The Mummy3: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is an adventure film, just like the first to action adventure films in the Mummy series. The film was released in August of 2008 in the United States. It has been said that the plot is lighter for the third movie and it has left the Egyptian setting of the first two. This is itself is an exciting change and the chance to see the characters coping in new settings. The story sees our hero Rick O’Connell’s son, Alex, who is now an adventurous adult discovering the tomb of the First Emperor of China. Emperor Han, played by Jet Li, is resurrected by an evil Chinese General. The first Emperor then tries to break an ancient curse put upon him by a Witch, Zi Yuan, played by Michelle Yeoh. Emperor Han wants to use his magical powers to bring his army back from the dead to conquer the world. Rick and his wife Evelyn, played by Maria Bello, travel to China to help their son with his Chinese dilemma. The character of Emperor Han is based on Qin Shi Huang of the Qin Dynasty and was the first emperor of China.

The movie was written during 2006 and was written with Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz’s characters in mind, as well as adding the character of their grown up son. Filming was set to begin in 2007. February 2007 saw the casting for the movie begin. It was at this time that the director Rob Cohen was said to have unofficially announced that Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh would be holding starring roles in the film. Official confirmation did not occur until May 2007. Brendan Fraser re-joined the cast in April 2007 but Rachel Weisz did not. Ms Weisz cited problems with the script, as well as just having given birth to her son. The film was shot in Montreal and in China. It was first thought that the movie would be known as Mummy3: Curse of the Dragon, but was in fact The Mummy3: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Luke Ford was cast in the role of Alex O’Connell and during May Maria Bello was cast in the role left by Rachel Weisz. During a news conference held in Shanghai, Maria Bello told reporters that Rob Cohen had created a new Evelyn, a force to be reckoned with showing great skill in martial arts and shooting.