Trivia for
The Mummy Returns (2001) More at IMDb Pro »

• Additional cliffs had to be digitally added to the "Tidal Wave" scene in order to mask hundreds of spectators watching the production.
  
  
• The building used for the outside of the British Museum is not the real British Museum; it's University College London. The Museum was unavailable as it was undergoing external reconstruction and was covered in scaffolding.
  
  
• The interiors of the O'Connells' house were filmed in the Shepperton Studios offices used by Ridley Scott and Tony Scott.
  
  

• London's Tower Bridge was closed to allow for filming. They were allowed to close it for 20 minutes at a time, but the resulting traffic jam after the first time brought threats of arrest from Scotland Yard and a reduced closing time of 10 minutes.
  
  
• Alex knocks over the columns in the same way his mother knocked over the bookcases in The Mummy (1999).
  
  
• When Alex (Freddie Boath) is reading from the Book of the Dead, he has trouble translating a hieroglyph of a stork. His Uncle Jonathan ('John Hannah') reminds Alex what the symbol means. In The Mummy (1999), Jonathan needed help from Evie translating the same symbol. The dialog is almost exactly the same as the first film, and in both movies, the person helping the translator with the last word, is fighting with Anck-su-namun while they speak (Evie in the first film, and Jonathan in the second).
  
  
• Despite fighting his character (The Scorpion King) in the finale, at the time of release Brendan Fraser had not met The Rock 'Dwayne Johnson'.
  
  
• The title does not appear at the beginning of this film. The title finally is given at the end of the picture, after the headlining credits but before main credits roll. Now common, in 2001 leaving the title off the start of a film was a relatively rare innovation.
  
  
• The character Izzy is named after director Stephen Sommers' dog.
  
  
• The voice of the Scorpion King, at the end of the film, was dubbed by Brazilian rock singer Max Cavalera.
  
  
• Ardeth Bay (Oded Fehr) is the only person in the film who refers to Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo) as "the Creature".
  
  
• Rachel Weisz's character Nerfertiri was originally called Nefertiti but the producers felt that people would make "boob" jokes about the name so it was changed to that of another Egyptian queen.
  
  
• The battle sequence in the O'Connell manor was originally supposed to be set in a casino owned by Jonathan, but budget constraints meant that a house was substituted.
  
  
• Brendan Fraser wanted the O'Connell family to live in an apartment, but they ended up living in a house so that it could be used for the big battle scene (see above).
  
  
• The house used as the O'Connells' mansion appeared as part of the library in the The Mummy (1999).
  
  
• When Evelyn is first seen brushing off a wall, the figures on the wall behind her are of two females fighting with sais. This is a depiction of her as Nefertiri fighting Anck Su Namun in front of the Pharaoh.
  
  
• The O'Connell's mansion was the same mansion used for filming in The Omen (1976)
  
  
• 'Dwayne Johnson''s only spoken lines are in Ancient Egyptian
  
  
• Loosely translated, 'Dwayne Johnson''s line "Haku Machente" means "It's hot as hell."
  
  
• In the scene where they enter the room full of gold, one of the statues in the back of the room is a life-sized Oscar statue that is partially obscured by other items.
  
  
• This sequel was greenlit by Universal the morning after The Mummy (1999) opened in May 1999.
  
  
• The designs on Anuk Su Namun's sleeves on her dress look exactly like her body paint in her previous life.
  
  
• In the original script, when Rick asks Izzy, "Where's your airplane?" Izzy responds that he lost it in a poker game.
  
  
• The two men guarding the Bracelet of Anubis in Evy's vision in the tomb are brothers in real life.
  
  
• The hand prints in the train's bathroom are from Director Stephen Sommers's hands.
  
  
• In order to keep his smooth hairless look, Arnold Vosloo had his entire body shaved twice a day. Originally, he tried waxing but couldn't stand the pain.
  
  
• When the O'Connells run out of the museum after Rick rescues Evie, there are four mummy guards chasing them. However, in the ensuing bus battle scene, only three are killed. According to the original script, the fourth was supposed to attack Alex after the bus had come to a stop. However, director Stephen Sommers decided to cut the scene, figuring that the audience had had enough of the mummy battle and wanted to get on with the story.
  
  
• A log bridge falls into a ravine with several Pygmies on it. One Pygmie runs one way across the falling bridge to get off of it, and then runs back the other way. After realizing he can't escape, he straddles the log and waves his hand in the air like Major Kong (Slim Pickens) atop the bomb in Stanley Kubrick's 1964 film Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964). Listen closely during this scene and you can also hear one of the monsters begin to say "Oh, shiiiii...." as he falls.
  
  
• Brendan Fraser tore a spinal disk, cracked a rib, and injured his knees during production. Dwayne Johnson suffered from food poisoning and sunstroke.
  
  
• Director Cameo: ['Stephen Sommers (I)'] Sitting in the bathtub at Izzy's place.
  
  
• Freddie Boath passed on the opportunity to play in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001) to participate in this movie, because The Mummy (1999) is one of his favorite films. He knows so much about the movie that he even served as sort of a consultant on the first film for the other crew and cast members.
  
  
• Although the characters of Rick and Evelyn had grown and matured in the second film, Director Stephen Sommers wanted it to be clear that Jonathan had learned absolutely nothing from his first adventure.
  
  

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