Mortal Kombat is one of those IPs that should have a host of films to its name instead of only three. In the 90s, hot off the success of the original games trilogy, Midway- the former franchise owners- immediately created a live-action Mortal Kombat movie. The film arrived at the perfect point in Mortal Kombat's ascent in the zeitgeist and became successful enough to merit a sequel. The sequel, titled Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, ventured too far into self-parody and tanked the prospect of future films for almost three decades.
Depending on who you ask, both Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat: Annihilation qualify for the title of the best film in the franchise for different reasons. However, the most recent Mortal Kombat movie, which debuted on HBO Max in 2021, was met with a disastrous critical reception. Despite embarrassing reviews, Mortal Kombat enjoyed a successful box office run and is slated for a sequel with the first film's director still attached.
After the most recent Mortal Kombat pic overachieved at box office, New Line is ready to get back in to the arena on a sequel. Sources tell Deadline that Simon McQuoid is set to return as director for the follow-up to the 2021 action-adventure hit.
The feature opened No. 1 at the box office and ranks among the top feature titles ever on HBO Max since the platform launched. While some point to F9 or A Quiet Place Part II as the pics that led crowds back to theaters post-pandemic, Mortal Kombat was one of the early features to take a crack to gauging audiences' interest in returning to theaters — and the results surprised many, especially since the film premiered day-and-date on HBO Max. Execs were quick to get a sequel in development, and one of the first orders of business was bringing McQuoid back to direct.
The 2021 pic was produced by Atomic Monster's James Wan, Broken Road Production's Todd Garner, Simon McQuoid, and E. Bennett Walsh. McQuoid directed from a screenplay by Greg Russo and Dave Callaham, from a story by Oren Uziel and Russo, based on the video game created by Ed Boon and John Tobias. Richard Brener, Dave Neustadter, Victoria Palmeri, Michael Clear, Jeremy Stein and Larry Kasanoff served as executive producers.
https://deadline.com/2022/07/mortal-kombat-sequel-simon-mcquoid-1235073203/
