Things are about to get a little faster and more furious for the upcoming "Mortal Kombat" reboot from New Line Cinema and Broken Road as "Furious 7″ director James Wan joins the project as a producer, according to Tracking Board. Stalemated for some time, the upcoming film now seems to have gained new life, as Wan's previous films have not only proven themselves as massive financial successes but also filled with the type of high-octane, over-the-top action that fits into the world of the "Mortal Kombat" video games. The first Mortal Kombat game was released in 1992 and each one focuses on a martial arts tournament made up of people as well as creatures from other realms.
The first Mortal Kombat movie was released in 1995 and a follow-up, subtitledAnnihilation followed two years later. There had been plans for a third movie but those eventually died off. The game series has continued on nearly uninterrupted, even after the bankruptcy of the original developer. The most recent game in the series, Mortal Kombat X has been receiving generally positive reviews, which likely has also helped build interest in reviving the films.
In 2007, Wan directed two feature films. The first of which was the horror film Dead Silence, a film that was the result of advice from Wan and Whannell's agent at the time; Whannell has since stated that the film was a negative experience for him: "It all started when James and I returned from the Sundance Film Festival, where we had screened 'Saw' to much success. Our 'representatives' promptly told us that we should get another deal for a film stitched up before it was released. It was presented as a kind of insurance - if 'Saw' was a flop, we had another film to fall back on. Seems logical.
There was only one problem - I didn't have any ideas for a new film. I had barely been able to catch my breath throughout the whole 'Saw' experience, let alone dream up another film idea. Instead of telling our representatives that they had to wait until I came up with an idea I really liked though, I locked myself in the bedroom of the crappy apartment we had rented in Hollywood and tried to force an idea out like a particularly stubborn hangover shit. It was creativity at gunpoint. If I could go back in time, I would politely tell everyone to go fuck themselves, but back then....no. I paced and paced and even took up smoking for a while, so stressed out was I."
