New Line Cinema starts working on Mortal Kombat sequel

New Line Cinema is gearing up to make a sequel to its 2021 sleeper hit Mortal Kombat. The action-adventure film is based on the widely successful video game franchise. Simon McQuoid, who directed the first film, is returning for the sequel. 

Mortal Kombat was one of the earliest films to release right after the peak of the pandemic, it went on to stay on top of the box office. Video-game-to-film adaptations have a long history of disappointing the fans but Mortal Kombat subverted all expectations to have a stellar theatrical run. 

Mortal Kombat is a fantasy-based martial artist game that started as an arcade game and went on to expand into several mediums from films to comic books to merchandise. Previous live-action adaptations of the game, including Paul W S Anderson’s 1995 film of the same name, had failed to meet expectations. Now that the 2021 film has done well, owing to its stunt choreography, appropriate amounts of fanservice, and tasteful use of gore and violence, New Line Cinema is going ahead with a  sequel. 

Even though most of the characters were killed off in the first film, characters portrayed by Lewis Tan, Hiroyuki Sanada, Ludy Lin, Tadanobu Asano, Mehcad Brooks, and Jessica McNamee are set to return for the sequel.