In 1992, “Mortal Kombat,” a
fighting videogame that pushed the envelope on graphic gaming violence, was
released to the general public, becoming the foundation of what would become an
expansive videogame franchise. After the release of a 1993 sequel the green
light was given for a film adaptation under New Line Cinema, premiering just
months after the release of “Mortal Kombat 3.” The movie was hailed as the
first game adaptation to make it big in the box office, though its earning has
since been eclipsed. Over two decades later a remake is now in development,
with an actor already cast as “ice ninja” Sub-Zero.
The Hollywood Reporter has it that the first notable casting for a
reboot “Mortal Kombat” movie has been announced under Warner Bros. which had
acquired the game franchise and its related media properties following the 2009
bankruptcy of original developer Midway Games. Filmmaker James Wan, famous for
directing or producing the “Saw” horror film series and more recently for the 2018
DC superhero movie “Aquaman,” has been tapped to produce, while Indonesian
actor and martial artist Joe Taslim, who starred in the 2011 local blockbuster “The
Raid” and on 2013’s “Fast and Furious 6,” will be portraying Sub-Zero, a major
character in the game/movie franchise.
Taslim is the first acting role
to be secured for the film project, and his role is that of the Mortal Kombat
tournament competitor from the Chinese ninja clan of Lin Kuei, members of which
are endowed with the power of cryo-kinetics to attack foes with ice. There are
actually two Sub-Zero characters in the videogame lore, though it has not been
specified which of them will be portrayed by Taslim, a veteran member of the
Indonesian national judo team and practitioner of pencak silat, wushu,
taekwondo and Shotokan karate.
The first “Mortal Kombat” movie
in 1995 was directed by Paul W. S. Anderson who later created the film series
spinoff of Capcom’s “Resident Evil” videogames. The film starred Robin Shou,
Linden Ashby, Bridgette Wilson, Cary
Tagawa and Christopher Lambert, all as characters either competing or invested in
the Mortal Kombat tournament between Earth-realm and Out-world, the latter of
which is close to winning in ten tournaments and earning the right to conquer
Earth. The remakes’ director will be Simon McQuoid, with Sean Robins as
executive producer. Filming is set to begin in southern Australia on 2020,
ahead of an estimated premiere sometime in 2021.
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