Mortal Kombat ($84 Million Worldwide Box Office)

"I wear Ray-Bans a lot, so someone was like, 'Oh, he's Johnny Cage for sure. He's Johnny Cage.'" That's Lewis Tan, who plays Cole Young in Mortal Kombat, explaining the tendency to theorize that his character is actually one of the already beloved fan favorites, rather than a brand new character. But if that wasn't enough for you, now we know for sure, thanks to a pointed, tantalizing ending sequence from the film, that Johnny Cage and Cole Young are different people — and that the Mortal Kombat krew is heading to Hollywood to pick up Cage for the hopeful sequel!

It's quite the shadow kick of an ending, an MCU-esque tease at a future expansion to come, a wink to pre-existing fans of the world that they'll see a big-screen version of their beloved soon enough. How exactly did this Mortal Kombat ending come about? Were there other versions of this tease? And was the plan for multiple Mortal Kombat sequels baked in from the jump?

I was lucky enough to speak with Mortal Kombat's co-writer Greg Russo over Zoom, where explained his plans for an MK trilogy: "Movie one, we were always kind of setting this up as — well I was setting it up, it's basically in my head — I always saw [movie one] as pre-tournament, then [movie two is] hopefully tournament, then [movie three is] post-tournament. So the idea was that this was going to be a pre-tournament movie that would hopefully sow the seeds for the tournament, the final." Russo went on to explain both the benefits and drawbacks of thinking this way, while emphasizing the importance of making sure the first entry works on its own:

   "Everybody was focused on movie one, right? You don't get a trilogy without it. But as a writer, you should never be painting yourself in a corner, that's my motto. You should always be thinking about 'Where can your story go even beyond the two hours — this is not a lot of time — that I have to tell this story? Where else can it go?' So I always saw it as leading up to something bigger. And so the idea then became, alright, we have a certain amount of characters we can fit, don't have the luxury of having individual movies of all these characters, I'm getting thrown right into Avengers mode, which is fun and a challenge. But I knew that there were other characters I just couldn't get in, and it actually didn't even make sense to bring in yet for the story. So then it became a matter of, 'Well, who's the big characters that we wanna save?' 'Cause you also don't wanna use everything."

Thus, after the Earthrealm warriors stop the vicious Outworld warriors from their play for the throne before the actual tournament, Cole Young says he's heading to Hollywood to get a new fighter to help them, and as he moves out of frame, we see a movie poster for Johnny Cage — a promise that one of the best MK characters has indeed been saved for Mortal Kombat 2. But this wasn't the only version of a Johnny Cage tease. Here's Russo to explain:

   "Johnny's tease at the end, the button, it changed different ways. I remember there were different versions of it. That poster was something that the design team did, which I love. I picked 'Citizen Cage' 'cause I just thought that was hilarious. 'Fight For Your Rights.' So I picked that and put it in the script and then they designed an amazing poster. And then it had lived in other places, so it actually wasn't the button for awhile, it was earlier in the story, like they were walking and you just see it in the background. And we felt like that just wasn't enough, 'cause you wanted to really hit on it. I remember there was a version for the end where they actually went to the lot. So Cole and Sonya went to the studio lot. I forget what it even was, they pulled up, and they were going to the meeting. It was gonna be shot at Warner Brothers. But it just felt like, with the pandemic and everything, it got to a point where it was hard to do a lot of that. I love the way that it buttons and it's simple. And yeah, hopefully we can tell more of those stories."

So if there was originally a version where the characters head to a studio where Cage is in the middle of filming, does that mean they had an actor cast for the role at one moment? Sadly, according to Russo, he was "never cast, no. I guess that's part of why you see him from the waist down. Filmmaking trick, yeah."

UltimateMarvel wrote:I was expecting to see a tournament in this movie based on the trailer, that kind of clears it up.

Just a month after Godzilla vs. Kong kicked off a much-needed rebound at the box office, two brawny newcomers KO’d the competition with a ferocious one-two punch, easily taking the top two spots in North America this weekend. The double-barreled debuts resulted in the biggest overall theatrical session since the coronavirus pandemic began a little more than a year ago and are just the latest sign that audiences might finally be ready to return to multiplexes after a year of streaming movies at home.

The big winner was Warner Bros.’ Mortal Kombat, which came out of the gate with a muscular $22.5 million bow. It was the second-highest opening-weekend tally since Godzilla vs. Kong’s $31 million haul in March. Despite mixed reviews, the violent, R-rated videogame adaptation (which is also currently streaming on the HBO Max platform) scored an impressive $7,326 per-screen average in 3,073 theaters. The film added another $27.6 million overseas, bringing its worldwide cumulative total to $50.1 million. Despite the strength of Mortal Kombat’s stateside roll-out, the film faced unexpectedly stiff competition from FUNimation Entertainment’s Demon Slayer—The Movie: Mugen Train, an anime action-adventure with a big cult fan base overseas, where it has already become a bona fide blockbuster. The R-rated film pulled in $19.5 million in its opening weekend in North American theaters thanks to a fantastic $12,213 per-screen average in 1,600 theaters. That figure gives the movie the highest domestic per-screen average since Sonic the Hedgehog 14 months ago.

UltimateMarvel wrote:They really did a great job with bringing the levels from the video games to screen and the fatalities were awesome too. One thing I thought they should have left out was their cheesy lines with "Flawless victory" and "Kano wins" because it just takes you out of it. There is no point in saying those lines. If it was a full on tournament then I can understand.

WyldeMan wrote:Oh hell no!!!! Those classic quotes were 100% necessary and essential. I don't know what you mean about them taking you out of it, they're literally what every single fan is hoping/expecting to hear after the fatalities, otherwise it wouldn't be Mortal Kombat.

I absolutely loved both uses, especially "Kano wins....you fuckin beauty" that's my favorite line from the whole damn movie.

Why can they only drop their lines in a tournament you think they need big crowds? These people love creative murder and they especially love celebrating their creative murders with classic victory lines.

Are you even a fan, bro?

UltimateMarvel wrote:Who announces their own victory? Like really think about it. That shit only works in the video games or in a tournament like I said, this is a movie.

WyldeMan wrote:But if they fought in a tournament it would still take place in a movie because you do know this isn't a documentary right? I feel like you just don't truly understand adaptations and the world's that their characters live in. You're trying to compare everything in movies to the world you actually live in instead of accepting the fantasy of a multiverse and understanding that the rules of their world are much different from our own. I'd like to think someone who watches as many superhero movies as you do would have a better grasp of this concept.

UltimateMarvel wrote:The characters and environments already make you feel like you're in a MK world. If you're going for a live action MK world, you don't need those lines except in a tournament with someone calling it. You might as well add that deep voice MK announcer to the movie. It's pure fan service and that just doesn't blend, just focus on the story. Even the bad originals didn't do that. We'll have to agree to disagree on this one.

WyldeMan wrote:The original movies had no fan service and that is not a good thing and should not be your base line for what makes a quality MK movie.

I'd compare the fatality quotes to what Schwarzenegger used to drop with his own versions of one liner fatality quotes to nobody but the corpses after virtually every kill through most of his career. It's a long time staple in action movies.

We will absolutely have to disagree on this one cause I'd have been irate if they'd been left out. I'm at a complete loss for what the hell you thought this movie would be.

It seems like you just wanted a generic martial arts movie that felt like everything else that's come before it instead of accepting that it's already one of the best video game adaptations we've ever gotten and that is largely due to the great fan service.

As a mid-budget project, Warner Bros. were never hanging their hat on the success of the Mortal Kombat reboot, but by all accounts, the martial arts fantasy actioner has over-delivered so far. The theatrical industry is still suffering from the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic, so a $22.5 million domestic opening weekend was huge news, making it just the second film to debut above $20 million since last March.

Heading into this weekend, Mortal Kombat has already recouped its $55 million production costs from cinemas around the world, and it should be turning a profit by the time we get to Monday. When you factor in third party analytics indicating it drew in more HBO Max viewers than Godzilla vs. Kong in its first three days, which the studio touted as their most-watched streaming debut ever, then the video game adaptation can’t be viewed as anything other than a massive hit by the standards of the COVID-19 era.

On that note, we’ve now heard from our sources – the same ones who told us the Snyder Cut of Justice League was heading exclusively to HBO Max long before it was confirmed – that the WB brass are said to be very happy with Mortal Kombat‘s performance, especially when the video game genre has always tended to be hugely inconsistent from both a critical and commercial standpoint. And as such, they’re hoping to continue on with the franchise for a while yet.

Reviews have been mixed so far, but longtime supporters of the extended universe are firmly on board with the idea of Mortal Kombat launching a multi-film series, and it’s almost the textbook example of a movie that’s been designed by the fans for the fans. Luckily, those fans have also spoken with their wallets, and by the time a sequel arrives, the box office will have hopefully returned to normal, and the takings will theoretically skyrocket as a result.

UltimateMarvel wrote:MK 2 2022 maybe? Bring on the tournament!