The Great Tournament Begins in New Mortal Kombat TV Spot

A new TV spot for Warner Bros. Pictures’ highly-anticipated new film adaptation of popular video game franchise Mortal Kombat has been unleashed, featuring some new footage providing viewers a closer look at fan-favorite players such as Liu Kang, Kung Lao, Scorpion, Raiden, and Mileena as they all unleash their unworldly lethal skills in surviving the titular great tournament. The R-rated film is scheduled to arrive in theaters and on HBO Max on April 16 and the video in the player below while the newly released banner poster can be viewed directly below!

The poster highlights two sides of the tournament with lifelong enemies Scorpion and Sub-Zero at the center which also hints at the alliances that will be formed in film. It also featured the introduction of the live-action version of Kabal, who was not included in the first trailer.

Choose your fighter: Cole Young. Sonya Blade. Jax Briggs. Scorpion. Sub-Zero. Shang Tsung. Mileena. Kabal. Mortal Kombat – in theaters and streaming on @HBOMax April 16. #MortalKombatMovie pic.twitter.com/jQ4a7pXVML

— Mortal Kombat Movie (@MKMovie) March 10, 2021

In Mortal Kombat, MMA fighter Cole Young, accustomed to taking a beating for money, is unaware of his heritage—or why Outworld’s Emperor Shang Tsung has sent his best warrior, Sub-Zero, an otherworldly Cryomancer, to hunt Cole down. Fearing for his family’s safety, Cole goes in search of Sonya Blade at the direction of Jax, a Special Forces Major who bears the same strange dragon marking Cole was born with. Soon, he finds himself at the temple of Lord Raiden, an Elder God and the protector of Earthrealm, who grants sanctuary to those who bear the mark. Here, Cole trains with experienced warriors Liu Kang, Kung Lao and rogue mercenary Kano, as he prepares to stand with Earth’s greatest champions against the enemies of Outworld in a high stakes battle for the universe. But will Cole be pushed hard enough to unlock his arcana—the immense power from within his soul—in time to save not only his family, but to stop Outworld once and for all?

The diverse international cast reflects the global nature of the brand, with talent spanning the worlds of film, television and martial arts. The ensemble includes Joe Taslim as Sub Zero; Ludi Lin as Liu Kang; Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade; Josh Lawson as Kano; Tadanobu Asano as Raiden; Mehcad Brooks as Jackson “Jax” Bridges; Chin Han as Shang Tsung; Hiroyuki Sanada as Scorpion; Max Huang as Kung Lao; Sisi Stringer as Mileena; and Lewis Tan.

James Wan (The Conjuring universe, Aquaman) and Todd Garner (Into the Storm, Tag) are producing. Larry Kasanoff, E. Bennett Walsh, Michael Clear and Jeremy Stein are serving as executive producers. Bringing the hugely popular property to the big screen, director Simon McQuoid lead a team of Australian and U.S. filmmakers, including director of photography Germain McMicking (True Detective, Top of the Lake: China Girl), production designer Naaman Marshall (Underwater, Servant), editor Scott Gray (Top of the Lake, Daffodils), and costume designer Cappi Ireland (Lion, The Rover).

The first video game in the series was developed by Midway Games and released in 1992. The storyline sees a diverse range of fighters hailing from eighteen different realms become pitted against one another in an epic tournament. Quite a few sequels followed the original game with the most recent, Mortal Kombat 11, being released earlier this year.

Two Mortal Kombat movies were previously made. The first, simply titled Mortal Kombat, was directed by Paul W.S. Anderson and was released in 1995. It was followed two years later with a sequel, Annihilation, which also paved the way for two television series: the animated Defenders of the Realm and the live-action Konquest. Two web series have been released based on the property as well from director Kevin Tancharoen.