The battle between the forces of Earthrealm and Outworld is set to continue as a new report confirms that Mortal Kombat 2, the sequel of New Line Cinema's 2021's Mortal Kombat film and the latest adaptation of the iconic fighting game series, is still moving ahead with the production company and will see the first film's director Simon McQuoid returning to the director's chair for the action-adventure follow-up.
The new report comes from Deadline, who had previously confirmed the news that the sequel would be moving ahead and that New Line had hired Moon Knight writer Jeremy Slater to pen the script for the upcoming sequel. While there will be a new writer on the project, this new report confirms that the two films will have the same director. Mortal Kombat was McQuoid's feature film directorial debut, with the Australian director having an extensive background in directing commercials and having worked with the likes of Xbox and PlayStation as well as having won a plethora of awards for his work such as the Film Grand Prix at Cannes and a Grand Clio. McQuoid returning to the world of Mortal Kombat adds another project to his slate of upcoming work which includes being the director of Sony's world-bending sci-fi thriller, Omega
Based on the fighting game franchise that began in 1992 created by Ed Boon and John Tobias, last year's Mortal Kombat movie followed series newcomer, Cole Young, played by Lewis Tan. When the young MMA fighter is hunted for his unknown heritage, he joins up with some of the world's greatest champions to face off against the forces of Outworld, who aim to take over Earthrealm by defeating them in a martial arts tournament known as "Mortal Kombat." Joining Cole on his quest to save Earthrealm were many familiar and popular characters from the games, including the likes of Scorpion (Hiroyuki Sanada), Sub-Zero (Joe Taslim), Raiden (Tadanobu Asano), Liu Kang (Ludi Lin), Kung Lao (Max Huang), Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee), Jax (Mehcad Brooks), Shang Tsung (Chin Han), Mileena (Sisi Stringer), and Kano (Josh Lawson). While it was nice to see these characters back on the big screen, there were a few noticeable absences that many fans are clamoring to see in a sequel such as the hammer-wielding ruler of Outworld Shao Kahn and the lovable if narcissistic Hollywood action star Johnny Cage, who many fans have been pushing to see portrayed by WWE wrestler The Miz. There is nothing confirmed at the moment about who will be reappearing or debuting in the sequel to Mortal Kombat.
The 2021 Mortal Kombat film played in an important role in the return to movie theaters following their closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It premiered day-and-date on HBO Max and in theaters in April 2021 and was one of the first major blockbusters to test the waters to see if audiences were ready to return to the theaters. The film went on to open at number one at the box office and is one of the's top features for HBO Max since the platform launched.
In addition to directing the first film, McQuoid also produced the film alongside Todd Garner and E. Bennett Walsh for Broken Road Production as well as James Wan via Atomic Monster. Victoria Palmeri, Michael Clear, Jeremy Stein, and Larry Kasanoff served as executive producers. The first film's screenplay was written by Greg Russo and Dave Callaham based on a story by Russo and Oren Uziel, all of whom have not been confirmed to be returning for the sequel project. Little is currently known about the team behind the upcoming sequel outside of Slater joining as the film's writer and McQuoid returning to direct.
There is currently no word of when we can expect to see Mortal Kombat 2. You can watch the 2021 film now on HBO Max.
Check out the trailer for Mortal Kombat below: