In a nutshell: Warner Bros. subsidiary New Line Cinema is moving forward with a sequel to Mortal Kombat, the 2021 film reboot of the video game franchise by the same name. According to Deadline, Jeremy Slater has been hired to write the script for Mortal Kombat 2. Slater served as the head writer of Moon Knight, an upcoming miniseries for Disney+ set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and also worked on The Umbrella Academy for Netflix.
The Mortal Kombat movie reboot premiered in theaters and on HBO Max in April 2021 in the midst of the pandemic. It follows MMA fighter Cole Young as he joins others from Earth to battle Outworld forces for control of the universe.
The film generated $83.5 million worldwide and cost $55 million to produce, and received an audience score of 86 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics were less enthused, giving it a score of 54 percent.
No word yet on who will star in the flick, which cast members might return from the reboot, or when the film is scheduled to begin shooting.
Mortal Kombat was conceived by Ed Boon and John Tobais and debuted as an arcade fighting game from Midway in 1992. The game was equal parts controversial and groundbreaking, with realistic digitized graphics, extreme violence and levels of gore not previously seen in video games.
It was partially responsible for the creation of the entertainment software rating board (ESRB) in 1994, but more importantly, it spawned a franchise that remains relevant to this day.