In 1999, Weisz played Greta in the historical film "Sunshine". The same year, her international breakthrough came with the 1999 adventure film "The Mummy", in which she played the female lead opposite Brendan Fraser. Her character, Evelyn Carnahan, is an English Egyptologist, who undertook an expedition to the fictional ancient Egyptian city of Hamunaptra to discover an ancient book. "Variety" criticised the direction of the film, writing: "(the actors) have been directed to broad, undisciplined performances [...] Buffoonery hardly seems like Weisz's natural domain, as the actress strains for comic effects that she can't achieve". She followed this up with the sequel "The Mummy Returns" in 2001, which grossed an estimated $433 million worldwide, (equivalent to $ million in dollars) higher than the original's $260 million (equal to $ million in dollars).