Amid all the teases made by cast and crew, fans can't wait until the release of the new Mortal Kombat movie. Now, it looks like that wait has been made just a little bit shorter.
While the movie was originally scheduled for release on March 5th, 2021, Warner Bros. announced today that the Mortal Kombat movie will now be releasing January 15th, 2021.
The release date is part of a calendar reshuffling by Warner Bros and pits Mortal Kombat against the female-driven action film 355. Though Mortal Kombat already has a large fanbase due to it being based on the top modern fighting game series, pitting it against another action flick suggests the studio is very confident in the movie, or maybe it had to do with the film's original competition.
Originally, the Mortal Kombat movie was set to be released March 5th, 2021. This would have had it going head-to-head with Sony and Mattel Films' Masters of the Universe and Fox's animated fantasy Nimona. It seems that Warner Bros. didn't want to risk having their hard-R rated action film lose box office revenue to these more family-friendly fantasy films.
This reboot based on the classic fighting game franchise is being produced by James Wan, who directed Aquaman and co-created the Saw film franchise. The film is also being directed by first-time filmmaker Simon McQuoid, with the screenplay written by Greg Russo (who has also announced that he's writing an untitled Resident Evil reboot). Once filming for Mortal Kombat began earlier this year in South Australia, Russo has been taking time to build up hype for the film by teasing the progress of the production on social media.
The Mortal Kombat movie has a considerably large cast, including the surprising inclusion of a 12-year-old girl. Several of the actors have also released their fair share of teasers online. Ludi Lin (Aquaman, Black Mirror), who is playing Liu Kang, shared a video earlier this week of what appears to be a fight scene from the movie. Lewis Tan (Into the Badlands, Deadpool 2) doesn't have a confirmed role in the film, but he also shared some bloody battle photos from the movie. There have been plenty more behind-the-scenes teases shared online of different locations fans could see in the film.
Some fans may remember that Mortal Kombat's film franchise ended on a sour note with 1997's Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, which was universally panned by both fans and critics for its confusing recasting, low budget special effects, and mindless fight scenes. Fans are much more hopeful for this new film, partly because the reboot promises to bring back all the old Mortal Kombat fatalities fans love.
The Mortal Kombat movie is scheduled to release in theaters on January 15, 2021.