For the longest time, video game movies had to battle to overcome the stigma that had frequently seen the genre labeled as ‘cursed,’ and despite a long list of critical and commercial failures over the last two decades, things have finally started looking up. Four of the five highest-grossing adaptations in history have been released since 2017 and the two most recent, Detective Pikachu and Sonic the Hedgehog, are the only video game movies to come out of Hollywood that secured a ‘Fresh’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
With Monster Hunter set for September and the long-gestating Uncharted set for next year alongside a sequel to Alicia Vikander’s Tomb Raider, we could find out soon enough whether a full-blown resurgence is on the cards or not. Perhaps the most highly-anticipated video game movie on the horizon though is the James Wan-produced Mortal Kombat reboot, with the production making all the right noises in shouting from the rooftops that they want to be the faithful, violent, bloody and R-rated adaptation that the fans have been clamoring for.
Although we haven’t seen any official footage yet, with the first trailer reportedly set to drop this summer, both the cast and crew of the reboot have continually teased that this is the Mortal Kombat movie we’ve been waiting for, with director Simon McQuoid and writer Greg Russo looking to create something that appeals to non-fans just as much as the diehards.
In a recent exchange on social media, Russo responded to a fan who apparently had no idea that the reboot was even on the way, teasing that the movie is going to blow the video game’s acclaimed cut scenes out of the water, as well as making the bold claim that Mortal Kombat has never looked so good.
Already done. (and bloody too). Cutscenes? Forget cutscenes, my man. MK has never looked this good. 01/15/21 #MortalKombat https://t.co/Eceua8RgzV
— Greg Russo (@WriterRusso) April 8, 2020
Everyone involved is certainly saying all the right things about the latest big screen version of Mortal Kombat, and while the 1995 original has gone on to achieve cult status based largely on the cheese factor alone, the team behind the reboot are aiming for something entirely different, which will hopefully live up to the steadily-increasing expectations.