I hope you weren't hinging your dreams on a future career as a comedian, Grimm...

Look at all the games-to-film adaptations and then look at the ones that did it close to the source material, or as close as they were willing to go. Only ones I can think of that were popular or remotely popular were Tomb Raider and the first Mortal Kombat. The first Mortal Kombat was '95, right? If I were a film producer/invester and worked at, say WB, and I didn't play video games, you'd have to show me something drastic to put my money into something that's already failed horribly.

In this day and age, it's going to be rare that someone in that position actually put their faith into doing something justice by going straight from the source material. It took people from the the late 80's to just 5 years ago to get Batman right and it's still not a complete faithful telling.

If WB would go for it, I'd say do it. The trailer was obviously just thrown together for a what-if scenario so there's nothing saying there won't be anything else related to MK there. I was thinking about it last night and came up with this scenario:

So the city is thrown into peril because of the murders happening. The man known as Shang Tsung is thought to be behind them so Jax and Sonya throw an action star into the mix as a special undercover agent to figure things out. Cage gets in and Tsung, seeing what kind of warrior he is, tells him about the tournament and invites him. Wwhen Tsung learns of Cage's true reasons for being there, sends Baraka to assassinate him. After doing so, it leaves Jax and Sonya no other option but to go with Scorpion, who's being held for murdering the older Sub-Zero. When they confront him about there being a younger brother, Scorpion agrees to join the tournament.

Now, here's where it could either go okay or terrible. I wouldn't be surprised if some other elements of MK are now included. The tournament begins and we start to see other characters like Kitana, Mileena, Kung Lao, ext. So, say Jax and Sonya send one of their own, Stryker, to keep watch over Scorpion but he's quickly taken out in the tournament by a black dragon member, Kano, who has ties to Sonya's past and is wanted for countless murders and is also there with fellow black dragon member Kabal. Sonya goes to join the tournament and is followed by Jax who doesn't want to see her run in and immediately get taken out.

We could see Reptile don his green outfit and start jumping onto people and gnawing at their faces like several of his fatalities. We could see Baraka slashing and thrashing. Hell, we could even see Jax fighting and he gets one or both of his arms ripped off, thus requiring the bionic set of arms. We could see Kitana and Mileena being sisters (not a carpon copy clone) but Mileena, jealous of her sister almost like two teens and one is a dork and the other is a cheerleader dating a jock, was hideously disfigured by a fire and wears a mask to cover most of the scars on her face and her voice is horribly deepened. Kitana can still have her fans and wear the traditional blue.

Scorpion, when fighting, can wear the yellow of a mesh of armor like later renditions in Deception and what-not. Characters like Kung Lao can be introduced as illegal immigrants that came to America just for the tournament and he can be after Shang Tsung for his own personal revenge over some matter. Sub-Zero enters and along with Scorpion have an epic clash. When the fight starts going Scorpions way, Sub-Zero can start pulling out the ice moves, which freak the hell out of Jax and Sonya who are watching. They can then start introducing the fact that Shang Tsung is really a sorcerer and can watch him steal a soul or two and it can act as a twist halfway through the film. They can then start going into the 'some of the warriors are from an alternate dimension, blah blah blah, called Outworld where instead of Presidents, there is one ruler, a king, named Shao Kahn', or whatever. There could also be real fatalities, like for one, I would love to see Kano fighting with Sonya watching in the background. Kano stuns the guy, pulls out his combat knife, stabs the dude and then rips his heart out, and holds it above his head as it stops beating.

Also, say some of the fighting doesn't take place in the same place. Sure, it's all "underground" but they could have different arenas, like an old subway station, or an overgrown courtyard, or an old concrete bridge (see where I'm going with this?)

Shang Tsung becomes defeated and escapes back to Outworld, taking survivors like, say, Baraka, with him. Kahn, furious, decides to attempt to invade the realm because of losing so many of his warriors or to get back his daughter, Kitana, who changed sides or whatever the hell they can come up with, leading to sequels where they can then start to introduce other characters like Raiden and Fujin to get into the whole there are gods and stuff, introduce the cyberninjas like Cyrax and Sektor, Liu Kang as the savior who'll put an end to Kahn, other characters like Noob Saibot, Rain, Sindel and Jade. It could serve as its own unique universe and take on MK that has no ties and doesn't affect the games at all. If done well, it could bring in a while new generation of MK fans who could then transition over to the games, or vice-versa, people from the games becoming fans of the film franchise.

It could be a new way to put a fresh spin on the mythology and the characters. There's absolutely no harm in it if they start to add in that mythology. Not all characters have to stay the same, some can be altered like Reptile and Baraka, but a fresh take here and there on some of them could be interesting to see develop. If it were to flop and be unsuccessful then so be it and it can just disappear from mainstream like Mortal Kombat Conquest, but if it were to work and they start incorporating Outworld and more fan-favorite characters with new mind-boggling twists, it could be rather fun and mind-blowing.

While I understand what you are trying to do there KenshiMaster, I would rather them not do that. I like your idea and how you want to incorporate the original MK mytho into it, but I for one, don't want any original MK mytho in it.

What was shown in that reel was enough of the original MK mytho for me (e.g Scorpion's real name, Reptile severing peoples head and eating it, Johnny Cage being an action movie star, etc.).

For a while now, I've been hoping for this to be a re-imagining of the MK series, and now there is a chance that it might be.

Totally, I'm just trying to point out that MK can be re-imagined in a number of different ways, that more-than-likely being one of them. It can be done as a complete re-start or it could still incorporate different elements and work without being 100% or even 60% faithful to the source material.

Yeah, that was my kneejerk reaction right after seeing it for the first time.

I'll be honest, after watching it a few more times, I'd say:

1) This is actually kinda gross. Reptile eating human skin? Did I really need to see that?

2) I honestly don't like that so many characters have had their origin stories completely changed.

This might not bother casual fans who might indeed look at this as Dark Knight answer to MK, but I'd rather they just stuck to the human characters and kept their origins, rather than bring in the Baraka's and Reptile's of MK and change them around completely.

Of course, I'm coming from a hardcore MK fan perspective.

3) I like the idea of MK growing up a bit in terms of characters and style. That's more or less what I meant by "realism." Razor and others might think that MK is Outworld and fireballs etc, but I don't.

That's not to take away any validity of his opinion though, and okay, I don't mind the fireballs or the special moves etc, but all of the realms, the nonhuman races etc, all of that was my least favorite aspect of MK games, so I don't really feel the need to see them in movies.

I mean, is there really a way to do the realms, monsters etc without making it look campy? I know that Lord of the Rings can pull it off, but how could Mortal Kombat? Oh well, I guess anything's possible, but I'm not a huge fan of that aspect of MK.

To wrap this up, I can honestly say that I don't need MK to be this brutal and I don't need the characters to be so drastically altered from their original conceptions. If we're talking about the more fantastical elements that might make a movie a bit campy, then just leave them out. Stick to humans, the fighting tournament etc. Alter the formula a little if you need to, but Reptile and Baraka were too much for me.

This whole thing is nuthing but an over-due April fool's joke.

LOL I'm all for it and I used to be, and still am, all about the MK storyline. But there's nothing wrong with an "alternate universe" so-to-speak. A few years back, I even drafted up a some-what MK Bible for storylines, put them all in order (including Mythologies and stuff) and wrote it out like one long-ass novel. And I've read it several times as well.


WOW, I just realized I'm a dork.

I was skeptical of this sort of video but after hearing your ideas I like where this potential film may go. It's very similar to how Tarantino filmed "From Dusk Till Dawn" You think it's a hostage moviea nd crime film but about halfway into the film it gets crazy with Vampires and all of that. The introduction of supernatural abilities and other worlds would most definatley work. Nice ideas man.

Essentially they made Reptile and Baraka human as possibly digestible as it can be. What Dr. Zane / Baraka did to his face is possible, hypodermic procedures can do that (bulging forehead for example).

Reptile's skin disease is fatal. EDIT: THIS STUFF IS REAL, JESUS CHRIST and WAY TO GO at the same time. Turns out Nusrit Shaheen is as old as I am. Good luck:

http://www.birminghampost.net/news/west-midlands-health-news/2008/05/09/nelly-is-a-real-diamond-girl-65233-20886612/

So there you have it. A living Harlequin Ichtyosis-sufferer who lives as any of us would, except she has to bathe frequently - her skin growing 10x faster than normal... So, given that Reptile is a freak, this passes on as really plausible.

So I do not really see the problem. We have the almost 100% equivalent of the closest thing resembling Reptile and Baraka in the real world...

AAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!

I truly hope this idea NEVER EVER EVER makes it in any form: movie, game, book, etc.

This is NOT Mortal Kombat. It's an insult to the series and to the beautiful mythology and fantasy that we all fell in love with.

I hope WB picks up the MK franchise, I hope they remake the movies, I hope they star doing all that craziness that was lived during the 90's (comic books, toys, cards, games, cloth, etc), but remaining LOYAL, REAL, and TRUTHFUL to what MK really is.

This is just some stupid "cop-horror" show with lame uncreative ideas, badly thought, that's simply using Mortal Kombat star names.

Sure, I love that Sonya, Jax, and Johnny Cage were fantastic in their own little roles (+ great acting), and maybe these are a few of the characters that won't get violated if this idea is ever accepted, but what about the rest? There will be absolutely no magic, fantasy, mythology, and in essence, there will be NO Mortal Kombat.

I'm actually so disappointed with what I saw that I only watched this stupid thing once. I'll watch it again and risk puking all over my laptop.

The only things right about this lame horrible idea is that the direction looks OK, the fight scene was cool, the acting was great, and that they keep using Sonya, Johnny Cage, Jax, Scorpion and Sub-Zero as major iconic characters to promote and support the franchise.

They did well using recognizable popular and iconic names, that was a smart move. But it still sucks.

EDIT!!!!!!!:

After watching this piece or horrible ideas again, I've got to say that Jax was freaking annoying and predictable. I really disliked the acting for him. It was so forced. And WTF, "Scorpion" is going to be the one in charge of killing everyone? The "champion"? Wow.

Suit yourself.


But I still would rather have this than to live through another session of MK classic. So thank you in advance for your wish to sink this project before anyone could see the results, and let alone have fun while watching it. Let alone playing it.

Because we all know that the very existence of this trailer and project somehow compromises everything MK has achieved in good heart throughout the decades and will invalidate everything including fanart that has been made up to this point. it obviously has to, as it is different to the core.

Yes, but again, where was it ever stated or shown that there would be no magic, fantasy or mythology? It was never said, shown or hinted at that it wouldn't be there. It leaves it all wide open and just showed a few examples of how certain characters could be taken in a realistic direction. All Shang Tsung has going for him is the sorcery so how could they realistically change that? They can't. Mortal Kombat is what it is, and if characters like Sub-Zero and Shang Tsung are there, there will be certain elements of magic, I'm sure. That's like if Nolan's Batman took away all the cool gadgets.

It's just a video to attract people's attention for a possible re-boot, it never showed there wouldn't be any of the staples like magic and sorcery that MK is known for. Hell, for all we know, Reptile could puke up acid or something.

Queve: "Change is bad, m'kay?"

*facepalm*

I've come to believe over the past several years that any direction for the series Chrome disagrees with is the right one. Using the word "90's" to describe EVERY element of the characters and storyline so far whether it fits or not, all that fan art you've done where every character is wearing ridiculously thick samurai armor...you got no taste, dude.
Anyway...

You're reaching. If there was going to be magic, they wouldn't have re-imagined both of the two Outworld race characters into humans with problems. A magic-less Shang Tsung is possible, it just gives you Mr. Han, the villain of Enter the Dragon. A crime boss.

You know what, I'm gonna be like those of you who don't like it and act as if my opinion is all that matters.

Mortal Kombat, as you guys and gals know it, sucks. Sonya sucks, Sub-Zero sucks, Scorpion sucks, etc...it all sucks. Thank God now SOMEONE got the hint to do something like this and make it realistic and plausible. I mean, if this game isn't EXACTLY like that 7 minute reel, and I mean exactly like it, I won't even consider buying this game. I don't want one thing to be different. If Baraka has cornrows instead of dread locks, I'm gonna be pissed and throw a temper tantrum.

Fuck magic, fuck mythology, and fuck what we know as Mortal Kombat. You guys want magic? Go play some pokemon or D&D or some shit like that. The way you guys make MK sound, with all your magic talk, is like a fucking comic book convention. That video that we saw is the new Mortal Kombat. And you want to know why? Because I love it and my opinion is fucking law.

Can I take that as a compliment?

I just like to evaluate a material on it's own merits. That is all. Evidently we all have different tastes in entertainment. So far I see a martial arts thriller. That I have not seen before. Evidently not in game format anyways.

It being MK is just icing. Just as MK being MK is just icing. What the material contains is what defines it. Not the brand.

It doesn't have to be stated that the magic, fantasy, or mythology won't be there. It's blatantly obvious due to the backstories they've presented for Baraka and Reptile.

No Tarkatans from the Wastelands of Outworld....
No reptillian race from Zaterra....

So what's next? No Outworld or other realms PERIOD?!?!
So Shao Kahn is going to be the President and CEO of a world dominating company who want's to take over? Shang Tsung is his VP?

Kintaro will be Kahn's right-hand pimp who wears a tiger-striped costume?

It's hard enough to think of how they'll incorporpate Sindel, Kitana, Jade, Rain... What? Some rich ass royal family from Japan who want to help the United States stop Kahn because he already bought out Japan's fashion line? Now he's after the Western World's Fashion influence and then mainstreem media and Hollywood? I guess a cross dressing fashion sensative Liu Kang will save the day?

Give me a fucking break!!!

The violent, dark, and gritty nature of the Rebirth video is awesome. The "realistic" explanations for everything.... DISGUSTINGLY TERRIBLE.

It's not really reaching. Magic could still be incorporated as well as the mythology. No one would ever ground a series that much into reality, it would never work for any franchise. Again, all the teaser showed was a what-if scenario featuring certain characters that were shown in a realistic fashion. Hell, look at Scorpions eyes in the end, if that doesn't hint that he's still a spectre, I don't know what does.

If Batman were to be ground that much into reality, then the movie would only be thirty minutes long because his parents would die, he'd grow up mentally unstable, put on the batsuit, buy a bunch of crap using his billions, people would suddenly realize it's the only man in Gotham who could spend that much, and then be arrested for being a vigilante.

As I put into my long post above, it can all easily be put-through a new fashion including some regular elements and still come off semi-realistic. Obviously, I don't go into the theater and watch something like The Dark Knight and Tomb Raider and go "OMG Its so realistic I could go home tomorrow and do the same stuff!.1.!1.!" lol

I see your core point, but remember, every post is a vote. If I sound frustrated or angry, it's because I want potential film-makers to know exactly what my assessment is. I agree 100% with Razor and Queve and the rest, and I've always believed that if you want to affect the course of a game's development, post at a forum.

I'm not trashing people who appreciate this new take on MK, but I will do everything in my power to make sure it doesn't get made.


Fucking lol

yesssss boy you better preach!!!

Oh I can guess exactly how they'd do it. First of all, if you notice, the plot of this thing seems to be set entirely within a single city. So imagine everything as small-scale as you possibly can.

Shang Tsung is probably an underboss in the local mafia and Shao Kahn is the Don he answers to. Kitana and Mileena are almost certainly prostitutes or hitwomen who pose as prostitutes to get close to the Don's enemies. Mileena probably got her face cut up by a John. Don't be surprised if Sindel is the brothel madam. If there's any Raiden at all, maybe he's the mayor or the police codename for "project let Scorpion kill everybody" is Operation: Raiden or something like that. I bet Goro is conjoined twins.

Let's see what other characters we can suck the fun out of...

Not just my wish.

And this is not Mortal Kombat. It shouldn't even be referred to as Mortal Kombat. It just uses the character names and borrows elements from the storyline creating a big pile of you-know-what.



I'm sorry but seeing the mutant known as Baraka, who is from another realm called Outworld, where happy magical things can happen, screwed into some lame failed crazy Doctor who likes to mutilate himself is enough to screw up with everything we know.

Yeah, there could be some fantasy and mythology, but if they start to drastically change and ruin these things, what can we expect?

Kitana might be the damsel-in-distress bitch of the games, but I don't want to see that happen LITERALLY and suddenly have her as an official prostitute trying to redeem herself from her past sins (sex and drugs...wow). Get the idea?



I understand. And I also understand they can implement certain elements of the games into the characters like your example of Reptile puking acid, BUT that thing we saw is not Reptile. Its a new different human character, a psychotic human mutant, who happens to do a few Mk things.

What else? Is he also a great Martial Artist like the surgical Doctor Baraka?

I really really dislike this whole idea. Its just not Mortal Kombat.

Funny you say that about goro... I made a post about him and others in a previous thread that talks about the origins. You're ideasd actually make some sense

At the end of the day, if Boon likes it, if WB likes it, the director and everyone involved, and it's generating buzz on the web and enough people are happy, it won't matter how many people hate it, it'll get made. How do I know? I'm a Bond fan. I love the Bond franchise and because of one terrible film (Die Another Day), the franchise was rebooted. They cast a man with blonde hair to play a man who's been written as having dark hair and they made the character a man of the war on terrorism and born in the 80s instead of an agent of the cold war and born in the 40's.

That, for me, was sacrilegious, so I know where all of you are coming from. They are even now rebooting the Bond novels as well, so there won't be any form of original continuity left in my beloved franchise. But, when Casino Royale came out, even though they changed drastically just about everything in one shape or form, I loved it. I gave it a shot. I went in expected to fully hate it and I came out pleased. I was expecting the worst out of everything but I was pleasantly surprised. Bond is known for the womanizing, being the expert killing machine, the drinker, blah blah. All of that was still there. Who's to say this outing of MK won't have the things it's known for, like magic and certain parts of its mythology?

I'm not saying you have to like it, but I am saying that a few hundred members of a forum won't stop a process like this if the wheels are already turning, trust me, I've tried and I know. I think the main point here is, even if this project does get made, you still have the games to fall back on because those will likely never take such a drastic change. You all know how Boon is on change. It hardly ever happens and when it does, it moves as quick as a snail.