Tag: Mortal Kombat

Posted on in News, Television News

‘Shogun’: ‘F9’ Actress Anna Sawai & ‘Thor: Ragnarok’s Tadanobu Asano Join The FX Samurai Series

FX has been working on a new series remake of Shōgun that originally aired back in 1980 and starred legendary Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune (Yojimbo, Seven Samurai) as Lord Yoshii Toranaga. Their new incarnation of the samurai series will be led by Hiroyuki Sanada and British actor Cosmo Jarvis.

Shōgun is set in feudal Japan. It charts the collision of two ambitious men from different worlds and a mysterious female samurai: John Blackthorne (Jarvis), a risk-taking English sailor who ends up shipwrecked in Japan, a land whose unfamiliar culture will ultimately redefine him; Lord Toranaga (Sanada), a shrewd, powerful daimyo, at odds with his own dangerous, political rivals; and Lady Mariko, a woman with invaluable skills but dishonorable family ties who must prove her value and allegiance.

It was written by Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo, which is based on the iconic novel from author James Clavell.

A casting update from The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that actress Anna Sawai (F9: The Fast Saga) will be playing the show’s female lead, Lady Mariko.

Other additions include Tadanobu Asano, Fumi Nikaido, Tokuma Nishioka, Takehiro Hira, Ako, Shinnosuke Abe, Yasunari Takeshima, Hiroto Kanai, Toshi Toda, Hiro Kanagawa, Néstor Carbonell, Yuki Kura, Tommy Bastow, Moeka Hoshi, Yoriko Doguchi, and Yuka Kouri.

The Ronin exclusively reported the series would be directed by Reprisal’s Jonathan van Tulleken.

Filming is underway in Vancouver and there have been some indications that some second unit filming in Japan is on the table.

Production kicked-off in late September and is expected to wrap in April 2022.

Sanada also has a role in Keanu Reeves’ John Wick: Chapter 4 and will appear in David Leitch’s Japanese-set action pic Bullet Train starring Brad Pitt. Other Hollywood credits include Westworld, The Last Samurai, Mortal Kombat, Army of The Dead, The Wolverine, Avengers: Endgame, Sunshine, Rush Hour 2, and 47 Ronin.

SOURCE: THR

Posted on in Film News

WarnerMedia’s Hybrid Release Model Shaping Up To Become A $1 Billion Loss – Called A “Major Misstep”

In December, WarnerMedia announced plans to release all of their 2021 slate in theaters and on their streaming service HBO Max (free for one month with subscription) on the same day, the hybrid release model was controversial and led to reports of their partner Legendary Entertainment gearing-up for a lawsuit. Legendary attempted to sell-off Godzilla Vs. Kong to Netflix for a massive $200 million but Warner Bros. blocked the deal only to announce they would be giving the film away to HBO Max subscribers for free. Directors Christopher Nolan and Denis Villeneuve also were vocally upset that directors weren’t properly informed about the move and mentioned how harmful the hybrid release would be to the industry.

The plan seemed to be sacrifice the Warner Bros. Pictures slate to coax a boost in domestic subscriber numbers for the floundering HBO Max that launched last year, however, the numbers haven’t been stellar in comparison to other streaming competitors.

It’s now May, and it was recently announced there would be a WarnerMedia-Discovery merger with rumblings from business news outlets that WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar was kept in the dark about the deal and is getting ready to exit. There is also chatter that the merger could signal an easier sale of WarnerMedia in the future, however, no potential buyers have been mentioned.

New information suggests that the hybrid release model at Kilar’s direction wasn’t as lucrative as hyped-up to be, mentioned in an Variety report they state industry sources believe the hybrid model may end up a billion-dollar loss due to high license feeds paid and sluggish subscriber sign-up.

Moreover, industry sources say the strategic move that made such a splash last December — when WarnerMedia at Kilar’s direction opted for simultaneous releases in theaters and on HBO Max for Warner Bros.’ 2021 movie slate — is seen as a major misstep because it is shaping up to cost the studio over $1 billion in lost box office revenue, talent profit participation payments and in high license fees paid for the movies from HBO Max. Unless the pace of HBO Max subscriber additions pick up significantly in the coming months, the high cost of the movie content for the streamer will be hard to justify.

While WarnerMedia insists that other films such as Dune are still sticking to the hybrid release in October, there have been conflicting trade reports that we could see exclusive theatrical windows return before 2022.

SOURCE: VARIETY

Posted on in Film News

‘Mortal Kombat’: Watch Bone-Breaking First Trailer For The R-Rated Reboot Produced By James Wan

Today, New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. dropped the first trailer for their R-rated reboot of the Mortal Kombat franchise in an attempt to revitalize the property for a new generation of fans. The reboot is produced by James Wan’s Atomic Monster and is the feature film debut of director Simon McQuoid.

It will feature different incarnations of fan-favorite characters along with Lewis Tan playing Cole Young, a brand new heroic figure created for the film.

Mortal Kombat will debut on April 16th in theaters alongside HBO Max.

Take a look at the new red-band trailer below which reveals that Goro is officially in the film.

In “Mortal Kombat,” MMA fighter Cole Young, accustomed to taking a beating for money, is unaware of his heritage—or why Outworld’s Emperor Shang Tsung has sent his best warrior, Sub-Zero, an otherworldly Cryomancer, to hunt Cole down. Fearing for his family’s safety, Cole goes in search of Sonya Blade at the direction of Jax, a Special Forces Major who bears the same strange dragon marking Cole was born with. Soon, he finds himself at the temple of Lord Raiden, an Elder God and the protector of Earthrealm, who grants sanctuary to those who bear the mark. Here, Cole trains with experienced warriors Liu Kang, Kung Lao and rogue mercenary Kano, as he prepares to stand with Earth’s greatest champions against the enemies of Outworld in a high stakes battle for the universe. But will Cole be pushed hard enough to unlock his arcana—the immense power from within his soul—in time to save not only his family, but to stop Outworld once and for all?

The diverse international cast reflects the global nature of the brand, with talent spanning the worlds of film, television and martial arts. The ensemble includes Lewis Tan (“Deadpool 2,” Netflix’s “Wu Assassins”) as Cole Young; Jessica McNamee (“The Meg”) as Sonya Blade; Josh Lawson (“Bombshell”) as Kano; Tadanobu Asano (“Midway”) as Lord Raiden; Mehcad Brooks (TV’s “Supergirl”) as Jackson “Jax” Bridges; Ludi Lin (“Aquaman”) as Liu Kang; with 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. Also featured are Max Huang as Kung Lao; Sisi Stringer as Mileena; Matilda Kimber as Emily Young; and Laura Brent as Allison Young.

McQuoid directed from a screenplay by Greg Russo and Dave Callaham (“Wonder Woman 1984”), from a story by Oren Uziel (“Mortal Kombat: Rebirth”) and Russo, based on the videogame created by Ed Boon and John Tobias. Richard Brener, Dave Neustadter, Victoria Palmeri, Michael Clear, Jeremy Stein and Larry Kasanoff served as executive producers.

SOURCE: WARNER BROS.

Posted on in Film News

New ‘Mortal Kombat’ Movie Now Set For Release On April 16th – Coming To Theaters & HBO Max

The other day it was officially announced by Warner Bros. that the New Line Cinema reboot of the Mortal Kombat film franchise is now coming to theaters and streaming exclusively on HBO Max on April 16, 2021. The martial arts film produced by James Wan‘s Atomic Monster is expected to take a new angle on the franchise which is based on the supernatural fighting tournament arcade video game. It’s the feature directorial debut of Simon McQuoid with a script penned by Greg Russo.

There is an expectation the reboot will land an R-rating as it will involve the brutally violent fatality moves made famous from the video games, the two original movies were PG-13.

The cast consists of Lewis Tan as a new character described as a family man, Ludi Lin as Liu Kang, Hiroyuki Sanada as Scorpion, Chin Han as Shang Tsung, Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade, Josh Lawson as Kano, Joe Taslim as Sub-Zero, Tadanobu Asano as Raiden, Mehcad Brooks as Jax, and Sisi Stringer as Melina.

The film has been undergoing reshoots with main actors in South Australia at Adelaide Studios and wasn’t going to be ready for it’s previous release date of January 15th, 2021 regardless. They had originally wrapped principal photography back in December 2019 but had to wait until recently to do reshoots because of the pandemic restricting international travel.

Mortal Kombat is part of a controversial announcement from WarnerMedia that they would be adding 17 upcoming films from their 2021 feature film slate to both HBO Max and theaters on the same day.

A trailer is likely coming in the near future.

Posted on in Film News

‘Dune’, ‘Godzilla vs Kong’, ‘The Suicide Squad’, ‘Mortal Kombat’, ‘Matrix 4’, and Other WB Films Heading To HBO Max

Today, it was announced by WarnerMedia (via Deadline) that they’ll be moving their entire 2021 slate to HBO Max for a month of exclusive domestic access the same day as the theatrical release.

Following the one month HBO Max access period domestically, each film will leave the platform and continue theatrically in the U.S. and international territories, with all customary distribution windows applying to the title.

Those features include The Little Things, Judas and the Black Messiah, Tom & Jerry, Godzilla vs. Kong, Mortal Kombat, Those Who Wish Me Dead, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, In The Heights, Space Jam: A New Legacy, The Suicide Squad, Reminiscence, Malignant, Dune, The Many Saints of Newark, King Richard, Cry Macho, and Matrix 4.

Here is an excerpt from the WarnerMedia press release on Medium.

We have big news to share. As many of you know, Wonder Woman 1984 is going to be released worldwide in theaters later this month. In the United States, we will also be making the movie available on HBO Max at no extra cost the same day that Wonder Woman 1984 premieres in theaters (for the first month of the film’s release).

We are announcing today that, in the United States, the entire anticipated 17-film 2021 Warner Bros. motion picture slate is going to be released throughout the coming year in theaters and on HBO Max the same day. That’s a Warner Bros. motion picture just about once every three weeks.

HBO Max released this promo video as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGy16GQHz-g

This would be a massive shakeup for regular theatrical windows and it will be interesting if other studios such as Disney follows this model by placing their 2021 slate on Disney+ in a similar manner. I’m sure this move is likely due to HBO Max not hitting targeted growth given that it’s a domestic streaming service. It’s unknown if HBO Max subscribers will have to pay any additional fees but Wonder Woman 1984 is expected to be free with a subscriptions when it drops later this month on the service.

UPDATE: The films will not be given an added fee.

…we will also be releasing them the same day on HBO Max, at no extra cost, for the first month of each film’s release. 

In Canada, I’m with Bell Media’s Crave that has an exclusive deal for HBO and HBO Max content. It’ll be interesting to see how they plan to do this in Canada and the United Kingdom.

SOURCE: WARNER MEDIA