SUBMITTED BY Nicole

May 2, 2001 —

The New York Daily News talked with the writer/director of "The Mummy Returns" and here's what he had to say:

I had no idea the first movie was going to be a hit. All I keep thinking is, 'Let's not screw up this time.'

My peers grew up on music videos, I grew up on Errol Flynn swashbucklers and Howard Hawks. But the best special effects are in movies like [Ray Harryhausen's] 'Jason and the Argonauts.'(Cool movie alert! 'Jason' is a must see. One of my personal favorites.)

With sequels, the biggest mistake is to sacrifice the story. We thought, why not do the opposite? Why not make the basis of the movie that these characters are married and in love? At first, the studio said, 'How can that be romantic?' And I thought, 'Boy, are you guys jaded. Didn't you ever see "The Thin Man"?'"

"The Mummy Returns" is in theatres May 4th.