I was pretty stunned when former porn blogger Luke Ford got cast as the lead in the new Mummy film. For one thing, he’s way too old to play Brendan Fraser’s son. But you can see where my confusion came up – they have cast a guy named Luke Ford in The Mummy 3, and he’s Australian, like the blogger. He’s probably also like the blogger in that most of you have undoubtedly never heard of him.
This Luke Ford is in his 20s, and he’s being seen as the future of the franchise. "We may spin off into a complete father-son direction with Brendan (Fraser, who played the adventurer who battled the monster in the first two installments), but by getting an actor who is in his 20s and not a teenager, we can also put the future on his shoulders," ‘director’ Rob Cohen told Daily Variety. "He tested against four much more established actors, and he was magic when he read with Brendan."
Variety points out that spin-offs are the future for movie franchises – with star salaries going through the roof on subsequent entries (you try getting most of the X-Men cast back for a fourth film and see what it costs you) a spin-off introduced in the franchise can continue the series for a reasonable price.
As Cohen hints, Ford plays Brendan Fraser’s son as they battle a shape-shifting mummy in the Himalayas, but nobody knows who is playing his mom yet – Rachel Weisz has decided wisely to not return to the series, and six actresses have been tested so far as a replacement.