Jeri Ryan has been one busy actress...
With a career in film and television spanning twenty years; Ryan has acted in starring roles in many successful primetime dramas, including Dark Skies, Boston Public, Shark, The OC, and Law & Order: SVU. For some, she will be best remembered as the cult sci-fi heroine of more than one hundred episodes -- Seven of Nine, from TV's Star Trek: Voyager. An impressive body of work by any measure, but for fans of a certain conccurently running twenty-year video game franchise, about to pale in comparison to a ten episode, digitally distributed series!
Ryan's association with Mortal Kombat began in June, with the online leak of a high-quality production demo called Mortal Kombat: Rebirth [full story]. The eight minute clip, directed by Kevin Tancharoen (Fame, DanceLife), presented a stark reinterpretation of the MK mythos, with a bent toward over-the-top, gritty urban adaptation. Acting opposite action favourite, Michael Jai White (Spawn, Black Dynamite), during interrogation scenes led by his Jax ; Ryan completed the Special Forces duo as a file wielding, business suited Sonya Blade.
For fans concerned the former Miss Illinois will be a paper pushing wallflower version of the fighting Lieutenant, Jeri Ryan has provided pictorial documentation of her action packed role! Via Twitter, the actress promises "ass is being kicked," showing off battle scars from her kombat experience, which includes kicking the occasional door on the Vancouver location shoot, as well!
Photographs from the Vancouver Abandoned Asylum Set!
With Warner Premiere's official press release describing Rebirth as an "unofficial fan short" [full story], it remains to be seen if the digitally distributed series will relate to Tancharoen's job winning reel, or veer closer to the canon of the video game characters fans "know and love".
When Mortal Kombat Online asked Jeri Ryan if she could give us clues about the nature of her role and it's relation to the games, she said, "Can't tell [you] specifics, but it is BAD ASS."
It's one of several messages from the star, who seems very enthusiastic about the quality of the project and it's action -- which won't just boast kick ass martial arts, but also small munitions!
@JeriLRyan tweets from Mortal Kombat:
"BTW, just finished reading the whole script for Mortal Kombat. Holy crap... I think u might just love it. Get ready..."[1] "I get to channel my inner action hero. ;-)"[2] posted February 7.
"Don't have any info yet. Will let u guys know when I do"[3] posted February 9.
"Def top secret right now. Not supposed to talk about it! :-|"[4] posted February 10.
"... as I limp around & soak in Epsom salts baths. Being an action hero ain't easy...! ;-)..."[5] "Ok - the temporary gag is (partially) off! I can start tweeting about Mortal Kombat. I will tell u this: Ass is being kicked."[6] "Jeri Ryan returns to sci-fi to kick some ass in Mortal Kombat http://t.co/jhwm3k8 via @blastr"[7] "My action face ;-) http://yfrog.com/h6v1rxj"[8] "Just watched a crazy-awesome special fx shot! Just wait, gang...just wait. #mortalkombat #awesome"[9] "Ok, off to bed now. Up early for more fun with Sonya Blade. ;-) ..."[10] posted February 11.
"Ooooookay then...So, we're shooting in a mental institution which is apparently haunted. Had 5 separate crew members warn me already. Cool."[11] "In other words, another day at the office."[12] "So how's your day...? http://yfrog.com/h4unxmjj"[13] "Wow. Another first. Never had fake pit-sweat added before. It's a glamorous life, folks."[14] "Wrapped early tonight! Sadly, no ghost sightings, but I did get to kick a door in, so that made up for it. ;-) http://yfrog.com/h4rhrbvj"[15] posted February 12.
Jeri Ryan isn't the only member of the Mortal Kombat crew posting their experiences on Twitter! Vancouver based Director of Photography, C. Kim Miles (@VancouverDP) adds a tantalizing tease about the series' action...
"Fight choreography is looking FANTASTIC! Mortal Kombat begins tomorrow!!!" "Rushing headlong into MK day 3. Gunfire, grenades, martial arts, Michael Jai White and Jeri Ryan. Oh yeah..."
We can report that Leslie Cairns (@BuggyBag), costume maker for the project, has also confirmed the inclusion of Sindel in the series! She made reference to constructing costumes for the "Queen" in one of her posts [based on designs by Alissa Swanson], clarifying the position in a later response. Does this confirm an Edenia similar to the one of the games? That information is yet to present itself.
Warner Premiere today announced development of a live-action digital series based on the best-selling Mortal Kombat videogame franchise. Directed by Kevin Tancharoen, known for his popular unofficial fan short Mortal Kombat: Rebirth which garnered over 10 million views online, and in conjunction with the upcoming Mortal Kombat videogame, this action-packed, digital series will take gamers deep into the history of warriors they know and love such as Scorpion, Johnny Cage and Liu Kang. Shooting for the digital series will take place in Vancouver starting in early February.
Available this spring through online digital retailers from Warner Bros. Digital Distribution, the Mortal Kombat digital series is an anthology of multiple live action shorts, each providing never-before-revealed insights into characters featured in the upcoming videogame as well as the game’s universe. Additional details, including casting, will be announced in the coming weeks.
Update Feb. 14: A battle damaged Jeri Ryan appears with Vancouver TV personality, Victor Lucas, in the latest MK set photo from the Twittverse. Lucas [pictured above] is a host and co-producer for video game programme, The Electric Playground, making it reasonable to suspect the Vancouver Mortal Kombat shoot might get a feature on the show, in the near future.
With a yet to be revealed title, the ten episode live-action series will be released digitally in April, to coincide with the release of the new game on April 19. Like Mortal Kombat: Songs Inspired by the Warriors [full story], the series will likely be available through iTunes and Amazon.
To keep up to date with Mortal Kombat Online stories, follow us on Twitter, @MK_Online!
Features include the official announcement of the live-action series, recent online release of screenshots of Sindel, as well as the 2010 magazine reveal of Sonya Blade. MKO will continue to report details about the series, as they become available.
Update Feb. 13: Warner Premiere have released a second press release for the series, announcing Darren Shahlavi as Kano, along with an apparently adjectiveless working title of Mortal Kombat. Follow the full story on MKO for details.
