Mortal Kombat may have been delayed yet again (this time to give Godzilla Vs. Kong some breathing room), but the martial arts flick is still on course to arrive in theaters later this month.
The revised date, which is only a week later than the originally proposed April 16th, will see the warriors of Earthrealm and Outworld once again take part in the franchise’s titular tournament and you can absolutely bet on there being tons of the red stuff flowing as each fighter takes to the ring. So violent is the video game adaptation, in fact, that director Simon McQuoid says that the project frequently flirted with an NC-17 age rating when submitted to the American Motion Picture Association. Hardly surprising, of course, considering NetherRealm’s series is largely regarded as one of the most visceral IPs in the medium, but fans shouldn’t expect a tamer experience just because of the more accessible R-rating.
Speaking at a recent press event (H/T, Yahoo!), McQuoid touched on the subject, stating that when it comes to live-action, depictions of violence between ‘real’ human beings are much more likely to attract mature audience classifications than in the gaming sphere.
“So there were certain things that are in the game that would mean the film would be unreleasable,” he says, adding: “And none of us wanted that. So we were balancing that stuff all the time. And there’s some stuff that you will see that really gets quite close to the line.”
The insistence on providing a faithfully gory cinematic experience largely comes down to the fact that none of the crew wanted to make audiences feel as if they had been shortchanged, so to speak, with McQuoid knowing all too well that fans expect a certain degree of explicit material. This is, after all, a franchise known for its trademark Fatality finishers, which can only be described as stomach-churning in their mildest form. And you’ll be able to revel in all of the carnage yourself when Mortal Kombat arrives on April 23rd.
