2021's "Mortal Kombat" had a long road to production, but bankruptcies, a change in
crew, and even a global pandemic couldn't stop the film from coming out.
From its gory, R-rated content to its unique director, this is everything you need to know
about the new movie.
Every big-name property is getting adapted into a major Hollywood blockbuster these days.
Even video game movies, long seen as guaranteed box office bombs, are starting to deliver
hits like "Sonic the Hedgehog."
Given this phenomenon, it's easy to figure out where the 2021 reboot of "Mortal Kombat"
came from.
If a film adaptation of this video game could deliver robust box office returns back in
1995, surely an adaptation more faithful to the source material, buoyed by decades of
nostalgia, could score an even bigger haul.
Believe it or not, the original "Mortal Kombat" movies weren't supposed to end with "Mortal
Kombat: Annihilation."
Initially, there were plans for this take on the "Mortal Kombat" mythos to span three
whole movies.
However, it never got off the ground, with modern-day speculation indicating that this
was due to lackluster box office grosses and derisive fan response to "Annihilation."
Though there haven't been reports of a script developed for this mythical third "Mortal
Kombat" movie, Threshold Entertainment tried to build up hype for it on occasion.
However, progress was nonexistent on this production, which left the franchise dormant
for decades.
Fans of the original "Mortal Kombat" movies were understandably disappointed with this
outcome, and the original movie's cult following suggests there could have been a sizable audience
for further adventures in this interpretation of the universe.
However, there's a silver lining to every stormy cloud: The absence of an "Annihilation"
follow-up did help pave the way for the modern-day reboot of the "Mortal Kombat" series.
"Welcome.
You're here to compete in Mortal Kombat."
For decades, Warner Bros. has owned everything from DC Comics to the pre-1986 library of
MGM movies.
But in 2009, the company added another major roster of famous titles and characters to
their library of projects when they bought the intellectual properties of Midway Games.
This was the outfit responsible for seminal video games ranging from "Rampage" to "Mortal
Kombat."
Despite leaving a massive impact on the world of video games, the company faced extreme
financial pressure in the modern world.
After some uncertainty over where they'd land, Midway Games, and the entire "Mortal Kombat"
franchise, wound up at Warner Bros., with the company paying just $33 million to indefinitely
own these iconic games.
It's a fitting home for the franchise, given that the studio had, at the time, recently
absorbed New Line Cinema.
Among that movie studio's dense library of titles are the two 1990s "Mortal Kombat" movies.
Having already assimilated the "Mortal Kombat" films, Warner Bros. now controls the entire
"Mortal Kombat" franchise.
In the summer of 2010, interest in seeing a new cinematic take on "Mortal Kombat" was
reignited by the release of a fan film entitled "Mortal Kombat: Rebirth."
The project is the brainchild of director Kevin Tancharoen, who was suddenly on everyone's
mind as a potential director for a new "Mortal Kombat" movie.
Turns out, Tancharoen was also thinking the same thing: "Rebirth" was meant to be a test
film to show Warner Bros. what his "Mortal Kombat" movie could look like.
Tancharoen was hired in 2011 to officially tackle a "Mortal Kombat" reboot.
It was a big move for the filmmaker, whose feature-length directorial efforts up to that
point were "Fame" and "Glee: The 3D Concert Movie."
With initial reports claiming that filming would start in 2012, it looked like "Mortal
Kombat" was going full-steam ahead.
However, this new take on "Mortal Kombat" kept getting pushed into the future.
Eventually, Tancharoen left the production in 2013.
This left the "Mortal Kombat" reboot without a director for a whopping three years.
James Wan and Warner Bros. have developed a close relationship over the years, which
led to Wan signing on to produce a new "Mortal Kombat" film in August 2015, just months after
directing the Universal blockbuster "Furious 7."
The timing of this deal doesn't just reflect Wan's close ties to Warner Bros. — it also
signals the trajectory of his career.
"Furious 7" was a runaway success, proving Wan could expand beyond the horror genre.
He was also now someone associated with properly handling big-budget action movies belonging
to well-established franchises.
Wan stayed onboard this version of "Mortal Kombat" as a producer during its six years
of production, while directing other films for Warner Bros. including "Aquaman" and "Malignant."
You may not realize it, but you've likely been exposed to director Simon McQuoid's work.
Having helmed countless commercials, including a memorable Duracell "Star Wars" ad, McQuoid's
visually-distinct oeuvre has been seen all over the world.
But after years in this field, McQuoid was looking to move from directing advertisements
to helming feature-length projects.
That opportunity came when he was picked to direct the "Mortal Kombat" reboot.
McQuoid's aforementioned "Star Wars" commercial was apparently the project that put him on
the producers' radar.
In terms of his "Mortal Kombat" approach, McQuoid explained to Comicbook.com in 2021
that,
"everything has to feel authentic ... It doesn't feel like there's that veneer of sort of special
effects over everything.
That for me is the ultimate sort of fantasy of science fiction films is when you really
believe."
After Simon McQuoid was brought on board, news on the "Mortal Kombat" movie was quiet
for years.
However, in July 2019, exciting developments finally began to creep in as the film's cast
was assembled.
Joe Taslim was the first cast member announced, followed by names like Mehcad Brooks and Tadanobu
Asano.
From there, the cast kept growing, and a project once shrouded in silence began to trumpet
its bold new actors.
Lewis Tan, who had previously been a contender to play Marvel heroes Iron Fist and Shang-Chi,
became one of the rare members of the cast not playing someone familiar to longtime fans
of the franchise.
Tan portrays an original character named Cole Young, who serves as the film's protagonist.
When it came time to actually shoot the new "Mortal Kombat" movie, director Simon McQuoid
and James Wan opted to shoot the project in a territory familiar to both of them: Their
native Australia.
When filming began in September 2019, it was revealed that the production was engaging
in principal photography in South Australia's Adelaide Studios.
As Adelaide has largely been a shooting location for local Australian fare, "Mortal Kombat"
provided a big-budget departure from the norm.
Shooting in this location had a number of benefits for the "Mortal Kombat" reboot.
For one thing, it brought the production close to home for some of the movie's leading actors.
Additionally, it helped to further separate this new reboot from the pair of 1990s "Mortal
Kombat" films.
The pair of live-action "Mortal Kombat" movies from the 1990s deliver stories that firmly
fit within the parameters of PG-13 filmmaking.
While this allows each film to attract teenage audiences, it also means that the gruesome
violence that defines "Mortal Kombat" is almost totally absent.
Over the years, this became a bit of a punchline in discussions of the original two films,
as fans grappled with the quandary of how something so crucial to the games could be
excluded.
When it came time for a reboot, fans around the world hoped for something more accurate.
These fans got their wish, as the new "Mortal Kombat" movie is indeed rated R. It's a rating
that director Simon McQuoid was insistent upon when developing the feature.
In fact, McQuoid explained to "Cinemablend,"
"The rules around [MPAA] ratings aren't what a lot of people think they are.
It's amount of blood, it's amount of red, it's interpretation of how you go about it.
We had a lot of discussions about getting the balance right so there was gore and there
was blood and there were fatalities.
And there is gore, blood, and fatalities."
Keeping all of that "red" at the center of this new movie resulted in an MPAA rating
that promises all the gruesome carnage fans of this franchise are familiar with.
"Mortal Kombat" wrapped up shooting just before the end of 2019.
The film initially had plenty of time between the end of shooting and its original January
2021 release date.
However, this schedule was put together under normal circumstances.
As "Mortal Kombat" entered post-production in 2020, normal circumstances were soon hard
to come by.
By March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had totally upended the entertainment industry.
"Mortal Kombat" was no exception: While principal photography was finished, reshoots had yet
to be completed when the pandemic took hold.
This was revealed in a tweet from "Mortal Kombat" producer Todd Garner, who divulged
details on the hold-up:
"We'd always planned for it & thought we'd do it in March.
The pandemic had other plans.
We won't have a release date for the movie until theaters re-open.
Same for trailer."
The pandemic clearly had adverse effects on the production of "Mortal Kombat."
However, the overall impact would turn out to be minimal, at least compared to other
movies.
"Mortal Kombat" managed to come out just three months after its original release date, which
indicates the production was able to resolve issues in a timely manner.
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