Mortal Kombat (2021 film)

Mortal Kombat is an upcoming 2021 American martial-arts fantasy action film directed by Simon McQuoid (in his feature directorial debut) from a screenplay by Greg Russo and Dave Callaham and a story by Oren Uziel and Russo.[1] It is based on the video game franchise of the same name created by Ed Boon and John Tobias, and serves as a reboot to the Mortal Kombat film series following the critical and commercial failure of the 1997 film Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, which languished a third film in development hell for a period of nearly two decades.

Mortal Kombat
Official logo
Directed bySimon McQuoid
Produced by
Screenplay by
Story by
  • Oren Uziel
  • Greg Russo
Based onMortal Kombat
by Ed Boon & John Tobias
Starring
Music byBenjamin Wallfisch
CinematographyGermain McMicking
Edited byScott Gray
Production
companies
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
Release date
  • January 15, 2021 (2021-01-15) (United States)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Mortal Kombat will be released in the United States on January 15, 2021, by Warner Bros. Pictures.[2]

Cast

Additionally, Lewis Tan and Matilda Kimber will appear in undisclosed roles.[6][7] Johnny Cage will also appear but the identity of his actor has yet to be confirmed.[8]

Production

Development
James Wan (pictured in 2018) serves as producer for the reboot.

In 2010, director Kevin Tancharoen released an eight-minute short film titled Mortal Kombat: Rebirth,[9] made as a pitch to Warner Bros. Pictures of a reboot of the Mortal Kombat film franchise.[10] In September 2011, New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. announced that Tancharoen was hired to direct a new feature-length film from a screenplay by Mortal Kombat: Rebirth writer Oren Uziel,[11] with the intention of aiming for an R rating.[12] Shooting was expected to begin in March 2012 with a budget projected at between $40–50 million[13] and a release date of 2013.[14][15] However, the project was ultimately delayed due to budget constraints, and Tancharoen began working on the second season of the web series Mortal Kombat: Legacy until problems with the film had been sorted out, but he quit the film production in October 2013.[16]

James Wan signed on as the film's producer in August 2015.[17] Simon McQuoid was hired as director in November 2016, marking his feature directorial debut, with Greg Russo writing the script.[18][19] Russo tweeted in February 2019 that the film's script was complete.[19] In May 2019, it was announced that the film had entered pre-production and would be shot in South Australia,[20] with a release date of March 5, 2021.[21] Russo tweeted in July 2019 that the film would indeed have an R rating and that the games' Fatalities would "finally be on the big screen".[22]

Casting

Joe Taslim was the first actor cast for the production in July 2019, as Sub-Zero.[23][24] In August, Mehcad Brooks, Tadanobu Asano, Sisi Stringer, and Ludi Lin were cast in the roles of Jax, Raiden, Mileena, and Liu Kang respectively.[25] Later that month, Josh Lawson, Jessica McNamee, Chin Han and Hiroyuki Sanada were cast as Kano, Sonya Blade, Shang Tsung and Scorpion respectively, with Lewis Tan in an undisclosed role.[6][26] On September 16, 2019, it was announced that Max Huang had been cast as Kung Lao.[4] Elissa Cadwell was announced as having been cast as Nitara on November 11, 2019.[3] Matilda Kimber was cast in an undisclosed role on December 4, 2019.[27]

Filming

Production took place at Adelaide Studios and other locations in South Australia.[28] Shooting commenced from September 16, 2019 to December 13.[29]

Music

Benjamin Wallfisch will compose the film's score.[30]

Release

The film was originally going to be released on March 5, 2021, but was moved up to January 15, 2021.[2]

References
  1. "Mortal Kombat (Reboot) - WGA Directory". findawriter.wgaeast.org. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  2. Haring, Bruce. "'Mortal Kombat' Release Date Moved Up To Midwinter 2021 – Update". Deadline. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  3. "Mortal Kombat Reboot Reveals New Character and Casting". WWG. Retrieved 2019-11-11.
  4. Perry, Spencer (September 16, 2019). "Production Begins on New Mortal Kombat Movie". ComingSoon.Net. Retrieved September 16, 2019.
  5. Russo, Greg [@WriterRusso] (July 9, 2019). "Bi Han" (Tweet). Retrieved December 17, 2019 – via Twitter.
  6. Galuppo, Mia (August 26, 2019). "'Mortal Kombat' Movie Finds Its Sonya Blade, Kano (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 26, 2019.
  7. "Young Matilda Kimber Added to the Cast of the Mortal Kombat Movie". Cog Connected. 2019-12-06. Retrieved 2019-12-07.
  9. Fahey, Mike (June 8, 2010). "If This Is The Next Mortal Kombat, Sign Us Up (Update)". Kotaku. Archived from the original on June 11, 2010. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  10. Ryan, Jeri [@JeriLRyan] (June 8, 2010). "It's not a game trailer. Actually was made for the director to sell WB on his vision for a reimagined MK film" (Tweet). Archived from the original on July 17, 2011. Retrieved January 20, 2011 – via Twitter.
  11. Lesnick, Silas (September 29, 2011). "New Line to Reboot Mortal Kombat". ComingSoon.net. Archived from the original on May 16, 2014. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  12. Staskiewicz, Keith (September 29, 2011). "New 'Mortal Kombat' movie 'needs to feel brutal,' says director". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on October 1, 2011. Retrieved September 30, 2011.
  13. Karmali, Luke (November 11, 2012). "Warner Bros Confirms Mortal Kombat Movie Reboot". IGN. Retrieved December 10, 2014.
  14. Fritz, Ben (September 30, 2011). "'Glee' director prepares for 'Mortal Kombat' film". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on October 1, 2011. Retrieved October 1, 2011.
  15. Fritz, Ben (September 29, 2011). "New 'Mortal Kombat' movie coming via partnership of Warner units". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on July 17, 2012. Retrieved September 30, 2011.
  16. Tancharoen, Kevin [@KTANCH] (October 25, 2013). "After 3 years of Kombat, I've decided to move on to other creative opportunities. I wish everyone involved in the movie big success. Thanks!"" (Tweet). Archived from the original on February 8, 2015. Retrieved July 29, 2019 – via Twitter.
  17. Lesnick, Silas (August 7, 2015). "Mortal Kombat Movie: James Wan to Produce". ComingSoon.net. Archived from the original on August 9, 2015. Retrieved August 7, 2015.
  18. Kroll, Justin (November 18, 2016). "'Mortal Kombat' Reboot Finds Director in Simon McQuoid (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on November 19, 2016. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  19. Russo, Greg [@WriterRusso] (February 3, 2019). "Who's getting excited? I know I am. #MK #MortalKombat" (Tweet). Retrieved March 5, 2019 – via Twitter.
  20. Collis, Clark (May 14, 2019). "James Wan-produced Mortal Kombat movie to shoot later this year". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on May 18, 2019. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  21. McNary, Dave (May 17, 2019). "New 'Mortal Kombat' Movie to Hit Theaters in 2021". Variety. Archived from the original on May 18, 2019. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  22. Russo, Greg [@WriterRusso] (July 12, 2019). "Since it's already been stated by other members of the team, I'm gonna put this one to bed. MK WILL be R-Rated and for the first time EVER, FATALITIES will FINALLY be on the big screen (and no I'm not gonna say which ones) You'll just have to wait for the movie & see!!! ;)" (Tweet). Retrieved August 18, 2019 – via Twitter.
  23. McNary, Dave (July 9, 2019). "'The Raid's' Joe Taslim to Star in 'Mortal Kombat' for New Line". Variety. Archived from the original on July 10, 2019. Retrieved July 17, 2019.
  24. Russo, Greg (July 9, 2019). "Bi-Han".
  25. Kit, Borys; Galuppo, Mia (August 16, 2019). "'Mortal Kombat' Movie Adds Fistful of Fighters (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on August 16, 2019. Retrieved August 16, 2019.
  26. Kroll, Justin (August 27, 2019). "'Mortal Kombat' Reboot Finds Its Shang Tsung and Scorpion (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
  27. "Mysterious New Mortal Kombat Reboot Role Revealed". GAMING.
  28. Marc, Christopher (September 15, 2019). "The New 'Mortal Kombat' Movie Has Begun Production". HN Entertainment. Retrieved September 16, 2019.
  29. Smith, Andrew (December 13, 2019). "Mortal Kombat Movie Wraps Filming: See the Cast's Reactions". IGN. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
  30. Fischer, Tyler. "Mortal Kombat Reboot Award-Winning Composer Revealed". Comic Book. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
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