Mortal Kombat is looking to have a flawless victory at the box office with an impressive $22.5 million for the weekend, dealing a  fatality on its domestic competition, Demon Slayer the Movie: Mugen Train. After a fierce battle between the two popular franchises, audiences found themselves craving blood and gore in the form of a video game adaptation.

The R-rated live-action reboot of Mortal Kombat opened domestically with the year’s second-highest numbers behind fellow Warner Bros. blockbuster Godzilla vs. Kong. If you want to be even more congratulatory, Mortal Kombat’s success also serves as the biggest opening for an R-rated film during the pandemic, which currently sees most theaters opening at limited capacity. That puts the reboot just below the cult-classic original film from Paul W.S. Anderson, which debuted at $23.5 million in 1995, around $50 million this day and age considering inflation.

Hiroyuki Sanada as Scorpion performing a fatality in Mortal Kombat 2021
Image via Warner Bros.

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Mortal Kombat’s note-worthy stats in the domestic market arrives a week after the film debuted internationally to equally impressive numbers. As of this writing, the film has grossed $50.1 million worldwide and looks to stay at the top spot both domestically and internationally until May comes around. Demon Slayer posed a greater threat than previously predicted by box office pundits, grossing just below $20 million during the weekend, but ultimately bowed to the bloody action flick. Both have a strong fanbase, and Demon Slayer boasted a more publicized international release. However, Mortal Kombat’s decades-long legacy pushed it over the edge to claim victory.

Mixed reactions from critics have not deterred the video game adaptation from finding success at the box office. The red-band trailer skyrocketed in popularity and broke several viewership numbers at the time, which were topped by the highly-anticipated superhero film The Suicide Squad from James Gunn. If the pandemic wasn’t a factor and the film wasn’t available at no extra cost on HBO Max, maybe the fan-oriented audience could have pushed the video game movie towards greater numbers. Still, the R-rated reboot found itself relatively thriving in a market attempting to make a comeback.

The Simon McQuoid-directed film sees experienced action star Joe Taslim hunt down earth’s greatest champions as Sub-Zero, going head-to-head with Hiroyuki Sanada’s Scorpion. Headlining the ensemble is Lewis Tan as Cole Young, who leads a diverse cast of actors including Jessica McNamee (Sonya Blade), Tadanobu Asano (Raiden), Mehcad Brooks (Jax), Ludi Lin (Liu Kang) and Chin Han (Shang Tsung), among others.

Mortal Kombat is currently playing in theaters as well as streaming on HBO Max.

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