Mortal Kombat Writer Directing Another Beloved Video Game Movie?
Mortal Kombat might be the first step to another video game adaptation.
This article is more than 2 years old
Writer Greg Russo, credited with the success of 2021’s cinematic installment in the Mortal Kombat franchise, just teased another big-screen video game adaptation on his Twitter. Though Russo didn’t disclose any further details, apart from saying that it’s one of the greatest FPS games of all time, the rumor mill started turning, and fans immediately started trying to guess the adaptation, somewhat demanding the titles they wanted to see on the big screen. But what is this game Russo’s talking about?
Russo posted a tweet on June 12th, stating his excitement regarding the closure of a deal to adapt one of the greatest FPS games of all time. But this time, the Mortal Kombat writer isn’t in charge of just writing the cinematic adaptation but also gets to direct it – much to his obvious excitement. Though he didn’t reveal the gaming title in question, his tweet promises more “details coming real soon.” This started an avalanche in the comment section, with Twitter’s gaming community trying to guess the adaptation in question, including titles like Halo, Turok, Half-Life, and Call of Duty.
Having written only 2021’s Mortal Kombat, Ruso is still fresh on the scene, and securing a deal in which he’s granted more creative freedom is a big step, hopefully in the right direction. In the end, Mortal Kombat was a success, which set up a sequel that’s currently in development at Warner Bros, so why wouldn’t he be granted more creative freedom in a cinematic adaptation of a video game title.
Well, when it comes to live-action video game adaptations, they certainly have the potential to perform well at the box office. Just look at 2020’s Sonic the Hedgehog, which is also getting a sequel. Judging by those success stories, adapting a video game into a movie seems like a breeze. Unfortunately, video game adaptations are often subject to what the critics call “the video game adaptation curse” regarding a relatively lousy performance of said adaptation – starting with 1993’s Super Mario Bros. movie. However, Russo’s Mortal Kombat, and Letterman’s Pokémon Detective Pikachu, starring Ryan Reynolds, obviously didn’t suffer from such “curses.”
As far as the speculated titles go, a television adaptation of Halo is currently in development at Paramount+; Half-Life’s cousin, Portal, is still stuck in development limbo, there’s no Call of Duty adaptation in active development at the moment, and Duck Hunt isn’t likely to receive a television adaptation any time soon. Turok makes a sensible choice, given the sheer popularity of the title among the ‘90s youth, but the Mortal Kombat writer already reminisced about an adaptation that failed due to the right issues surrounding the Turok IP. For those unfamiliar with Turok, think of a first-person shooter set in a more bad-ass version of Jurassic Park.
It’s worth noting that the deal Russo speaks, or rather tweets about, is still to be finalized, so take this information with a pinch of salt. We would still like to see Turok on the big screen, but until Mortal Kombat writer Greg Russo discloses more information, everything else is just speculation.
