It's been years since we got an update on producer James Wan's planned reboot of MORTAL KOMBAT. In fact, the last time we talked about such things was way the hell back in November of 2016 when we passed along word that award-winning commercial director Simon McQuoid (Halo, Duracell, Samsung, PlayStation, Dr. Pepper, Netflix, and Volkswagen) had been chosen to helm the film, marking his feature directorial debut.
But then that didn't happen.
And the last update we had before that was when Wan let us all know that he and fellow producers Michael Clear, Todd Garner, and Jeremy Stein, along with executive producer Lawrence Kasanoff, were taking their time with its development. That they didn't want to rush it, and wanted to make sure they were taking it in the right direction. And it looks like we're back to that whole thing as today Wan updated Heroic Hollywood.
James Wan on MORTAL KOMBAT:
That has been such a tricky one just trying to get the script to a point. People don’t know this, fans don’t understand this, but there’s just so much on the business side of things… to try and get the right budget for it, and we want to make sure we have enough resources and the budget to do the film right. If I can’t get the right resources and find the right filmmaker for it, I don’t want to do it, and I’m so busy already. I don’t need to clutter my plate with more stuff if I don’t believe it can be done right.
Mortal Kombat is one of the most successful fighting franchises in the history of video games and one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time. Originally developed by Midway Games in 1992, the original game has spawned many sequels and several action films, and television series, comic book series, a card game, and even a live-action tour. Personally, I know the series best by director Paul W.S. Anderson's 1995 adaptation starring Linden Ashby, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Robin Shou, Bridgette Wilson, Talisa Soto, and Christopher Lambert.
Here's that film's synopsis:
Lord Rayden (Christopher Lambert) handpicks three martial artists — federal agent Sonya Blade (Bridgette Wilson), Shaolin monk Lui Kang (Robin Shou) and action movie sensation Johnny Cage (Linden Ashby) — and mentors them. After intense training, Rayden transports the trio to Outworld, the site of an inter-dimensional fighting tournament. There, the three humans must defeat the demonic warriors of the evil Shang Sung (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa) — or allow Sung to take over the Earth.
One way or the other, with all the blockbuster business that MORTAL KOMBAT still does across multiple platforms, it's only a matter of time before the whole shebang gets another big-budget tentpole-style Hollywood adaptation. So that said, are you glad that Wan and his team are taking their sweet time with their version, or would you rather just have more MORTAL KOMBAT movies in your life? Let us know below!