New Line Cinema is gearing up for the second instalment of Mortal Kombat. The Hollywood Reporter has announced that the studio has engaged screenwriter Jeremy Slater to develop the sequel to the 2021 video game adaption.
Mortal Kombat X was released in cinemas and on HBO Max concurrently in April 2021, during the coronavirus pandemic, and grossed $83.7 million worldwide.
Mortal Kombat is based on Ed Boon and John Tobias’ landmark 1992 arcade fighting game Mortal Kombat. It revolves on a tournament that brings together the finest fighters on the planet to defend against invaders. The game was previously turned into a successful 1995 film and its ill-fated sequel in 1997. Lewis Tan, Jessica McNamee, Josh Lawson, Joe Taslim, Mehcad Brooks, Matilda Kimber, Laura Brent, Tadanobu Asano, Hiroyuki Sanada, Chin Han, Ludi Lin, and Max Huang appeared in the 2021 film, which was directed by Simon McQuoid.
There’s no word on a director or actors, although the previous film teased the presence of fan favorite character Johnny Cage, who didn’t show up. “We knew we needed to lay a little bit of rail toward him,” McQuoid said last year. We never discussed sequels. We don’t make assumptions like that. It’s all about taking one step at a time. We did, however, feel the need to lay a few joiners, one of which was his.”
Slater is on a high after the trailer for his next Disney+ programme, Moon Knight, was released last week and received a lot of attention. The film will be released in March and will star Oscar Isaac as the Marvel antihero. He’s also recognized for his work on The Umbrella Academy, a Netflix series. Slater’s collaboration with James Wan, who produced the most recent Mortal Kombat under his Atomic Monster label, continues with the next Mortal Kombat film. Thread, Slater’s impending directorial debut, is being produced by Wan for Screen Gems. Slater’s other projects include Universal and Wan’s planned adaptation of Stephen King’s The Tommyknockers. He most recently worked on Uprising, a Netflix feature that will be directed by Travis Knight.
