Mortal Kombat 2’s Fate Has Finally Been Decided
After the live-action reboot was a surprise hit, we wondered what was in store for Mortal Kombat 2 and now we know.
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It looks like a sequel to 2021’s Mortal Kombat has been given the go-ahead by New Line Cinema. According to Deadline, Mortal Kombat 2 will see director Simon McQuoid return to direct the sequel after the success of the first film. The film was released simultaneously on HBO Max and in theaters in April, and it was a surprise hit. It managed to hit #1 at the box office and become one of the top feature titles ever on HBO Max.
Mortal Kombat was based on the hyper-violent video game franchise of the same name. Mortal Kombat 2 will be following in its footsteps, presumably introducing more characters and story elements from the popular game series. While Mortal Kombat didn’t really impress critically, with a 54% currently on Rotten Tomatoes, audiences seemed to like it well enough with an 86%. The general consensus seems to be that the fight scenes were well done and lived up to the violence of the video games. Since the Mortal Kombat series is a fighting game franchise, this is obviously the most important element. The story comes second and this seems to be the case with the movies too. In this case, money definitely talks, as the $84.4 million worldwide box office and HBO Max numbers seemed to be enough to convince New Line to move forward with a sequel.
It’ll be interesting to see if Mortal Kombat 2 can build off the goodwill from the first movie. It was one of the first big blockbusters to hit theaters when moviegoers were starting to return after the pandemic. It could be a case of theatergoers just being eager to see any big blockbuster on screen, or it could have enough of a built-in fanbase to bring in the box office bucks. With Mortal Kombat 2 being released in a world where the pandemic isn’t as prevalent, it’s unclear if it will enjoy the same success. It seems unlikely that they would release the sequel on the same day on HBO Max, since many are now fully comfortable returning to theaters and studios don’t have to hedge their bets as much with streaming releases.
2021’s Mortal Kombat was produced by James Wan, Todd Garner, McQuoid, and E. Bennett Walsh. The screenplay was written by Greg Russo and Dave Callaham, from a story by Oren Uziel and Russo. Richard Brener, Dave Neustadter, Victoria Palmeri, Michael Clear, Jeremy Stein, and Larry Kasanoff executive produced. It’s unclear how much of the original team, other than McQuoid, will be back for Mortal Kombat 2. McQuoid made his name directing commercials and working on various video game projects, with Mortal Kombat being his debut feature. It seems like bringing McQuoid back for the sequel seems like a natural choice, especially if fans enjoyed his work on the 2021 film. It seems likely that much of the original cast will return as well, with the ending of the first film keeping things open for a sequel and a continuation of the story. We’ll keep you updated as more news on the project comes out.
