New Mortal Kombat Feature Film Announced By Warner Bros.

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It’s been a long, crazy road for Kevin Tancharoen. First, he directed a Mortal Kombat short film, Mortal Kombat: Rebirth, and planned to present it to Warner Bros. as a pitch for a full-length Mortal Kombat movie. When that short film found its way onto YouTube, it became a hit with Mortal Kombat fans around the world, but the success of the short film wasn’t enough for Warner Bros. to green light a feature film.

Warner Bros. did, however, allow Tancharoen to direct a web series based on Mortal Kombat: Rebirth. Apparently, that series (which was called Mortal Kombat: Legacy) and the success of NetherRealm‘s recent Mortal Kombat reboot are enough to make Warner Bros. want to pursue a new Mortal Kombat feature film – they announced today that a new Mortal Kombat movie will be produced and they’ve assigned Tancharoen to direct it.

Yes, there will be a new Mortal Kombat movie. The last time this happened, the results weren’t that great. The original Mortal Kombat movie was released in 1995 and was met with mixed reviews from critics and open arms from fans, but then when Mortal Kombat: Annihilation was released in 1997, it was absolutely terrible.

Hopefully this new Mortal Kombat will be able to flourish at the hands of Tancharoen. If you ask me, his really gritty live-action take on the Mortal Kombat universe made for a very compelling web series, and I have full faith that he’ll be able to do a Mortal Kombat feature film the justice it deserves.

At the moment, Warner Bros. is hoping to begin work on this Mortal Kombat flick next year and release it sometime in 2013, but there’s a small problem that’s holding up production of a Mortal Kombat film. Lawrence Kasanoff, the man who produced the first two Mortal Kombat films, has brought litigation against Warner Bros., saying that he hasn’t been paid royalties he’s entitled to. According to the Los Angeles Times, those close to the project are saying that they think Warner Bros. and Kasanoff are close to striking some kind of settlement though, so production should be able to begin soon.

I don’t know about you, but I’m definitely excited to see Mortal Kombat get another shot on the silver screen. Keep it tuned here to TFTS and we’ll be sure to bring you more details about this project as they develop!