With Mortal Kombat 11 one of the most played video games in the world right now, it’s the perfect time for an update on James Wan’s live-action movie teased a couple of years ago. And the news is damn good, as not only will it begin shooting soon, but a director has been confirmed.
Mortal Kombat will start production later this year with Australian filmmaker Simon McQuoid making his directorial debut. The announcement was made by the Premier of South Australia, Steven Marshall. The video game adaptation will be the largest movie production in South Australia’s history. Greg Russo penned the most recent version of the script, which will undoubtedly follow fighters such as Liu Kang, Raiden, Sub-Zero, and Scorpion as they battle in lethal combat in the war-ravaged realm of Outworld.
Wan was revealed to be a producer on Mortal Kombat back in 2015, but there hasn’t been much movement on it since then. For what it’s worth, Wan has been extremely busy directing a little film called Aquaman, which went on to gross over $1B. Wan has had the blockbuster touch throughout his career, whether it’s creating hit small-budget horror franchises like The Conjuring Universe or directing smash studio films such as Aquaman and Furious 7.
Can Wan find the same level of success with Mortal Kombat, though? The ultra-violent fighting game debuted in 1992 and took the industry by storm with its brutal Fatalities and excessive blood. A movie was released in 1995 that was pretty good, although I think people look back on it fondly out of nostalgia. A sequel, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation came out a couple of years later and it was pretty terrible. A live-action web series in 2011 was probably the most successful adaptation and lasted a couple of seasons.
