Mortal Kombat film director Simon McQuoid has solid doubt on his return to the franchise as work on a 3rd film stays in limbo.
The filmmaker behind each the primary and second latest live-action variations of NetherRealm Studios’ brutal and beloved preventing recreation collection spoke about why he is probably not again to direct Mortal Kombat 3 ought to the chance come up throughout an interview with The Wrap. In truth, he wasn’t even positive supply a standing replace on the third movie.
“I believe it is nonetheless going by way of its life cycle,” McQuoid mentioned when requested for an replace on the third film or if he would come again. “So, I do not know but. I am undecided.”
Mortal Kombat 3 could also be completed earlier than it may possibly even get a punch in, however that is to not say the movie is not within the works in any respect. Screenwriter Jeremy Slater confirmed he had begun writing a 3rd movie within the reboot saga at New York Comedian Con in 2025, saying on the time that New Line and Warner Bros. had been “so completely satisfied” with the second movie.
Sadly, it is an replace which will have arrived a bit prematurely. The primary Mortal Kombat reboot film introduced characters like Scorpion and Sub-Zero again to the massive display screen when it premiered in 2021. The watch for Mortal Kombat 2 would not come to an finish till Might 2026, one full yr after Slater had already promised one other follow-up.
Sadly, the five-year downtime between movies, and characters like Johnny Cage (Karl City) and Kitana (Adeline Rudolph), did little to persuade audiences to recover from to their nearest theater. Regardless of promising projections forward of time, Mortal Kombat 2 solely managed to thaw out $63 million globally in its opening weekend in theaters. Field Workplace Mojo reported that its last complete introduced in $129 million, a quantity that places it past the $80 million price range it was mentioned to have by Selection, however with different prices to contemplate, it is nonetheless not fairly one thing that may very well be known as a hit.
Whereas Mortal Kombat 3’s standing stays unknown, it seems like McQuoid might not return to direct even when it does come to be. Whereas he mentioned he is not fully shut himself off from the franchise when requested if he want to do one other Mortal Kombat film, it seems like there are different initiatives he is already turned his consideration to.
“Properly, I really feel like there are different tales that I need to inform that aren’t essentially in Mortal Kombat and I’ve a number of issues in improvement,” McQuoid mentioned, “one among which we’re simply casting now and that’s not Mortal Kombat in any respect, one thing that’s in the actual world and really a lot a deep dive right into a singular character and character research. I’m enthusiastic about it. However I by no means need to shut doorways. I’m simply all the time making an attempt to open doorways.”
For now, Mortal Kombat 3 stays and not using a launch date. Within the meantime, you may examine how the second movie set the stage for extra on-screen blood and gore. You can even examine the spinoff initiatives that Kung Lao actor Max Huang has already dreamed about spinning up.
Michael Cripe is a contract author with IGN. He is finest identified for his work at websites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. You’ll want to give him a observe on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
