From correspondents in Delhi, India, 03:32 PM IST

After awakening mummies in Egyptian cities in the hit movie series 'The Mummy' and 'The Mummy Returns', the action shifts to Asia in its third instalment.

Titled 'The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor', it is releasing August 1.

While the first two parts were directed by Stephen Sommers, Rob Cohen helms part three. In this, protagonist Rick' O'Connell, played by Canadian-American actor Brendan Fraser, returns as the explorer and combats a resurrected Chinese Emperor (Jet Li) in an epic that races from the catacombs of ancient China, high into the frigid Himalayas.

While in the last movie, Rick's son Alex was a juvenile, in his film, he is shown as a grown up man. He will join his father, mother Evelyn (Maria Bello) and uncle Jonathan (John Hannah) in the action. Newcomer Luke Ford essays Alex's role.

The film shows how Alex is tricked into awakening China's ruthless Dragon Emperor and his 10,000 warriors who lay forgotten for eons, entombed in clay as silent terra cotta army doomed by a double-crossing sorceress Zi Yuan, portrayed by martial arts expert Michelle Yeoh, to spend eternity in suspended animation.

Alex accidentally awakens the ruler from eternal slumber and he seeks his parents' help to undo his folly. Their mission is to shield the world from the wrath of the mummy as it threatens to plunge the world into his merciless, unending service.

Sommers, who directed the two preceding movies, has now taken over as one of the producers.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)