The Demands That The Mortal Kombat Movie Producers Wouldn't Budge On
2021's Mortal Kombat movie is set to blow people's minds with incredible stunts and an attention to small details that fans will appreciate. Fans of the video game franchise will be happy to know that the producers of the film shared with studio Warner Bros. a series of specific "demands" they wouldn't budge on, in order to deliver a film worthy of the Mortal Kombat name.
In a roundtable interview, film producer Todd Garner explained to Polygon that there were five demands that he and co-producer James Wan had when approaching the project. Garner laid out the rules for the film: "One, it's got to be R-rated. Two, it's got to be a diverse cast. Three, they've got to be [legitimate] to the lore and backstory, and each character. Four is they need to be real martial artists. And five is we're gonna do these [specific] characters."
While the production apparently stuck to these specific parameters, it appears that Garner and company didn't have the easiest road to getting Mortal Kombat into theaters.
Warner Bros. wasn't sure about an R-rated Mortal Kombat
Garner explained that it took nearly seven years for the movie to finally be made with his and Wan's stipulations in tact. While the idea of an R-rated video game adaptation is nothing new — after all, there are a zillion wildly inaccurate Resident Evil movies at this point — the studio was initially concerned that such a rating could limit the film's success.
According to Garner, the success of R-rated action films like Deadpool and the John Wick franchise showed the higher-ups that Mortal Kombat could flourish if it were allowed to be grittier and gorier. Garner explained that the team behind the new film didn't want to try to force Mortal Kombat, a "game [that] has people ripping each other's spines out," into a PG-13 rating.
The film's diverse cast was also made more of a feasible reality when films like Crazy Rich Asians and Black Panther also turned out to be huge hits. "So in a weird way, the world caught up to something that James and I were talking about seven years ago," Garner said.
Mortal Kombat is set to hit theaters on April 16.