Mortal Kombat Annihilation is a 1997 American martial arts fantasy film directed by John R. Leonetti in his directorial debut.

Largely adapted from the 1995 video game Mortal Kombat 3, Annihilation follows Liu Kang and his allies as they attempt to prevent the malevolent Shao Kahn from conquering Earthrealm.

It stars Robin Shou as Liu Kang, Talisa Soto as Kitana, James Remar as Raiden, Sandra Hess as Sonya Blade, Lynn “Red” Williams as Jax and Brian Thompson as Shao Kahn.

A direct sequel was consequently canceled and a third film languished in development hell for nearly two decades until the series was rebooted in 2021.

The Outworld emperor Shao Kahn opens a portal to Earthrealm and has resurrected Queen Sindel, Princess Kitana's long-deceased mother, to facilitate his invasion.

Sonya Blade enlists the help of her Special Forces partner, Jax, while Kitana and Liu search for a Native American shaman named Nightwolf, who seemingly knows the key to defeating Kahn.

Raiden meets with the Elder Gods and asks them why Kahn was allowed to break the tournament rules and force his way into Earthrealm, and how he can be stopped.

Liu finds Nightwolf, who teaches him about the power of the Animality, a form of shapeshifting which utilizes the caster's strengths and abilities.

Liu accepts Jade's offer and takes her with him to the Elder Gods' temple, where he and his friends meet with Raiden.

Thai actor and martial artist Tony Jaa was a stunt double for Robin Shou in the film.

Mortal Kombat Annihilation was released on November 21, 1997, and its opening weekend take was $16 million, enough for a number-one debut at the box office.

[15] Jason Gibner of Allmovie wrote, "Whereas the first film was a guilty schlock pleasure, this sequel is an exercise in the art of genuinely beautiful trash cinema.

"[16] Marjorie Baumgarten of the Austin Chronicle opined that it was "nothing more than a perpetual chain of elaborately choreographed fight sequences that ... are linked together by the most flimsy and laughable of plot elements.

Over the years, however, it has evolved into a cult hit of sorts, playing as an unintentional comedy – a spoof of the early video game movies and their painfully obvious cash-in mentality.

"[5] In separate 2012 interviews, Mortal Kombat co-creators Ed Boon and John Tobias selected Annihilation as their personal worst moments in the history of their work on the franchise.

Attempts to produce a third film remained stuck in development hell, with numerous script rewrites, and storyline, cast and crew changes.

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

[23][25] In June 2009, a bankruptcy court lawsuit saw producer Kasanoff suing Midway Games while mentioning that a third film was in the works.