Warner Bros.’ Mortal Kombat reboot is coming to theaters and HBO Max in just over two months, with the first full-length trailer expected imminently as the marketing campaign enters the home stretch. Releasing simultaneously on the big screen and streaming could turn out to be a bonus for Simon McQuoid’s feature debut, too, with the video game genre still far from a sure thing at the box office.
Of course, fans hold Paul W.S. Anderson’s 1995 Mortal Kombat in high regard, but that’s based almost entirely on the entertaining cheese factor rather than its merits as a piece of cinematic art. And as long as the new take doesn’t veer so far down the ‘dark and gritty reboot’ path that it forgets to have fun with the premise, there’s every chance a franchise could be born.
However, we’ve now heard from our sources – the same ones that told us Justice League Dark and Green Lantern shows were in the works for HBO Max before they were announced – that the studio could have even more ambitious plans, with an entire cinematic universe reportedly being mapped out. WB are keen to expand as many of their big name properties as possible onto streaming, so a succession of HBO Max spinoffs may indeed be a distinct possibility if Mortal Kombat performs well enough with critics and pleases the fans.
Further details remain unclear at this early stage, but in theory, we could be looking at live-action sequels/spinoffs, small screen shows and even animated features. As always, though, it depends on how the opening salvo goes down. Fingers crossed that Mortal Kombat delivers, then, otherwise any further plans could be nixed at the first hurdle.
