Rachel Weisz [smartly] not doing Mummy 3

Rachel Weisz, who I consider to be a pretty good, talented and likable actor, has made the wise decision to not join The Mummy 3 (whatever it will be called). The Mummy Returns was one God-awful movie, and there's a possibility that this third film will be just as bad.

According to Variety, Maria Bello will replace her to join Brendan Fraser, Luke Ford, Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh. The movie, to be released in the summer of 2008, will be directed by Rob Cohen.

Written by Smallville creators Miles Millar and Alfred Gough, The Mummy 3 brings the O'Connells and their full-grown son (Ford) to the forbidden tombs of China and the Himalayas, where they battle a shape-shifting mummy, a former Chinese emperor (Li) cursed by a wizard (Yeoh). Bello will play Evelyn Carnahan O'Connell, the character played in the first two films by Weisz.

Now the question is: why, Maria, why?