The first trailer for the upcoming Mortal Kombat movie, directed by Simon McQuoid, showed off what folks can expect overall from the tone of the film when it dropped just a few short weeks ago, but there’s plenty that has yet to be seen. Helpfully, ComicBook.com actually had the opportunity to attend a set visit in Australia back when traveling across the world was still a thing people regularly did and spoke with McQuoid and others involved in the production while it was being filmed. During the course of that set visit, the director was asked a very important question: just how much blood was actually involved?
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“I don’t know the gallon number, but I’ve seen drums of blood sitting around,” McQuoid said. “So, you know that’s another thing we’ve talked about a lot is to… you know, another word that I keep boring everyone with on this movie, is authenticity as well as respect. So the authenticity comes from how we present the characters. The authenticity comes from, how do the costumes feel? Do they feel alive? Do they feel like they have been around for centuries? Do they feel like there’s a nobility to this character? And so on. But also things like blood — does it feel authentic? Does that feel like blood?”
“An audience feels the power of that authenticity because you believe it,” he continued. “I never wanted to turn anyone off by this ever getting… you know, there’s a lot of blood, but it’s sort of, when I wanted a serious moment, I didn’t want it to get comedic because you know, we’re sloshing in blood. So it was a tonal thing that made you like pause. You know, you really felt it rather than people just sort of, ‘Well, that’s funny,’ because it’s a wide angle with blood spraying everywhere. It’s a tonal thing so, but there’s plenty of blood.”
Here is the official synopsis for the upcoming Mortal Kombat movie:
“MMA fighter Cole Young, accustomed to taking a beating for money, is unaware of his heritage—or why Outworld’s Emperor Shang Tsung has sent his best warrior, Sub-Zero, an otherworldly Cryomancer, to hunt Cole down. Fearing for his family’s safety, Cole goes in search of Sonya Blade at the direction of Jax, a Special Forces Major who bears the same strange dragon marking Cole was born with. Soon, he finds himself at the temple of Lord Raiden, an Elder God and the protector of Earthrealm, who grants sanctuary to those who bear the mark. Here, Cole trains with experienced warriors Liu Kang, Kung Lao and rogue mercenary Kano, as he prepares to stand with Earth’s greatest champions against the enemies of Outworld in a high stakes battle for the universe. But will Cole be pushed hard enough to unlock his arcana—the immense power from within his soul—in time to save not only his family, but to stop Outworld once and for all?”
The Mortal Kombat reboot film is currently scheduled to release on April 16th on both HBO Max and in theaters. The cast includes Ludi Lin as Liu Kang, Mehcad Brooks as Jax, Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade, Hiroyuki Sanada as Scorpion, Josh Lawson as Kano, Tadanobu Asano as Raiden, Joe Taslim as Sub-Zero, Chin Han as Shang Tsung, Sisi Stringer as Mileena, and Lewis Tan as new character Cole Young. It wrapped filming late last year. You can check out all of our previous coverage of the film right here.
What do you think about what we have seen of the new Mortal Kombat movie so far? Are you excited to check it out when it releases next month? Let us know in the comments, or feel free to reach out and hit me up directly over on Twitter at @rollinbishop to talk about all things gaming!
