New Line Cinema is gearing up for some more fatalities. The studio has tapped Simon McQuoid to return to direct the sequel to “Mortal Kombat,” sources confirmed to Variety.
McQuoid, who made his feature directorial debut with the 2021 film adaptation of the beloved fighting video game series, will direct the sequel from a script penned by Jeremy Slater. The sequel will be the fourth overall film in the “Mortal Kombat” film franchise, after the original film in 1995 and its sequel “Annihilation” in 1997.
The 2021 film was a reboot to the film franchise, focusing on Cole Young (Lewis Tan), an original character to the franchise. A washed-up mixed martial arts fighter, Young who is suddenly hunted by the assassin Sub-Zero (Joe Taslim) and ends up dragged into the world of “Mortal Kombat,” a series of tournaments between champions of the Earthrealm and the chaotic Outworld. The film did not feature an official Mortal Kombat tournament, but ended with a tease for one in the sequel. Aside from Sub-Zero, characters from the video games who were featured included Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee), Kano (Josh Lawson), Jax Briggs (Mehcad Brooks), Liu Kang (Ludi Lin), Kung Lao (Max Huang), Raiden (Tadanobu Asano), Shang Tsung (Chin Han) and Scorpion (Hiroyuki Sanada).
“Mortal Kombat” premiered in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, via a simultaneous release in theaters and on HBO Max. The film was a modest success, opening at number one at the box office and grossing $84 million worldwide against a $55 million budget. The title was also HBO Max’s most-successful film launch at the time.
“Mortal Kombat” was produced by James Wan, Todd Garner, Simon McQuoid and E. Bennett Walsh. The screenplay was penned by Greg Russo and Dave Callaham, from a story by Russo and Oren Uziel. Richard Brener, Dave Neustadter, Victoria Palmeri, Michael Clear, Jeremy Stein and Larry Kasanoff served as executive producers, with New Line Cinema serving as the studio.
Prior to making his directorial debut with “Mortal Kombat,” McQuoid had extensive experience working with video games, having directed commercials for Xbox, PlayStation, “Call of Duty” and “Halo 3.” The Australian director is currently in development on a sci-fi thriller “Omega” for Sony.
McQuiod is repped by Daniel Cohan and attorney Gregory Slewitt.
Deadline first reported the news of McQuoid’s return to “Mortal Kombat.”
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