Have to admit, I'm disappointed. I was looking forward to crazy new versions of all the original characters. :(
Mortal Kombat
Game » consists of 26 releases. Released Apr 19, 2011
- Xbox 360
- PlayStation 3
- Xbox 360 Games Store
- PlayStation Network (PS3)
- + 3 more
- PlayStation Network (Vita)
- PlayStation Vita
- PC
One of the goriest fighting game franchises returns to its roots, introducing a new story that re-tells the events of the first three Mortal Kombat games (with a unique twist).
Mortal Kombat Video Turns Out To Be Fully Unofficial
I would have gone to see it just to see how they spun every character, I loved that "short film". I hope some director sees this and picks it up, it actually looked watchable, unlike the other MK films...
" i said this yesterday, but in my opinion, this might end up biting the game in the ass. Even tho some people didnt like it, the majority seemed (at least to me) to be really into the new look and direction, if it was for the game. When MK9 is announced, and its just yellow and blue ninjas all over again, people might get really deflated (i know I would be). It just went from amazing marketing to possible mistake very fast :/ "I know i really cant see mortal combat in the same light, the gritty realism that short had really made me interested in a new mortal combat game or movie. If they do it differently i will be so bummed.
"No one is more authentic than Scorpion." is the funniest thing I've read all day, with the pre-req of having listened to the Bombcast earlier. They were talking about Super Popstar Guitar Band Revolution [with no bass] or whatever. Apparently Kid Rock and Scorpion are quite the authenticity duo.
Hope the movie gets picked up by WB, though. Think about it: the only other commercially successful (more or less) movie series aside from the Resident Evil movies brings out another entry with a real-world spin on the characters.
Along with the movie (that WILL get made), they should do a brand-new, 1080p 2D MK game that uses these actors for their digitized in-game counterparts.
" @schizogony said:" Along with the movie (that WILL get made), they should do a brand-new, 1080p 2D MK game that uses these actors for their digitized in-game counterparts. "So...you want another Street Fighter: The Movie: The Game? "
Alright. So let's take in a few facts here ...
1. Threshold is holding up any Warner Bros. production of further MK films (source)
2. Oren Uziel has been hired by Warner Bros. as writer of an MK movie set for 2013 (source and source)
3. Oren Uziel wrote Mortal Kombat Rebirth (source)
Coincidence? I think not.
My theory is that Warner Bros. gave Oren Uziel and Kevin Tancharoen (Rebirth director) under-the-table money to generate this proof of concept.
The reasons WB cannot be officially attached to this project at this time is obvious considering the legal actions being taken against them. The reason they would need a public "test" of this proof of concept is equally obvious, as I'm sure getting the rights settled would take a serious investment, and as popular as MK has always been, its current relevance had not been a very known quantity until yesterday, and it's going for a hard 'R', so that makes it all the riskier.
And don't even entertain the idea that a household name, billion$+ franchise like MK gets bought by a giant media corporation like Warner Bros. only to produce video games.
That's silly!
I figured there was more to it than a teaser for MK9. This makes sense, but damn that's still some serious cash spent for a pitch-project. I'm wondering how successful it will be though. It's not that it wasn't polished and certainly has people buzzing right now, but if we look at what really matters, I think it might have been ill timed. I'm not sure how long you sit on a reel like this, but releasing it now when so many Hollywood types are looking at the box office receipts for Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (2010) does not bode well for a favorable response. Video game movies are still not bankable properties. The latest attempt, Prince of Persia cost $200 million to make and has returned $62 million domestically. It has fared better overseas, but that income should be the gravy, not the meat. Asking a studio like Warner Brothers to invest in another risky venture like a Mortal Kombat movie when big budget films like Prince of Persia have lackluster returns and smaller movies based off similar properties ( Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li) become embarrassments is a lot today. I don't expect the forth coming Tekken movie to improve the atmosphere, either.
Perhaps the group that made this will get lucky though and someone at WB will greenlight a movie of a different type for them. Comic book movies are still popular. Iron Man 2 made more than twice its production cost to date, Kick-Ass made a profit and The Losers will likely break even. Since Warner Brothers has the DC license they have that stable of characters to draw upon plus the Vertigo and Wildstorm imprints. To get the actors and production team some work, this could be successful, but to make a new Mortal Kombat movie, well I have my doubts.
"Along with the movie (that WILL get made), they should do a brand-new, 1080p 2D MK game that uses these actors for their digitized in-game counterparts. "
This, This, This.
so nothing is happening with this anytime soon... all i needed to hear. hype dead, moving on..... disappointing though...
If you do include the international gross for Prince of Persia, the total comes to 219 million. That's profitable. Pretty damn good considering it's the most expensive video game based movie ever made.
Also, any one seen Sin City? Remember the opening scene with Josh Hartnett? That was also shot as a "proof-of-concept" to show to Frank Miller to get him to give them the green light. Worked out well for them. I hope they make this, as I'd like to see it.
Warner would be stupid not to take notice of this and act on it now. Like you say, it's created waves and caught peoples interest in a major way. I don't think I have ever been excited for anything MK related until this. That short film was great and really had potential for either the setting of a new MK game of a film. Exciting stuff, just a shame that it's not played out like that.
" @PenguinDust: If you do include the international gross for Prince of Persia, the total comes to 219 million. That's profitable. Pretty damn good considering it's the most expensive video game based movie ever made. Also, any one seen Sin City? Remember the opening scene with Josh Hartnett? That was also shot as a "proof-of-concept" to show to Frank Miller to get him to give them the green light. Worked out well for them. I hope they make this, as I'd like to see it. "Actually, that's not profitable. It's barely making back what they spent, and they probably did just barely better than breaking even, though DVD sales should help them out.
And "breaking even" doesn't inspire studios to pump more money into the video game-to-movie genre. Comic books had Spiderman, Batman and The X-Men to illustrate that the genre was profitable. Video games struggle to find that cross-over appeal at the box office. Minor successes like Tomb Raider and a handful of disposable Pokemon films doesn't provide enough motivation for Hollywood studios to push forward with more video game adaptions." @JokerSmilez said:
Actually, that's not profitable. It's barely making back what they spent, and they probably did just barely better than breaking even, though DVD sales should help them out. "" @PenguinDust: If you do include the international gross for Prince of Persia, the total comes to 219 million. That's profitable. Pretty damn good considering it's the most expensive video game based movie ever made. Also, any one seen Sin City? Remember the opening scene with Josh Hartnett? That was also shot as a "proof-of-concept" to show to Frank Miller to get him to give them the green light. Worked out well for them. I hope they make this, as I'd like to see it. "
If they've made back the cost of the film, then anything over and above that is profit. So it is profitable. $219 million revenue - $200 million budget = $19 million profit." @JokerSmilez said:
" @PenguinDust: If you do include the international gross for Prince of Persia, the total comes to 219 million. That's profitable. Pretty damn good considering it's the most expensive video game based movie ever made. Also, any one seen Sin City? Remember the opening scene with Josh Hartnett? That was also shot as a "proof-of-concept" to show to Frank Miller to get him to give them the green light. Worked out well for them. I hope they make this, as I'd like to see it. "Actually, that's not profitable. It's barely making back what they spent, and they probably did just barely better than breaking even, though DVD sales should help them out. "
It hasn't done as well as they hoped, but it's not losing money. It might not be very profitable, but that doesn't make it not profitable...
@PenguinDust:
Of the top 10 (excluding Prince of Persia, since it just came out - so top 11) highest grossing video game movies, all but Max Payne either is a sequel, had a sequel made, or has a squeal being made. So, I'm not sure if your argument of "video games movies aren't successful, they won't green lite another one" really holds up. Even the pile of shit of Max Payne had a profit of $50 million.
I'm not saying they WILL make a new MK movie, but there's no real reason for them not to, especially judging by the interest generated by this "proof of concept". Besides, comparing what would likely be a realtively small budget R-rated film, to a big budget summer blockbuster is kind of silly.
@PenguinDust: I pretty much agree with this, though breaking even is a lot better than losing a few million.
Not every R-rated movie is Saw, douchebag. "Boy, that Michael Clayton certainly has a lot of gore and shock value and babies with their eyelids flipped! That's so crazy lol!" This movie has shock value. That may be cool, but it doesn't make a movie good. The parts people are listing as "SWEET I WOULD TOTALLY SEE THIS MOVIE" are actually detractors to most movies, movies they've potentially already seen; they just want more MK in any method. Video game movies can be done well, it's just a mix of A. No one caring, and B. Choosing games with bad stories in the first place. This is clearly a big-named Hollywood production, so do you REALLY want to sit through all the exposition and "romance" and winks to the camera and dialogue-referring-to-sex-do-you-get-it, just to get to the point where you see a dude with claws fight somebody? If you answered yes, then WATCH THE FUCKING TEASER/TRAILER. It's already right here.
I thought the trailer turned out great, and I hope whoever has enough skill to make people excited about a third Mortal Kombat movie despite the first two movies being god awful sticks with the project
If anything, it's going to be the MK movie, based on Scorpion and placed on some alternate time line, much like the old Sub-Zero game way back when on the 64.
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