With half-finished visual effects and a stunted production schedule,
even a Sith Lord couldn't revive "Mortal Kombat: Annihilation" in the eyes of moviegoers.
After making a splash in the 1995 "Mortal Kombat," film Linden Ashby and Christopher Lambert both
declined to return for "Annihilation," and were each recast with different actors.
In an interview featured in the 2017 book "Lights, Camera, Game Over!," chronicling
the movie's production, producer Lawrence Kasanoff attributes a scheduling conflict
to Lambert dropping out from "Annihilation." Years after the 1997 film's release, however,
Lambert cited the poor quality of the script for his decision to not return.
"Ha Ha Ha! … Sorry."
Kasanoff also claimed that Johnny Cage was killed early in "Annihilation" to shock the audience,
but Ashby disputes this. In a separate interview in "Lights,
Camera, Game Over!," Ashby claims he was open to reprising his role as Johnny,
but Kasanoff did not want to honor his sequel deal. After seeing the script for
"Annihilation," Ashby also turned down the offer due to the poor quality of writing.
Johnny Cage wasn't the only returning fighter recast for "Annihilation," as J.J. Perry replaced
Chris Casamassa as Scorpion when Casamassa signed on to do stunts in "Batman & Robin" instead. More
than just playing the yellow-clad ninja warrior, Perry also played Noob Saibot and Cyrax in the
film, with each ninja getting their own fights in the movie. Pulling triple duty came at a
painful price for Perry, as the actor and stunt performer injured himself during production.
Perry revealed that the cumbersome mask involved in the Cyrax costume inhibited his vision,
causing Perry to roll his ankle on a power cable. Because of this injury, Perry says
he wasn't at his full physical potential for Scorpion's fight scene against his icy rival,
Sub-Zero. In a 2019 interview with Upcomer.com, Casamassa revealed that
the planned fight sequence between Scorpion and Sub-Zero had originally been designed to
be longer and more ambitious, but may have been shortened after his role was recast.
It wasn't only major cast members who were replaced from the original "Mortal Kombat."
Its director, controversial filmmaker Paul W.S. Anderson ultimately opted not to helm the sequel.
Anderson made a name for himself in the late '90s and early 2000s overseeing films that
were often financially successful, such as genre fare like "Alien vs. Predator." His
decision not to return to "Annihilation" opened up the director's chair to John
R. Leonetti, the cinematographer from the first "Mortal Kombat."
Though Anderson maintains his vocal respect for Kasanoff, in an interview in "Lights,
Camera, Game Over!," he described his dynamic with
the producer as less than smooth during "Mortal Kombat"'s production. However,
he voiced his support in having Leonetti promoted to director for "Annihilation."
Whereas the 1995 "Mortal Kombat" was filmed in California and Thailand,
"Annihilation" was more ambitious, with production traveling to a higher number of
countries for filming locations during principal photography. In a 1997 interview with GamePro,
Lawrence Kasanoff promised the film would be bigger in scope and action than its predecessor.
This meant there would be more scenes set within the parallel universe of Outworld,
filmed in more exotic locations to create an otherworldly aesthetic to the proceedings.
"Your planet and our world have begun to merge into one realm. Think of it as hell on earth."
Aside from Thailand, "Annihilation" also shot scenes on location in Israel, Jordan,
and the United Kingdom, with shooting in the latter location including the abandoned copper
mine Parys Mountain. In a 1997 interview timed to coincide with the film's release, Kasanoff
explained that wet, windy weather conditions at the copper mine had hampered filming. In
one instance, the winds picked up so dramatically that the production's base camp was blown away.
One of the few actors from the 1995 "Mortal Kombat" film to return for
"Annihilation" was Robin Shou, reprising his fan-favorite role as master martial artist
Liu Kang. While Shou performed many of his own fight scenes,
he did have a stunt performer double for certain aspects of his performance.
Doubling for Shou in "Annihilation" was Thai actor and stunt choreographer Tony Jaa,
who would go on to have his own celebrated career as a martial arts movie star.
Jaa became known to international audiences after starring in the 2003 martial arts film "Ong-Bak:
The Thai Warrior," and he's since gone on to appear in "Furious 7"
and "Monster Hunter." Though Jaa had done stunt work in local Thai films,
"Annihilation" provided him a major stepping stone, with Jaa recalling
years later his good fortune in fitting Shou's physical size and fighting style.
Like Tony Jaa, prolific stunt performer Ray Park similarly rose from nameless
background performer to beloved genre star shortly after his work in "Mortal Kombat."
Park had one of his first on-camera experiences in "Annihilation," and like Perry, he took on
multiple roles to do so. Most notably, the Scottish stuntman doubled for James
Remar as Raiden in various sequences. Park also doubled for Dennis Keifer as Baraka,
and appeared as one of the monstrous Outworld Reptile ninjas that menace the heroes.
Park broke out in 1999, appearing as both Darth Maul in "Star Wars:
Episode I — The Phantom Menace" and as the Headless Horseman in Tim Burton's "Sleepy
Hollow." Park's first major on-screen speaking role was in 2000's "X-Men," playing the acrobatic
mutant supervillain Toad, and he went on to play Snake Eyes in the early "G.I. Joe" films.
Park has since navigated some controversies, but during a panel appearance at Salt Lake City
Comic-Con in 2013, he credited "Mortal Kombat: Annihilation" for jump-starting his career,
and expressed interest in returning to the franchise if ever invited.
Chris Conrad replaced Linden Ashby in the role of Johnny Cage in "Annihilation". Audiences
didn't have long to get accustomed to Conrad in the role, however, as Johnny is brutally
killed by Shao Kahn in the opening scene. As Conrad recalled to Killerfilm.com in 2011,
"Yep, got my neck broke in record time. I told people when it came out to 'get your
popcorn and Rasinets after the first 10 minutes, so you don't miss me!'"
But despite this quick, unceremonious dispatching of the beloved character,
tentative plans at the time were to have Johnny return later in the film as a ghost. Evidently,
that's not how things played out in the film's production.
There were plans by Kasanoff to continue the film series
with a sequel to "Annihilation," tentatively named "Mortal Kombat: Devastation." However,
the poor critical and commercial reception of "Annihilation" quietly led to the project
being delayed for years. In the early 2000s pre-production picked up again, with both
Shou and Ashby saying in interviews at the time that the film was planning to go into production.
After a planned filming location in Louisiana was impacted by Hurricane
Katrina and Kasanoff unsuccessfully sued to stop the sale of Midway Games
and the "Mortal Kombat" license to Warner Bros., "Devastation" was shelved for good.
Though Kasanoff envisioned "Annihilation" going bigger and better than its predecessor,
a tight production budget and rushed schedule complicated matters. This led
to significant sequences that were written for the film being reduced or cut entirely.
In an interview for "Lights, Camera, Game Over!", co-writer Brent V. Friedman recalled
that budget limitations lead to major cuts from the final screenplay, saying,
Looking back on the disastrous critical reception and box office drop-off for the
"Mortal Kombat" sequel, Kasanoff cites a rushed production schedule as the primary culprit.
In "Lights, Camera, Game Over!", Kasanoff said he should have insisted the studio
wait at least six more months before launching into Annihilation's production. Unfortunately,
the breakneck schedule they opted for resulted in truncated development and post-production
cycles. It also required additional material to be filmed to make things more coherent.
Kasanoff revealed that they had no time for reshoots to resolve any plot holes
if they were to meet the studio's all-important deadline. Looking back, Kasanoff explained that he
would've liked an additional week in Thailand and Jordan, along with several weeks of studio time,
to undergo reshoots after reviewing a rough cut. However, like the issues
with the post-production cycle, these hopes were dashed in order to reach the unyielding deadline.
The post-production team for "Annihilation" was
spread all over the globe, but despite the production's global talent reach,
the visual effects were still not completed in time to meet the studio's release date.
This failure to meet the anticipated deadline did not deter the studio from proceeding with
the movie's theatrical release, much to Kasanoff's chagrin. In "Lights, Camera,
Game Over!", Kasanoff admits that the visual effects in "Annihilation" remain unfinished
to this day, with the studio deeming them, quote, "good enough" at the time.
"...Pretty cool huh?"
With expectations riding high for "Annihilation" to meet its November
1997 release date, the studio estimated the unfinished film would make better
business releasing on time than delaying the premiere to complete its effects.
Though Lambert did not reprise his role as Raiden for "Annihilation," the actor
was considered to return to the franchise for a canceled follow-up. In an August 2016
interview with Loaded, Lambert revealed he had read a script for a proposed third film and,
in contrast to "Annihilation," he enjoyed the planned sequel's screenplay,
though it's unclear if the script that Lambert read was the same one seen by Shou or Ashby.
According to Lambert, the next "Mortal Kombat" film would've bent the rules of space and time,
with fighters traveling through time to totally different locations in the midst of battle. The
planned film may have been part of New Line's attempts to revive the franchise, as a reboot
was announced in 2011 with Kevin Tancharoen attached to direct. In November 2016, Simon
McQuoid was hired to helm what would eventually become the 2021 "Mortal Kombat" reboot, discarding
any plans for a sequel to "Annihilation," along with Lambert's potential return.
After directing the 1995 "Mortal Kombat," Paul W.S. Anderson would
go on to helm different video game film adaptations, including "Resident
Evil" and "Monster Hunter." Anderson was appalled at how the cinematic world he had
helped introduce in the first "Mortal Kombat" was diminished by its sequel.
This observation would affect how Anderson approached his management of the "Resident
Evil" franchise, with the filmmaker intent on taking a more hands-on role
to ensure a consistent level of quality. In "Lights, Camera, Game Over!," he shared,
"Mother - you're alive!"
"Too bad YOU… will die!"
Anderson produced and wrote every installment of the "Resident Evil" series,
and directed four of the movies. He has credited at least some of
this grand design to the knowledge of what "Kombat" became, saying,
The original "Mortal Kombat" video game was created by Ed Boon and John Tobias,
with Boon remaining alongside the franchise throughout its lengthy history. Boon has
voiced the character Scorpion since the 1991 game, reprising his voiceover role as the masked ninja
warrior for both the 1995 film and "Annihilation." Despite voicing the character in "Annihilation,"
Boon regards the 1997 film as the franchise's lowest point, a stance shared by Tobias.
In a 2012 interview for Complex looking back on the entire history and legacy of
the "Mortal Kombat" franchise, Boon kept his analysis succinct, saying he was not a
fan of "Annihilation." Tobias, meanwhile, is credited as a contributing co-writer to the
story of "Annihilation," along with Kasanoff and Joshua Wexler. Friedman and Bryce Zabel,
are credited for the screenplay. In an online Q & A, Tobias similarly listed "Annihilation"
as his least favorite "Mortal Kombat" memory, and recalled seeing rough cuts
of the film during production that drove home a sharp drop in cinematic quality.