The “Mortal Kombat” series is getting the reboot treatment. Multiple outlets are reporting that the series, which hasn’t had an official film release in almost 15 years, has found a home with New Line Cinema. The reason? An aspiring director's pitch to Warner Bros. that turned into a viral sensation.
The order of events to bring about the reboot is not entirely conventional. After the second film, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, tanked at the box office, the brand laid dormant in the film world while it licked its wounds and attempted to recapture its (former) glory in the game market.
Then, last year, an eight-minute short film called Mortal Kombat: Rebirth, directed by Kevin Tancharoen and written by Oren Uziel, made its way online as a pitch to incite interest in a live-action series once more. Despite a lot of confusion — folks were not sure if the short was meant to promote a new film or game — the short generated enough buzz to allow Tancharoen and Uziel to create a 10-part Web series Mortal Kombat: Legacy.
The reception and following of “Legacy” was strong enough to give New Line (owned by Warner Bros.) an incentive to bring about a reboot, most likely using the new(ish) realism-based universe established by Tancharoen and Uziel, who will of course direct and write the feature seeing as New Line most likely believes in that vision more so than the property. No word yet on whether any of their original stars, from the first short or Web series, will reprise their roles, but the success of this pitch is a touch unconventional (in a good way) and could open the door to a number of other projects, notably in the world of adapting games to films. You saw that Portal short, right?