The slog of bringing the crazy, uber-violent Mortal Kombat videogame series back to cinema screens has been a long one. Under the wings of James Wan's Atomic Monster production company, however, the journey is finally reaching its conclusion. Simon McQuoid is directing from Greg Russo's screenplay, and the film now has its first cast member. Joe Taslim will be flinging iceballs as the chilly Sub-Zero.
Paul WS Anderson first filmed the fantastical fighting saga back in 1995 to pretty decent results (a much less successful sequel followed three years later), and Warner Bros has been edging towards a new take for years. Director Kevin Tancharoen's Mortal Kombat: Rebirth – an online short starring Jeri Ryan and Michael Jai White – led to Mortal Kombat: Legacy, which ran for two seasons a few years ago as a web series featuring much of the same cast.
Now comes the new movie, which doesn't yet have anyone involved with the web outings on board. The plot is being kept quiet, but Russo and McQuoid have been attached for some time, with the project perhaps kicked into green-lit gear by the success of the game Mortal Kombat 11. McQuoid has been building a reputation for himself with award-winning ads for the likes of PlayStation, Netflix, Range Rover and Halo.
Taslim himself should be familiar from The Raid. A member of the Indonesian national Judo team from 1997 to 2009, his segue into films has also included roles in Fast & Furious 6, Star Trek Beyond and The Night Comes For Us. Sub-Zero's trademark blue threads may obscure his face, but we'll see if we recognise his moves when the film is released in 2021.