It's been nearly 20 years since we saw the debut of 'Mortal Kombat' the video game, and last Tuesday we saw the premiere of Kevin Tanchorens web-series 'Mortal Kombat: Legacy'. The premiere gathered mixed responses but overall, fans seemed to really enjoy it and the video reached over 1 million views in a very short amount of time. Well it would appear as though the fans reaction has not gone unnoticed as now there is talk about expanding the series to be available on DVD and possibly on TV. For those of you who don't already know, Warner Bros. is re-releasing the first two 'Mortal Kombat' movies next week on Blu-Ray.
Eva Davis, general manager of Warner Brothers Premiere had this to say:
“We’re launching this production online now in conjunction with the new Mortal Kombat game, but we want to make this series available on DVD and potentially television,”
Kevin Tsujihara, president of Warner Brothers Home Entertainment says he has been in contact with New Line Cinema president Toby Emmerich:
“I’d been talking to Toby about, ‘Hey, do you want to do another Mortal Kombat movie?,” And the short gave us an interesting visualization of a very different take on the Mortal Kombat franchise. We looked at it and said, ‘Wow!’ And it was such a sensation and was so popular that it was very encouraging on whether the franchise had any vitality left. I started using this as a tool to convince Toby to do a movie, so the last thing I was going to do was shut down something the fans were so into.”
One of the creators of the Mortal Kombat franchise Ed Boon had this to say about Kevin's original 'Mortal Kombat: Rebirth' short film:
“I remember this video came out and I was sitting there in front of my computer and my jaw dropped,” Mr. Boon recalled. “I was as excited as everybody else and at some point someone said, ‘Everyone is going to think we made this.’ So there was a ton of confusion, but it was the most fun confusion ever. So now that Warner Brothers is actually having him make a whole series, I think it’s fantastic.”
And lastly, Kevin Tancharoen mentioned the idea of a possible movie deal:
“This whole thing has really been a right-place-at-the-right-time kind of situation, and we still haven’t gotten the green light to do a full movie, so we still have work to do.”
So what do you guys think? Would you be up for seeing 'Mortal Kombat' make it's return to the big-screen? Would you want Kevin Tancharoen in the director's chair?
Personally I'd love to see it happen, actually just the other night I rewatched the original 'Mortal Kombat' movie and it was great, but I think it's a franchise that's in need of a return not only for fans of the original, but as a way to introduce it to a whole new generation.