The main theme music to the opening credits is the same movement from Swan Lake used to open Dracula (1931).
Unlike the other Universal classic monsters, the other Mummy movies have no direct relation to this one. The other films feature a different mummy, named Kharis, who is resurrected by tana leaves to be controlled by a modern person (similar to a voodoo zombie). The Mummy's Hand (1940) reuses footage from this film, but changes Imhotep to Kharis. It was Kharis who would appear in the other Universal and Hammer films. Imhotep wouldn't reappear in theaters until The Mummy (1999).
As of 2022, the film's poster is in the Top 5 for the most money paid for a movie poster at auction: $435,500. The leader is a poster for Metropolis (1927) at $690,000; Dracula (1931) is next at $525,800, followed by London After Midnight (1927) and Casablanca (1942), both at $478,000, with this film in 5th place.
Throughout the film's production, there was great tension between Zita Johann and director Karl Freund, who disliked each other immensely. According to Johann, on the first day of filming Freund attempted to portray her to the producers as a temperamental actress who was very hard to work with.
The discovery of Pharaoh Tutankahmen's tomb and the alleged curse it contained inspired Universal to make this film. In fact, when Howard Carter (funded by Lord Carnarvon) opened the sarcophagus of King Tut in 1925, screenwriter John L. Balderston was present as a reporter for the New York "World".