne Johnson in the early aughts, Fraser has recently enjoyed a career comeback. Coming off of a successful premiere at this year’s Venice Film Festival, the early reviews for The Whale are in, and they are stellar. Rotten Tomatoes currently rates the movie 87% based on 23 reviews from critics, marking some of the highest numbers Fraser has seen for a movie in decades. The Whale is making the rounds at various film festivals this season before it opens in theaters to a wider audience this December, just in time for Oscar consideration.

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