‘Mortal Kombat III’: Director Teases Follow-Up Despite Underwhelming Box Office Numbers!!

Mortal Kombat!!! There is no single fan of the Mortal Kombat franchise who isn’t familiar with that cry when the battle is about to begin. 2026 was primed to bring some heavy-duty titles to the fore, and this all-action franchise was on that list. This past weekend, Mortal Kombat II, a sequel to the sleeper-hit reboot released in 2021, premiered in theaters. The 2021 Mortal Kombat reboot came on the heels of Paul W.S. Anderson‘s 1995 entry, which was both commercially and critically successful, and its 1997 sequel, which was both a critical and commercial disappointment.

Mortal Kombat II saw the return of much of the central cast of the 2021 reboot and director Simon McQuoid, with Jeremy Slater stepping in to write the screenplay. Initially, the sequel’s release date was moved back to reduce competition. However, Warner Bros. plan fell spectacularly short, with The Devil Wears Prada 2, which reunites Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, and Stanley Tucci after two decades, now the sequel’s competition at the box office. The film is also having to contend with the record-setting biopic Michael, starring Jafaar Jackson as his late uncle.

Mortal Kombat II delivered an impressive opening weekend haul at the box office, grossing almost $65 million worldwide in three days, much of which are stateside numbers. Its international performance is proving underwhelming at the moment, but thankfully, that isn’t stopping the prospect of Round 3. On May 8, McQuoid, the director of the first two Mortal Kombat reboots in 2021 and 2026, while speaking to Entertainment Weekly, discussed the prospect of Mortal Kombat III. “We knew how we were ending this film [Mortal Kombat II],” McQuoid said. “You don’t want to be overly confident. I never want to be cocky about how anything’s going to land or play. You think about it, and you theorize it. So I guess I’m still in that mode where it hasn’t even come out yet. Ask me after May 8.” The director would later sound firmer about what comes next, though: “There’s so much to draw from, and that’s both overwhelming and really exciting. There’s always a ‘What about that character?’ It never really stops.”

Is ‘Mortal Kombat II’ Worth Watching?

At the time of writing, the film has earned over $60 million worldwide. Though it’s still too early to judge its overall box office performance, there is clearly room for improvement internationally, as across 71 international markets, Mortal Kombat II earned roughly $15 million less than its U.S. counterpart. Mortal Kombat II features Karl Urban and Adeline Rudolph as Johnny Cage and Kitana, respectively, with returning actors Mehcad Brooks, Jessica McNamee, Ludi Lin, Josh Lawson, Lewis Tan, and Shōgun duo Tadanobu Asano and Hiroyuki Sanada bolstering the ensemble. The sequel has earned more positive reviews than its predecessor, sitting at a 65% critics’ score and a “Verified Hot” 90% audience score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. In his review, Collider‘s Aidan Kelley praised the movie, but went ahead to highlight that the 1995 adaptation directed by Paul W.S. Anderson remains the benchmark for the franchise.