Ever since it was announced that Warner Bros. would release its movies this year both in theaters and on HBO Max due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the marker for success for those films has been hard to gauge. Traditionally, success would mean a good box office debut and so on, but with the combined streaming release and fewer folks going to theaters, that isn’t necessarily the case right now. For Mortal Kombat director Simon McQuoid, success being tied to box office seems like a thing of the past.
“Probably two years ago it would have been box office weekend,” McQuoid said when asked about what would categorize the movie as successful during a press event attended by ComicBook.com. “But that doesn’t exist anymore. So, I don’t know what will be… You know what really matters to me? Is that the fans come out of it feeling really sated for the […] respect for the material and also the elevation and amplification of the material to this big cinematic experience that’s super fun. Mortal Kombat’s fun, and the film, I feel, is really fun. It’s a really fun ride that I’m very proud of.”
“So, how we all measure the success of the thing, I think everyone’s finding their way a bit in the film business now,” McQuoid continued, “but as long as the people feel like… the feeling they have in the trailer continues through them and they feel that as well, I think there’s more stuff to come out within the film, and remains to be seen how people react to that. But I feel like the characters are respected and look like they look in the posters and in the trailer. There’s no shell game going on here about, ‘Well, we’re going to show you that in the trailer, but actually it’s this.’ It’s not that. So, I’m just hoping if that continues, if that feeling continues, then that’s probably a success for me. Maybe if I ever get employed again, that might be a success for me.”
Here is the official synopsis for the upcoming Mortal Kombat movie:
“MMA fighter Cole Young, accustomed to taking a beating for money, is unaware of his heritage—or why Outworld’s Emperor Shang Tsung has sent his best warrior, Sub-Zero, an otherworldly Cryomancer, to hunt Cole down. Fearing for his family’s safety, Cole goes in search of Sonya Blade at the direction of Jax, a Special Forces Major who bears the same strange dragon marking Cole was born with. Soon, he finds himself at the temple of Lord Raiden, an Elder God and the protector of Earthrealm, who grants sanctuary to those who bear the mark. Here, Cole trains with experienced warriors Liu Kang, Kung Lao and rogue mercenary Kano, as he prepares to stand with Earth’s greatest champions against the enemies of Outworld in a high stakes battle for the universe. But will Cole be pushed hard enough to unlock his arcana—the immense power from within his soul—in time to save not only his family, but to stop Outworld once and for all?”
The Mortal Kombat reboot film is now scheduled to release on April 23rd on both HBO Max and in theaters. The cast includes Ludi Lin as Liu Kang, Mehcad Brooks as Jax, Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade, Hiroyuki Sanada as Scorpion, Josh Lawson as Kano, Tadanobu Asano as Raiden, Joe Taslim as Sub-Zero, Chin Han as Shang Tsung, Sisi Stringer as Mileena, and Lewis Tan as new character Cole Young. It wrapped filming in late 2019. You can check out all of our previous coverage of the film right here.
What do you think about what we have seen of the upcoming Mortal Kombat movie so far? Are you excited to check it out when it releases in theaters and on HBO Max? Let us know in the comments, or feel free to reach out and hit me up directly over on Twitter at @rollinbishop to talk about all things gaming!