MORTAL KOMBAT Producer Demanded New Movie Receive R-Rating
Mike Sprague
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Producer James Wan and director Simon McQuoid’s Mortal Kombat hits theaters and also HBO Max next month. And today, producer Todd Garner reveals he had a list of “demands” that needed to make the movie in the way that he envisioned.
Garner tells ComicBook.com: “One was that it has to be R-rated. Two, it has to be diverse. Three, it has to be faithful to the culture of each character. Four, they’ve got to be martial artists. Five, it would really be good if they were the best martial artists. Not surprisingly, that took me seven years to get this movie made.”
The MPAA recently slapped the flick with an unsurprising R-rating. It’s for strong bloody violence and language throughout and some crude references. And McQuoid says it will pushing the R Rating “right to the limit.”
He tells Games Radar: “We wanted to push the [blood, gore and fatalities] right to the limit. Obviously, there’s a point where the film becomes unreleasable if you push it too far, and that would be a very unwise return on investment for the studio. But from day one it’s been, ‘Okay, we’re doing this and we’re going to do it properly.’”
RELATED: MORTAL KOMBAT Officially Rated R for Strong Bloody Violence & More
The new film follows MMA fighter Cole Young who is unaware of his legacy. Or that Emperor Outworld Shang Tsung sent his best warrior, Sub- Zero to hunt Cole. Fearing for the safety of his family, Cole sets out to find a special forces major who carries the same strange dragon as Cole.
Soon he finds himself in the temple of Lord Raiden, who grants sanctuary to those who bear the mark. Here, Cole prepares to take on Earth’s greatest champions against enemies of Outworld in a high-risk battle across the universe. But will Cole be under enough pressure to unlock his arcane – the immense power in his soul – in time to save his family and stop Outworld?
Simon McQuoid directs Mortal Kombat from a screenplay by Greg Russo. The film stars Joe Taslim (Sub Zero), Ludi Lin (Liu Kang), Jessica McNamee (Sonya Blade), Mehcad Brroks (Jax), Josh Lawson (Kano), Chin Han (Shang Tsung), Hiroyuki Sanada (Scorpion), Tadanobu Asano (Raiden), and Sisi Stringer (Mileena).
Mortal Kombat hits theaters and HBO Max on April 16th.
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