‘Mortal Kombat 3’ in the Works With Jeremy Slater Writing Screenplay

“Mortal Kombat II” hasn’t yet made it to theaters, but fans can expect that “Mortal Kombat III” is also in the works, it was announced at New York Comic Con on Saturday.

Joined on stage by “Mortal Kombat” cast and crew Adeline Rudolph, Karl Urban, Martyn Ford, Simon McQuoid and Tati Gabrielle, Jeremy Slater announced the third installment and his return to the martial arts fantasy film as its screenwriter.

“Our friends at New Line and Warner Bros. are so happy and excited with this movie,” Slater said. “They are so convinced that there is a giant fanbase waiting for it that they already hired me to start writing the next installment of ‘Mortal Kombat.’”

The announcement comes months in advance of the sequel’s release, which is set for May 15. No additional details about the plot of the third film have been shared.

Based on the popular video game series, the “Mortal Kombat” films center on a series of tournaments between champions of the Earthrealm and the chaotic Outworld. The tournaments pit heroes such as Cole Young, Sonya Blade, Kano, Jax, Liu Kang and Kung Lao to fight against villains like Mileena, Nitara, Reiko, Kabal, Reptile, Goro and the sorcerer Shang Tsung.

The sequel, which expands on the first film’s tournaments, will feature many returning characters like Lewis Tan as Cole Young, Hiroyuki Sanada as Scorpion, Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade, Mehcad Brooks as Jax, Ludi Lin as Liu Kang, Josh Lawson as Kano, Tadanobu Asano as Raiden, Chin Han as Shang Tsung, Joe Taslim as Bi-Han and Max Huang as Kung Lao.

New cast members for the sequel are Urban as Johnny Cage, Rudolph as Kitana, Gabrielle as Jade, Damon Herriman as Quan Chi, Ford as Shao Kahn, Desmond Chiam as Jerrod, Ana Thu Nguyen as Sindel and CJ Bloomfield as Baraka.

McQuoid’s 2021 film adaptation of “Mortal Kombat” was a major success, given that it premiered in theaters during the COVID-19 pandemic with a simultaneous release on HBO Max. It opened at number one at the box office and grossed $84 million worldwide against a $55 million budget. It also became HBO Max’s most successful film launch at the time.

“Mortal Kombat” was produced by James Wan, Todd Garner, McQuoid and E. Bennett Walsh. The screenplay was penned by Greg Russo and Dave Callaham, from a story by Russo and Oren Uziel. Richard Brener, Dave Neustadter, Victoria Palmeri, Michael Clear, Jeremy Stein and Larry Kasanoff served as executive producers for New Line Cinema.