Warner Bros. premieres gory Mortal Kombat movie trailer

Warner Bros. has released the first trailer for its upcoming Mortal Kombat film.

Scheduled for a simultaneous release in cinemas and on streaming service HBO Max on April 16, the film is helmed by Simon McQuoid, making his feature directorial debut, and produced by James Wan (Aquaman), Todd Garner (Into the Storm), E. Bennett Walsh (The Amazing Spider-Man 2) and McQuoid.

Featuring film, TV and martial arts talent, the cast includes Lewis Tan (Deadpool 2) as Cole Young, Jessica McNamee (The Meg) as Sonya Blade, Josh Lawson (Bombshell) as Kano, Tadanobu Asano (Midway) as Lord Raiden, Mehcad Brooks (Supergirl) as Jackson Briggs, Ludi Lin (Aquaman) as Liu Kang, Chin Han (Skyscraper) as Shang Tsung, Joe Taslim (Star Trek Beyond) as Bi-Han and Sub-Zero, and Hiroyuki Sanada (Skyscraper) as Hanzo Hasashi and Scorpion.

While it was poorly received by critics, the original Mortal Kombat movie grossed over $120 million worldwide following its release in 1995. Its sequel, 2007’s Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, grossed $50 million.

The Mortal Kombat video game franchise launched in 1992. According to co-creator Ed Boon, it had sold some 46 million units prior to the release of the most recent series entry, April 2019’s Mortal Kombat 11. And Boon said in October 2020 that Mortal Kombat 11 had sold eight million copies.

Warner Bros. Games released Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate, the “definitive” version of the fighting game, for consoles, PC and Stadia in November 2020.