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News
Midway, Threshold Collecting Quarters for Mortal Kombat Reboot
"Re-envisioning" seeks to "capture the magic" of the first film.
by Jeff Giles | February 11, 2008
Discuss Article
Admit it: you've been wondering what's going on with that new Mortal Kombat movie, haven't you?

What's that? You haven't? Well, tough luck -- the project's director, mink (yes, just one name, no capital letter), recently checked in with Moviehole with an update on when you can expect to hear someone screaming "Finish him!" at a theater near you.

According to Moviehole, mink -- whose previous credits include Steven Seagal's Into the Sun -- says financing for the new Kombat is being arranged, and reminds us that putting together this type of film isn't as easy as it looks:

"[It's a] re-envisioning (if that is a word) of the Mortal Kombat franchise from top to bottom. Today's audience is a savvy, involved group, so the film must be A plus plus in every area in order to capture the magic of the first film. It is taking the entire concept to the next level across the board in every area -- visual design, story, cast, FX, photography and, most importantly, the fighting scenes. "The original Mortal Kombat game was born a child of many visual loves by the creators at Midway, so this latest version borrows heavily from that pioneering spirit and must be thought out and executed at the highest level in order for it succeed in today's marketplace. This is no overnight task."

In order to ensure that necessary A-plus effort across the board, mink says the film's producers have scuttled Drew McWeeny (stop that giggling right now) and Scott Swan's original script, and are writing the new one themselves, along with "their writers at Threshold Studios -- in conjunction with Midway, of course."

Source: Moviehole

Related Items
Movie: Into the Sun
Celeb: Steven Seagal
mink
Drew McWeeny
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Comments (1-20 of 56 posts) | Reply
Warheart1188
Warheart1188 writes:
on Feb 11 2008 05:48 AM

Lets hope it's more like MK1 and not cheesy like MK Annihilation, even though MK1 wasn't that great.

(Reply to this)
Oblivioncry
Oblivioncry writes:
on Feb 11 2008 05:50 AM

the magic of the first film?????

the magic was in the title song, and the ridicoulsness MK is.

i have very low hopes for this. especially if a guy 'mink' is working on it...


(Reply to this)
Elixor
Elixor writes:
on Feb 11 2008 05:51 AM

*shudder*

There's no magic to capture from the first movie. So far the movies have all failed to capture the mystique of the video game, that for me really hit starting with the second Mortal Kombat game.


(Reply to this)
Oblivioncry
Oblivioncry writes:
on Feb 11 2008 05:51 AM

aRGH...i cant resist:

MORTAL KOMBAT !!!
TEDADA TEDADA TEDADA TEADAD
MORTAL KOMBAT!!!


(Reply to this)
Shatter24
Shatter24 writes:
on Feb 11 2008 05:55 AM

How do you blow a decent action franchise? Replace the capable director Paul W.S. Anderson of the original film, with the "fight choreographer" in the second. The guy had no prior directing experience and it showed on screen, as M.K. Annihalation was one overdone action scene moving to the next (w/ barely any story in-between). When you can't even get Christopher Lambert to return, you know you've got problems with the script.

The films really needed to be large in scope and working towards a potential trilogy (the backdrop is that Shao Kahn, ruler of another dimension, wants to do anything he can to rule this world). The first film worked really well and showed (at least to me) that a video game adaptation could work on the big screen. And then #2 came out . . .


(Reply to this)
fullmetalnek
fullmetalnek writes:
on Feb 11 2008 06:19 AM

The magic of the first film???...jajaja...that was hilarious!

Well, at least I hope "mink" (jaja) makes it as gory as the videogames.


(Reply to this)
LordVapor
LordVapor writes:
on Feb 11 2008 06:46 AM

Just remember the important thing is, avoid this at the movie theatre at all cost!!!

:)

Have the feeling that they will try to "spice up" the original theme song by instead of having it be a techno based tune, they will do some emo b.s.

RUN!!!!!!!


(Reply to this)
xenogears
xenogears writes:
on Feb 11 2008 06:50 AM

The first one was great for what it was....A movie based off a tournament fighting game. It had great (at the time) fight scenes and graphics. The second one sucked monkey, just low class everything. I'm so hoping this one does better than that last thing (I refuse to call MK:A a movie).

(Reply to this)
citizenjames
citizenjames writes:
on Feb 11 2008 07:16 AM

In reply to this comment (#1567754)
paul ws anderson is capable? sell that crap to the tourists... i'm not buying. this is the same guy responsible for MORTAL KOMBAT, EVENT HORIZON, RESIDENT EVIL, ALIENS VS PREDATOR and SOLDIER? they're all a mess and SOLIDER was written by david webb peoples, the screenwriter for BLADE RUNNER, UNFORGIVEN and TWELVE MONKEYS... you tell me who dropped the ball there.

making a movie out of a fight game is like making a movie out of MADDEN football. there is just enough plot and character in those games to justify the premise of a "secret fight competition" and if you don't have a fight sequence every ten minutes your fans are going to hate you. anything else, then it isn't the game.


(Reply to this)
Renaisauce
Renaisauce writes:
on Feb 11 2008 07:20 AM

It's a good thing there were so many awful movies made during the 20th Century or Hollywood wouldn't have any franchises to reboot. I hope somebody steps up to the plate to reimagine the Super Mario Brothers movie. I don't think King Kuppa got the A-list treatment that a villain of his caliber deserved.

(Reply to this)
Foxwood
Foxwood writes:
on Feb 11 2008 07:51 AM

The magic of the first movie was that it was so rediquisly cheesy and loved by early 90's kids, and that can't be transplanted into cinima ten years later, becides the games arn't populer anymore eather. I remember seeing the movie being pumped going home and playing MK singging the theam song that was the magic.

(Reply to this)
frogleg
frogleg writes:
on Feb 11 2008 08:02 AM

Somebody ate too many retard sandwiches over in Hollywood.

(Reply to this)
TombstoneLawDog
TombstoneLawDog writes:
on Feb 11 2008 08:02 AM

Here's my take, having been a very young adult when the 'magic' happened (Frosh in college, Summer of '95).

You had half a dozen suck-as# video adaptations that had recently come out, and they all sucked and tanked accordingly- Super Mario Bro's (Ed Hoskins and John Leguizamo!??!), Double Dragon (Scott Wolf and somebody else as martial arts brothers?!), and the inimitable Street Fighter, with the original Muscles-(and-no-acting-coach)-from-Brussels, Van Damme. Tragically, that was also to be Raul Julia's last big screen performance (as M. Bison).
As the original radio ad for MK said: "What do all these movies have in common? THEY ALL SUCKED" (no joke. Funniest commercial I heard all that year).

Compared to these movies, MK#1 was INDEED magic, because it actually understood exactly what its purpose was; be an angry rock video featuring characters with specific powers/abilities fighting and looking cool to the music. I even dug the Christopher Lambert cameo. And they actually spent more than $50 on the special effects.

And then the moment passed, people moved on and the magic was lost (see, e.g., MK#2). Let's not romanticize this just to make a buck. And for the love of all that is holy, let's NOT get a director who's name invokes visions of outerwear for Pimps and 'queens.


(Reply to this)
salsafish
salsafish writes:
on Feb 11 2008 08:13 AM

The more they divorce themselves from the now aging game, the better off the movie will be. Popular and cool (just bite your tongue) characters like Scorpion, Subzero, or Raiden must be given priority over the others, which tend to be goofy or bland. Throwing random characters into the blender to please a tiny minority of people aged 30-35 will turn it into another Mortal Kombat on ice, like the other sequels.

(Reply to this)
Shatter24
Shatter24 writes:
on Feb 11 2008 08:16 AM

I'm going to take a moment and defend Paul Anderson. He is asked to make action movies entertaining and he does what he is requested.

Are the people who post on this website really just Academy Award suck ups, and actually prefer Atonement, The Bell and the Butterfly, Sweeney Todd, and There Will Be Blood to action and sci-fi classics like Aliens, Blade Runner, The Matrix, Spiderman, and Star Wars. What is in your home movie library, really? I rarely purchase Oscar nominees except in visual and sound effect categories and I'm willing to wager most of the post-ees here are the same.

Next, Paul Anderson makes movies going from decent to really good. Short of Event Horizon (which is arguable) maybe none of his movies are "great" but they are often good for what he is given to work with. Mortal Kombat was a video game and he made it an interesting film, w/ fun visuals, decent characters, and a good plot. The same for the rest of his films. Personally, I think Soldier is an underrated film that few know of or had a chance to appreciate.

My opinions of his films (compared to other action/sci-fi) is Event Horizon A-, Resident Evil B , Mortal Kombat B, Soldier B, and Alien v Predator C . That is not a bad filmography, and certainly much better than the hacks who often ruin the series after him (RE2, MK2, AvP2). Who here doesn't watch these movies occassionally for pleasure, let alone own a few of them?

A little respect for Mr. Anderson who is good at what he does and produces what he's asked by studios to produce.


(Reply to this)
Shatter24
Shatter24 writes:
on Feb 11 2008 08:19 AM

Resident Evil B plus, is what I meant to write above.

(Reply to this)
Shatter24
Shatter24 writes:
on Feb 11 2008 08:20 AM

Resident Evil B plus, is what I meant to write above.

And Alien v. Predater C plus. For some reason the plus symbol doesn't work on this site.


(Reply to this)
deneco4
deneco4 writes:
on Feb 11 2008 08:24 AM

This is gonna suck

(Reply to this)
Havokdx
Havokdx writes:
on Feb 11 2008 08:41 AM

The only way that a new mortal combat will be any good is if there is blood and finishing moves involved. The first one was ok but not nearly as good as it should have been. The only way I will be seeing a new one is if there is an R rating, otherwise it is gonna suck.

(Reply to this)
Gimy
Gimy writes:
on Feb 11 2008 08:49 AM

haha, such irony. i FINALLY saw Annihilation last week and it was absolute garbage. the first one was good but after watching the sequel...i thought "well, its a matter of time before they REDO this series". haha...this might suck in epic-like proportions...

the second one(i'm only aware of one sequel by the way) was horrible because it played like a Power Rangers show, the entire atmosphere and vibe was so cheap. the fight scenes were laughable as well. COULD this new film be good? yeah, action movies are almost like horrors...they're pretty simple to tell. the problem is if the budget sucks, you're not going to attract anybody. you also will have horrible cgi and the fight scenes won't be crisp. get a bunch of low rent movie action guys(vinnie jones, maggie Q, ray park) and add in a Jason Stathom or something and you have a DECENT idea. if you get those guys, you at least have people who are established. thats better than no names and a no name fight cheographer. but, odds are this will suck so bad it'll be straight to beta...


(Reply to this)
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