Trivia: Tom Cruise was reportedly offered the role of Rick O'Connell, but turned it down. He would later go on to star in the 2017 reboot eighteen years later.
TedStixonTrivia: According to director Stephen Sommers, Universal Studios phoned him the morning after the film's release and said "We need another one."
Trivia: Anck Su Namun's body paint took 6 hours to apply each time.
Trivia: Almost all of the muzzle-flashes in the film were digitally added, for two specific reasons. The first being that sometimes muzzle-flashes simply don't show up on film. And second, due to the environment in which the film was made, sand would constantly jam-up the guns the production was using, often in the middle of a shot.
TedStixonTrivia: The soldier-mummies were not in the original script. Instead, Jonathan would accidentally bring to life a giant statue. It was cut for the enormous cost the computer effects for the statue would have incurred, and replaced with the soldier-mummies, since they could be accomplished mainly with old-school suit effects mixed with only minimal CG for specific shots.
TedStixonTrivia: Somewhat ironically, the mummy's actor Arnold Vosloo really didn't like the look of the CGI mummy when he is first awakened. He felt the design was a little hokey and over-the-top. (Although he did like the look of the later "stages" the mummy takes on as he begins to regenerate).
TedStixonTrivia: The location name "Fort Brydon" comes from the character "Colonel Brydon" who appeared in Stephen Sommers' earlier movie The Jungle Book, played by Sam Neill.
Jedd Jong
Chosen answer: The tattoos on his forehead are the Egyptian Hieroglyphs that spell "Underworld", and the ones on his cheeks are the Egyptian Hieroglyphs for the word "truth." All Medjai males get these tattoos as part of the coming-of-age rite, when they turn sixteen, of which the most important is the tattoo on their right wrist (which Rick O'Connell also has) that marks them as "warriors for God." Other tattoos specific to Medjai males are on their arms, forearms, hands, pectorals, shoulder blades and beneath the navel - the tattoos on the nose and chin are no longer used, since the time of Seti I. Medjai females only get the wrist tattoo when they come of age, but are not marked with any of the other symbols that are particular to men. Fun fact: If the Medjai - male and female alike - shows any sign of pain or cries during the tattooing process, it is considered that they have brought shame to their family.