Mortal Kombat 2 Finally On The Way From A Marvel Writer
Mortal Kombat 2 finally has the green light!
This article is more than 2 years old
It took over 25 years since 1995’s Mortal Kombat for the franchise to get a live-action reboot. Thankfully, fans of 2021’s Mortal Kombat won’t have to wait quite so long for a sequel. Mortal Kombat 2 is officially on the way, and a writer behind one of Marvel Studios’ most anticipated 2022 projects is helping to continue the story.
Deadline broke the news today that New Line Cinema has officially greenlit Mortal Kombat 2, the sequel to the reboot. Additionally, Deadline reports New Line has recruited Jeremy Slater to script the film. Slater is the head writer for Disney+’s Moon Knight, which will premiere on Disney+ March 30. He also wrote for and developed Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy and created Fox’s The Exorcist TV series.
It’s not a surprise New Line wants Mortal Kombat 2 to get underway. Early in January, Warner Bros released the streaming numbers for all of the films it gave a same-day streaming and theatrical release to in 2021, and Mortal Kombat blew everything else out of the water. The number of 3.8 million viewers were based on subscribing households who streamed the movie for at least five minutes, and in that arena Mortal Kombat beat out contenders like Dune and The Matrix Resurrections. Godzilla vs. Kong came in a close second with 3.6 million viewers, and James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad came in third with 2.8 million.
Financially, Mortal Kombat performed pretty spectacularly under the circumstances. In spite of naysayers predicting the HBO Max’s same-day release strategy would kill tickets sales, Mortal Kombat debuted at the #1 spot on its premiere weekend, after a tight battle for the lead with the anime Demon Slayer. It ultimately grossed $83.7 million worldwide, on a $55 million budget — normally that might be considered a flop, but in the age of COVID, those are respectable returns, adding more fuel to the need for a Mortal Kombat 2.
Critically, the film didn’t fare very well, at least not judging by the score reached by Rotten Tomatoes. Mortal Kombat has a green, splatty 54% on the site, but did anyone actually expect the critics to jump for joy over a Mortal Kombat flick? Its 1995 predecessor fares even worse with reviewers, and it’s important to note that the 2021 movie has an 86% audience score, meaning a Mortal Kombat 2 should be welcomed by plenty of fans.
There’s no word yet on a director for Mortal Kombat 2 or which actors may or may not be returning. One big question that will likely occupy fans’ minds is which new characters from the video games who don’t appear in the first movie might be added in the sequel. Characters like Kung Lao, Nightwolf, Kitana, and Shao Kahn were referenced in Mortal Kombat but did not physically appear. The film ends with Raiden (Tadanobu Asano) vowing to find more warriors and Cole (Lewis Tan) on the hunt for Johnny Cage.
Among some of the more persistent rumors out there about Mortal Kombat 2 is that the film could be set in outer space. We’re not sure exactly why Warner Bros would want to make that happen, but you never know. Maybe a Mortal Kombat/Space Jam crossover? Bugs Bunny could take Scorpion, no problem.
