Mortal Kombat: R-rating will be pushed to the limit

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

As most people know, the Mortal Kombat video-game franchise is positively blood-filled, and everything we've seen from the upcoming Mortal Kombat movie points to the creative team thankfully embracing the blood and guts origins of the franchise. While speaking with SFX Magazine, Mortal Kombat director Simon McQuoid said that the film will be pushing its R-rating to the limit.

"We wanted to push the [blood, gore and fatalities] right to the limit," McQuoid said, but he added that there's obviously a "point where the film becomes unreleasable if you push it too far, and that would be a very unwise return on investment for the studio. But from day one it’s been, ‘Okay, we’re doing this and we’re going to do it properly.’" With some characters having their beating hearts ripped out of their chests and others getting stabbed by knives made of their own frozen blood, I would imagine that Mortal Kombat fans won't have anything to worry about. If you're still hungry for more Mortal Kombat goodness, be sure to check out our own Steve Seigh's 50 Things to Know about Mortal Kombat, as well as his on-set interviews with the cast and crew.

The official synopsis for Mortal Kombat:

In “Mortal Kombat,” MMA fighter Cole Young, accustomed to taking a beating for money, is unaware of his heritage—or why Outworld’s Emperor Shang Tsung has sent his best warrior, Sub-Zero, an otherworldly Cryomancer, to hunt Cole down. Fearing for his family’s safety, Cole goes in search of Sonya Blade at the direction of Jax, a Special Forces Major who bears the same strange dragon marking Cole was born with. Soon, he finds himself at the temple of Lord Raiden, an Elder God and the protector of Earthrealm, who grants sanctuary to those who bear the mark. Here, Cole trains with experienced warriors Liu Kang, Kung Lao and rogue mercenary Kano, as he prepares to stand with Earth’s greatest champions against the enemies of Outworld in a high stakes battle for the universe. But will Cole be pushed hard enough to unlock his arcana—the immense power from within his soul—in time to save not only his family, but to stop Outworld once and for all?

Mortal Kombat will debut in theaters and on HBO Max on April 16, 2021.