“Mortal Kombat” reboot finds its helmer

PanARMENIAN.Net - Mortal Kombat is ready for a new round. Simon McQuoid is in talks to direct the big-screen reboot of the videogame franchise, Heat Vision has confirmed, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

James Wan is producing the reboot for New Line, the studio behind both the 1995 film that became a surprise hit and its less-than-stellar 1997 follow-up, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. Larry Kasanoff, who produced the original films and helped extend the Mortal Kombat brand to new heights, is executive producing.

McQuoid comes from the world of commercials and helmed a well-liked Star Wars spot for Duracell last year and also is known for work with brands such as Nissan, Samsung and HP.

The 1995 Mortal Kombat movie is still remembered as breaking the "videogame curse," being the first adaptation to be embraced by fans and become a hit at the box office. It told the story of Liu Kang (Robin Shou), Johnny Cage (Linden Ashby) and Sonya Blade (Bridgette Wilson-Sampras), who fought for the fate of humanity in a life-or-death tournament.

Director Paul W.S. Anderson would go on to find success with the Resident Evil series, but at the time was an unknown filmmaker. Mortal Kombat reigned at No. 1 for three weekends in a row at the U.S. box office and grossed $122 million worldwide. "Robin would rate the fights," Anderson told Heat Vision last year about the brutal stunts his star put himself through. "They would be a one, a two or a three. That would refer to how many ribs he bruised when he did the fight."

For more on the original Mortal Kombat, read our oral history, which chronicles all the broken bones and screaming executives the cast and crew weathered to make the hit.