Decades after the first Mortal Kombat hit theaters and became a cult classic video game adaptation, a new Mortal Kombat film is set to be released in the coming year. Progress on the film is still moving forward despite the coronavirus pandemic, and stars in the film are teasing that it will be every bit as gruesome as the video game series, which is known for bone-crushing blows and visceral finishers. Apparently the violence in the film is so bad that actor Lewis Tan told us that seeing the fatalities on set made him feel sick at times.
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Tan spoke with ComicBook.com in support of his new short film Ji when he revealed some gross new details about fatalities in Mortal Kombat.
“Let me just say this, there were some days on set that I felt sick. I’m not kidding.” Tan added, “They did not… They did not hold back.”
Fatalities have played an important role of every Mortal Kombat game since its inception, and the finishing moves showcase violent and gruesome acts that usually result in eviscerations, decapitations, explosions, traumatic injuries, and sometimes all of the above. It would make sense to assume that these scenes would be depicted with CGI on the big screen, but they are apparently relying more on practical effects.
Producer Todd Garner previously spoke on social media about the R-rated film, saying the film doesn’t need a lot of CGI to finish. Writer Greg Russo also spoke with ComicBook.com about the movie, teasing the game-accurate version of fatalities that will be included in Mortal Kombat.
“I can say for sure that the fatalities that we’re gonna put into the film are from the game. We’re not going to come up with some new things that we haven’t seen before, but at the same time, if we’re going to do it to use that device, we want to make sure that it’s not just in there just to be in there and have that point to the story,” Russo explained. “So everything will always have that point to what’s happening in the story, that it will feel awesome and badass, but it’s going to play a role, you know, it’s not just going to be there just to be showy.”
Russo added, “In terms of the content, yeah. I mean we’re … I think there’s always a thin line, you know, you don’t want to be over the top, right? With your violence and I don’t know that that’s really going to put people off. I’m not sure that’s even necessary. So you want to be truthful, but you also don’t want to be so ridiculous and gratuitous that you may turn people off in the wrong way. So I would just say that it’s going to be faithful to the games and it’s going to earn it’s R-rating.”
Mortal Kombat is still on schedule to premiere in theaters on January 15, 2021.
