Warner Bros.’ decision to release all of its major movies of 2021 on HBO Max on the same day that they hit theaters turned out to not be the best business move, but keep in mind, at the beginning of 2021, we were still in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic and Warner Bros. wasn’t sure when or if movie theaters would reopen. And it seemed like a good idea to leverage these major releases to draw more subscribers to its new streaming service, considering how competitive that field was becoming.
But as it turned out, all this did was crush any hopes of these movies making any money at the box office. But even with the wounded theatrical runs, some movies drew a lot of attention and fans still embraced them. Of course, there was the critical darling Dune, but more lightweight fare also did well enough including Godzilla Vs. Kong and Mortal Kombat. The Godzilla saga will be continued in a new TV series (although the franchise, controlled by Legendary, is moving over to Apple TV+, reportedly because Legendary is miffed about the HBO Max release dictated by Warner Bros.). Now it is confirmed that Mortal Kombat is getting a sequel.
Jeremy Slater, the head writer of Disney+’s much-anticipated new series Moon Knight, has been tapped to write the sequel and broke the news on Twitter:
Beyond excited to be joining this team! We’re building something bigger and better and bloodier that’s going to blow people’s minds. https://t.co/ErVtmcvckH
— Jeremy Slater (@jerslater) January 26, 2022
Mortal Kombat was directed by first-time helmer Simon McQuoid. It was, of course, based on the long-running video game series from Midway Games and rebooted the film franchise that first began in 1995.
Lewis Tan headed up the cast as Cole Young, with Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade, Josh Lawson as Kano, Mehcad Brooks as Jax Briggs, Ludi Lin as Liu Kang, Max Huang as Kung Lao, Tadanobu Asano as Lord Raiden, Chin Han as Shang Tsung, Joe Taslim as Bi-Han/Sub-Zero, Hiroyuki Sanada as Hanzo Hasashi/Scorpion, Matilda Kimber as Emily Young, Laura Brent as Allison Young, Sisi Stringer as Mileena, Mel Jarnson as Nitara, and Nathan Jones as Reiko.
Many were upset that the first film did not actually depict the lethal martial arts tournament which is the entire basis of the game series. Instead, the champions, Cole Young, Sonya Blade, Jax Briggs, Liu Kang, and the rest, find themselves fighting for their lives against the forces of Shang Tsung, who attempted to kill them off before the tournament could even begin.
The end of the movie sets up the introduction of the popular character Johnny Cage. Fans are clamoring for Ryan Reynolds to take the role, to which I say, FAT CHANCE.
Tan, McNamee, and Brooks have also tweeted about Mortal Kombat 2, indicating their intentions to return, although reportedly none of the cast has yet been signed on.
Producer Todd Garner also tweeted:
“Love my MK family. Thank you for being patient. We are working hard to ensure it was worth the wait.”
Did you enjoy Mortal Kombat? Are you looking forward to a sequel that will hopefully depict the tournament?
