Mortal Kombat is a 2021 American martial arts fantasy film co-produced and directed by Simon McQuoid, in his directorial debut, from a screenplay by Greg Russo and Dave Callaham, based on the video game series created by Ed Boon and John Tobias.

[4] It stars Lewis Tan, Jessica McNamee, Josh Lawson, Tadanobu Asano, Mehcad Brooks, Ludi Lin, Chin Han, Max Huang, Joe Taslim, and Hiroyuki Sanada.

[5] The film follows Cole Young, a washed-up mixed martial arts fighter who is unaware of his hidden lineage or why the assassin Sub-Zero is hunting him down.

A sequel, Mortal Kombat 2, is scheduled to be released on October 24, 2025,[8] with Jeremy Slater set to write the screenplay and McQuoid returning as director.

Sorcerer and Outworlder Shang Tsung sends his warriors to preemptively eliminate Earthrealm's champions, identified by a dragon mark, before the tenth tournament begins.

Cole and Kano train with Liu Kang and Kung Lao to unlock their "Arcana", a power unique to all dragon mark bearers.

While defeating Outworld's champions, Sonya kills Kano and acquires his dragon mark, gaining the ability to fire energy blasts from her arms.

Thanking Cole for freeing him and requesting that he take care of the Hasashi bloodline, Scorpion departs as Raiden, the other champions, and Shang Tsung arrive.

A November 2001 poll on the official Mortal Kombat website hosted by Threshold asked fans which characters they believed would die in the third movie.

[23] In September 2011, New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. announced that Tancharoen was hired to direct a new feature-length film from a screenplay by Mortal Kombat: Rebirth writer Oren Uziel,[24] with the intention of aiming for an R rating.

[36] In April 2021, McQuoid revealed that the film came "quite close to the line" of getting an NC-17 rating by the Motion Picture Association, saying in full, "What we had to be a bit careful of was... you can get to NC-17 territory pretty quick.

[38][39] In August, Mehcad Brooks, Tadanobu Asano, Sisi Stringer, and Ludi Lin were cast in the roles of Jax Briggs, Raiden, Mileena, and Liu Kang respectively.

[40] Later that month, Josh Lawson, Jessica McNamee, Chin Han and Hiroyuki Sanada were cast as Kano, Sonya Blade, Shang Tsung and Scorpion respectively, with Lewis Tan in the role of Cole Young, an original character created for the film.

[48] Rising Sun Pictures (RSP), an Adelaide company, was principal VFX provider, delivering over 600 visual effects shots for the film.

[61] In November 2020, producer Todd Garner confirmed that the film would be delayed until theaters are reopened due to the COVID-19 pandemic,[47] before it was finally dated for release on April 16 in 3D.

The website's consensus reads: "Largely for fans of the source material but far from fatal(ity) flawed, Mortal Kombat revives the franchise in appropriately violent fashion.

More likely to have fun with this latest Mortal Kombat are Sam Raimi enthusiasts who can appreciate the comedy in over-the-top geysers of fake blood, which the film unleashes with increasing regularity as the fights get more serious.

"[81] The Hollywood Reporter's John DeFore said the film was "not exactly a knockout" and wrote: "A B-movie that would benefit immensely from some wit in the script and charisma in the cast, it's not as aggressively hacky as P.W.S.A.

's oeuvre, but it runs into problems he didn't face in 1995: namely, the bar has been raised quite a bit for movies in which teams of superpowered young people have fights to save the universe.

"[82] Korey Coleman and Martin Thomas of Double Toasted commented that the cast lacked any relatability and furthermore found the character of Cole Young to be a weak and uninteresting protagonist.

[83] James Marsh, of the South China Morning Post, gave a positive review, saying, "Director Simon McQuoid understands and honours the film's video game origins, including memorable lines of dialogue and signature fight moves throughout".

[84] Ben Kenigsberg of The New York Times wrote, "The latest screen adaptation of the video game still shows that trying to construct a coherent plot around these characters is a fatal trap".

[86] Matt Goldberg of Collider wrote, "Simon McQuoid's new adaptation is a mostly joyless slog that can't even deliver exhilarating fights".

[87] Benjamin Lee at The Guardian rated the film 2/5, stating "A silly and dated new attempt to transport the classic fighting game to the big screen is a late-night drunk watch at best".

[94] Professional wrestler Mike "The Miz" Mizanin openly expressed interest in the part of Cage while receiving support of Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon,[95] but according to Garner, Karl Urban was in final talks for the role.

[97][98] In June 2023, it was announced that Martyn Ford, Ana Thu Nguyen, Damon Herriman (not returning as the voice of Kabal) and Desmond Chiam were cast as Shao Kahn, Sindel, Quan Chi and King Jerrod.

[99] It was also announced in June that the cast from the first film such as Lewis Tan, Ludi Lin, Tadanobu Asano, Jessica McNamee, Chin Han and Hiroyuki Sanada would be returning to reprise their roles in the sequel.

[100] On April 17, 2023, Garner confirmed that filming would run from June to September in Queensland, Australia,[citation needed] while That Hashtag Show reported that Shao Kahn, Baraka, Kitana, Quan Chi, and Sindel were slated to appear.