For a man whose previous work was the 2009 remake of the musical film 'Fame' and the Pussycat Dolls television series The Search for the Next Doll, this kind of came right out of left field. But Kevin Tancharoen says he's a huge fan and made the short film because he feels like it's time for a reboot.
"Forever, I've been nothing but a lover of comic books and video games. I've been immersed in the fanboy culture. That's me as a person," said Tancharoen.
As for the drastic change in content in Tancharoen's resume, he said, "I think, of course, for the people that know me, this is not really a shock. Because they know that this is my love. And I do understand that it's crazy to see such a shift in genre. But this is what I want to do, and this is what I've always wanted to do, and am very passionate about."
The film was shot over 2 days and cost $7500 with a script given to Tancharoen by his friend Oren Uziel, who just happens to be the same guy who is hired to write the script for a Mortal Kombat reboot film scheduled for 2013.
As for the short film's proposed 'realism' element - Tancharoen put that notion to rest noting that in a full fledged film, the game's mystical elements would absolutely be present.
"I couldn't go balls-to-the-wall on visual effects," he said. "I had to utilize what I could and make the best of it. I want the mysticism to be treated carefully and with integrity." said Tancharoen.
Tancharoen also explained the notion of having Scorpion appear to be the 'main' character, further fleshing out his story saying, "Listen, Scorpion is the bad guy and will stay a bad guy. His motives are personal," he continued. "If Jax and Sonya can coattail off that revenge, awesome. But Scorpion does not care."
So there you have it - this is indeed a short film that was shot to try and gain interest into the actual Mortal Kombat reboot that is being planned for a release in 3 years.