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Tag: Mortal Kombat 2

  • ‘Mortal Kombat 2’ Finds its Shao Kahn as Many Familiar Faces Return

    ‘Mortal Kombat 2’ Finds its Shao Kahn as Many Familiar Faces Return

    It looks like the sequel to 2021’s Mortal Kombat has been quite busy casting throughout the last few months, as they are unveiling a slew of new characters joining the upcoming sequel. Surprisingly, we also finally have some news on who is set to return from the first film, which was surprisingly kept quiet up until this point even with the massive cast that the film had. Let’s kick it off with the big additions with some familiar names.

    We already know that Karl Urban, Tati Gabrielle, and Adeline Rudolph have joined the cast. Now, we’ve also learned that Martyn Ford will play the one and only Shao Kahn. Desmond Chiam will take on the role of Kiong Jerrod. while Ana Thu Nguyen and Damon Herriman are playing Sindel and Quan Chi respectively. It looks like we’re about to see many more faces from beyond the Earthrealm in the upcoming sequel.

    They are joining an already massive cast with Lewis Tan’s Cole Young, Jessica McNamee’s Sonya Balde, Mehcad Brooks as Jax, Ludi Lin’s Liu Kang, Chin Han’s Shang Tsung, Max Huang as Kung Lao, and Tadanobu Asano’s Lord Raiden. Surprisingly, there’s mention that Joe Taslim is also going to return as Bi-Han in the sequel, but there’s no mention if we might see Kuai Liang in the sequel.

    They also mention Josh Lawson’s Kano as part of the cast, as the character also faced an untimely end in that film. There’s no mention of Mileena or Kabal appearing in the sequel, but there’s still a chance they could appear if they introduce Revenants. Hiroyuki Sanada is also going to once again play Scorpion, who was the highlight in the 2021 release.

    Source: The Hollywood reporter

  • ‘Mortal Kombat’ Sequel Finds its Kitana

    ‘Mortal Kombat’ Sequel Finds its Kitana

    Mortal Kombat‘s next film is finally revving up. Surprisingly, the film had one of the biggest releases on HBO Max during the day-and-date release strategy but somehow Warner Bros. has been quite hesitant about getting the next one into production. While the WGA strike is running, casting is still moving forward for the sequel with the latest addition Adeline Rudolph joining the production as Kitana.

    The actress actually starred opposite Tati Gabrielle in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, who is also going to appear in the film. They are the third addition after Karl Urban was recently confirmed to take the iconic role of Johnny Cage. While we might have to wait a bit longer until we see him with the tattoo of his first name across the chest, it’s still looking like Simon McQuoid is ready to start production on the sequel.

    2021’s Mortal Kombat wasn’t quite the faithful adaptation of the original games that people hoped it would be, but it still offered some of the fun charms. Fatalities weren’t kept a secret and it still tried to establish its own unique take on the lore of the original; though it was weird that the first Mortal Kombat film was more a prequel to the tournament of the same name. Still, we’ll see if the second one offers what the first couldn’t.

    Source: Hollywood Reporter

  • ‘Mortal Kombat’ Sequel Finds its Jade in ‘You’ Star

    ‘Mortal Kombat’ Sequel Finds its Jade in ‘You’ Star

    Simon McQuoid is back in the director’s chair for the Mortal Kombat sequel. The film will pick up where the last one ended, as the team heads out towards the actual tournament that wasn’t really touched upon in the first film. While we recently heard Karl Urban has been in final negotiations to play the role of Johnny Cage, it seems one more iconic character is set to return.

    The Hollywood Reporter has unveiled that Tati Gabrielle, who appeared in You and The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, has joined the sequel to the 2021 streaming hit. She’ll take on the role of Jade, who is the bodyguard of Princess Kitana in the original gaming series.

    For now, Jessica McNamee and Josh Lawson are expected to reprise their roles from the original. It’s uncertain who else might join as of now and what direction the story might take. It’ll likely take some cues from Mortal Kombat 2 and 3 given how much ground they will try to cover with this storyline.

    For now, we can only speculate as there has also been no mention of Hiroyuki Sanada returning as the iconic Scorpion. His bout with Sub-Zero was the highlight of the first film and there’s still a lot more story left to tell going into a sequel. Of course, he’s not technically the “main” character but was a big draw to many fans even with the gaming franchise. He was the highlight of the poster so it’ll be interesting to see if they try not to be too dependent on him.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • ‘Mortal Kombat’ Producer Confirms Production Start for Sequel

    ‘Mortal Kombat’ Producer Confirms Production Start for Sequel

    Mortal Kombat was released during the pandemic back in 2021 as part of Warner Bros.’s ambitious yet futile attempt at boasting streaming and theatrical numbers. While nowadays it has taken a bad rep, it still led to some films getting a stronger reputation than they otherwise might’ve pulled when the box office was still just a major question mark. The video game adaptation went on to become one of HBO Max’s biggest releases and after a long wait, it seems the sequel is finally picking up some steam.

    We still know very little about the sequel, especially if it’ll continue to follow the story of Lewis Tan’s Cole Young or potentially move away from the original character. One of the highlights was Joe Taslim and Hiroyuki Sanada’s Sub-Zero and Scorpion, which also had one of the better stories in the film that received mixed reviews from critics (ironically not that different from the current Super Mario Bros. Movie that might reignite interest in video game adaptations).

    While we haven’t heard much about the project in some time, it seems producer Todd Garner may have accidentally confirmed that production is set to start in June. He quotes retweeted a statement by Geek Vibes Nation on the production cycle being mapped from June to September in Australia with the cheeky reaction “I was wondering why I had an apt in Australia....” pretty much confirming that is where they’ll be heading.

    If they are indeed planning on filming in a few months, we might get some casting announcements in the coming months. It’s still surprising it took them over two years to start rolling the cameras on a film that was generally considered a streaming success but sometimes it’s best to give projects enough time. They may be trying to address some of the issues pointed out in the initial release as they prepare to expand the franchise.

    Source: Twitter, ComicBook.com

  • Lewis Tan Teases Insane ‘Mortal Kombat 2’

    Lewis Tan Teases Insane ‘Mortal Kombat 2’

    New Line’s Mortal Kombat reboot was a hidden gem in 2021, releasing simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max during a time when the future of the theatrical experience was very much in doubt. Although fans found some of the changes to the lore controversial, the movie was a success with audiences, finding enough financial gain for Warner Bros., New Line’s parent company, to greenlight a sequel. Since its announcement, however, very little has been revealed about the status of Mortal Kombat 2 or its plot details.

    The first film saw original character Cole Young, a descendant of Hiroyuki Sanada‘s Scorpion played by Lewis Tan, fending off attacks from the villainous forces of Chin Han‘s Shang Tsung alongside other heroes from Earthrealm. The ending tees up a sequel on a much larger scale, with Shang Tsung promising to retaliate his defeat with armies and a victorious Young heading off to find Hollywood movie star, Johnny Cage. Speaking exclusively with Comic Book, Tan confirmed that Mortal Kombat 2 would be a grander tale than the first installment and that the film was still in development despite the many recent shake-ups at Warner Bros.:

    Well, it impacts a lot, but not really us in particular because New Line is the studio that is under the branch of Warner Bros. But they’re very happy with the movie, and obviously, it performed really well. It’s one of the most-viewed films of their Warner Bros. slate, even though it came out at the worst time ever possible. But no, we’re full steam ahead. And now, we have Ed Boon with us as well, so we got the stamp of approval from the legend himself. [Number 2] is just going to be absolutely insane. Way bigger.

    Lewis Tan

    Tan also mentions that franchise creator Ed Boon is now on board with the film series, after not being much involved with, or super supportive of, the 2021 adaptation. That would indicate that Boon likes what he sees from the sequel, and hopefully means the future of the films is very bright. Simon McQuoid will return to direct Mortal Kombat 2, with Moon Knight scribe Jeremy Slater working on the script.

    Source: Comic Book

  • New Line Green Lights ‘Mortal Kombat 2’

    New Line Green Lights ‘Mortal Kombat 2’

    New Line is officially back in the Mortal Kombat game. In January, it was reported that Jeremy Slater would be returning to pen a sequel script to 2021’s Mortal Kombat. Deadline is now reporting that New Line has green-lit the sequel, and tapped Simon McQuoid to direct again.

    Many fans were left a bit puzzled after the first film, as it didn’t include the fabled tournament between realms that had been hyped up throughout the films. Fans were also left hanging on series’ favorite, Johnny Cage, who made no appearance in the film but was teased at the end as Cole Young went off to recruit more to join Earthrealm’s champions.

    In 2021 Warner Brothers made the unprecedented move to shift its entire theatrical slate to a day and date release on HBO Max. Mortal Kombat was among the company’s films that released in both theaters and on streaming and the film did incredibly well in both arenas, beating box office predictions and grossing around $84M and coming in as the most streamed film on the service that year, beating out Dune, Godzilla Vs Kong and Zack Snyder’s Justice League.

    It is currently unknown when the sequel will kick-off into production and no casting announcements have been made at this time, but we can only hope Johnny Cage is jumping into the fight.

    SOURCE: Deadline

  • ‘Moon Knight’s Jeremy Slater Offers Update on ‘Mortal Kombat’ Sequel

    ‘Moon Knight’s Jeremy Slater Offers Update on ‘Mortal Kombat’ Sequel

    Now that head writer Jeremy Slater has finished work on Moon Knight, he’s already hard at work on his next major project. In an interview with The Direct, he offered a small update on the sequel of 2021’s Mortal Kombat film. While it wasn’t received warmly going by its Rotten Tomatoes rating but that hasn’t stopped it from becoming HBO Max’s most-watched film to date. In the interview, he reveals that they’re already “halfway through the script.”

    It’s really fun so far. We’re about halfway through the script. I’m working really closely with the director and the studios, and the game guys, and I think—I can’t say anything about the actual story, but I think they definitely learned some lessons the last time around in terms of, ‘Here’s the stuff fans responded to, and here’s what people liked out of the movie, and here’s the stuff that didn’t work out as well as we hoped.’ So we’re really looking at this as a chance to take everything that worked in the first one and do it even better and give the audience even more, and make something that is just incredibly satisfying, and really exciting, and unpredictable.

    Jeremy Slater

    When asked how it might compare to his work on Moon Knight, he does highlight that it’ll keep his “sensibilities” but it definitely will continue what makes Mortal Kombat such an iconic series, its showcase of brutal takedowns of its heroes and villains.

    I don’t think it’s necessarily going to have the same tone as the MCU, but it’s definitely going to have some of my sensibilities. That was part of my pitch to them. This is Mortal Kombat. We have guys who are ripping off their faces and breathing fire—it’s a weird universe, let’s embrace some of that weirdness, and let’s make a Mortal Kombat sequel that no one is expecting and that can kind of sneak in and blow everyone away. We’re still really early in that process, but I’m having a blast with this script

    Jeremy Slater

    The first film ended with a massive teaser of Johnny Cage finding his way into the film. It also only set up the actual Mortal Kombat tournament, as it was mostly a very Hollywood-esque prequel series leading into the main conflict from the games. Luckily, they are now unshackled and can potentially jump into it in the next film if that is the plan, as they could also be building up towards it by the end of a trilogy.

    Source: The Direct