Plenty of Mortal Kombat fans were excited last year when a “concept trailer,” Mortal Kombat: Rebirth, popped up online, with a very new, very gritty take on the popular video game franchise. That trailer turned out to be the work of director Kevin Tancharoen, who, without the studio’s participation in the making of the short, wanted to show Warner Bros. (who hold the rights to MK) what he would do, if given the chance to make a new Mortal Kombat feature film.
Well, it looks like Warner Bros. did take notice of Tancharoen’s work and the positive attention it got, though a movie is not the result. Instead, Bloody Disgusting reports that Tancharoen will be directing a 10-episode Mortal Kombat webseries. Tancharoen, Todd Helbing and Aaron Helbing will write the webseries (the Helbing brothers both write for Spartacus: Blood and Sand, alongside Tancharoen’s sister, Dr. Horrible writer Maurissa Tancharoen), while Michael Jai White will reprise his role from the short as Jax.
Bloody Disgusting say they hear Shang Tsung, Liu Kang, Sub Zero, Durak, Kabal, Kitana/Mileena and Scorpion will also appear, with casting underway. It’s not clear if any cast members besides White will return from the short, which will film in Vancouver next month. Jeri Ryan (Star Trek: Voyager) played Sonya Blade in the short, but may be too busy with her new series Body of Proof to appear in the webseries. [Update:poptimal.com reports that Ian Anthony Dale is also set to return from the short as Scorpion.]
Bloody Disgusting writes, “The only plot details we could conjure up is that a few Earthlings will fight to save the planet from Shao Kahn and Shang Tsung, two Gods ruling over parallel universes, or something to that effect.” This is the one curious (and perhaps incorrect?) part of the story, given how the trailer was much more rooted in a real world take on the Mortal Kombat story.
While there may be disappointment that there still is no new Mortal Kombat film, it’s hard not to ponder that Warner Bros. hiring Tancharoen to do the webseries might not be the next big step in proving to the studio that there is life in the Mortal Kombat franchise – and that a film could still happen, should the webseries be positively received. There’s no word yet on a release date or official title for the webseries.
via: ign
VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
please wait...
Rating: 7.8/10 (4 votes cast)
VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rating: +3 (from 3 votes)
Mortal Kombat Webseries Coming, 7.8 out of 10 based on 4 ratings
Mortal Kombat Kicks ass! Been Playing since the original!