Mortal Kombatdirector Simon McQuoid says it’s up to the fans to decide if the new video game adaptation will be getting a sequel. Directly inspired by the video game series,Mortal Kombatwas released in theaters and on HBO Max on Friday. The ending of the movie lends itself to a sequel, but as of now,Mortal Kombat 2is not yet officially in the works.
So, will or will we not be getting a sequel? After the movie’s premiere, McQuoid spoke with Variety about the possibility. According to the director, it wasn’t outright discussed during the production ofMortal Kombatas he wanted everyone to focus their efforts on this first movie. McQuoid then makes it clear that theMortal Kombatteam is very open to moving forward, but insists that it will be up to the fans to make it happen.
“Sequels are a bit tricky because you can’t totally ignore them, because that wouldn’t be a smart move, but none of us used the ’s-word.' We’d never talk about it in any depth whatsoever because we feel like we have to put all our energy into this film. That being said, if the fans want another one, that’s not for us to decide; that’s for the fans to decide. Then, we need a couple of joiner pieces that we know can lead us somewhere because there’s a treasure trove of stuff that’s just sitting there.”
IfMortal Kombat 2gets the greenlight from Warner Bros., we’ll likely see Johnny Cage arrive in the sequel. Fans of the classic character were disappointed to see that he wasn’t featured in theMortal Kombatreboot, but his introduction in the potential sequel is teased in the first movie. In the Variety interview, McQuoid explains why Johnny wasn’t in the movie, though he also suggests the fighter would be brought in along with other fan favorites likeKitana.
“The reason [Johnny Cage] is not in this original film is he’s such a giant personality that he almost has his own gravitational field. The feeling was that he would throw it out of balance slightly. I get asked about Kitana just as much asJohnny Cage. There’s a lot of interesting characters, story and material to work with. So we haven’t really dug into it; we just know we’re very privileged that’s sitting there. If we do get to that, and I’m not saying we will, I’m just saying if - big ‘if’ - then we’ll go down that path.”
The cast and crew may not have been allowed to use the “s-word” on set, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t creative plans in place to move the story forward. Co-writer Greg Russo previously told Collider that the screenplay was written with the intent to be thefirst of a trilogy. Sub-Zero actor Joe Taslim has also been signed on to appear in fourMortal Kombatsequels, should the potential franchise make it that far.
Reviews on the Mortal Kombatmovie have been mixed, though some longtime fans of the franchise insist that it’s the best video game movie ever made. Warner Bros. moving forward withMortal Kombat 2will be taking the fan response into consideration along with the financial success of the movie. Grossing $22.5 million in the United States and Canada, the movie has already outperformed its estimated premiere haul of $19 million. You can read the full interview with McQuoid atVariety.
