Warner Bros. moves releases of Mortal Kombat, Tom & Jerry
Following the announcement that all of its 2021 films would be getting simultaneous theatrical and HBO Max releases, Warner Bros. is further shifting its schedule as the forthcoming Mortal Kombat and Tom & Jerry films are moving around, with the former being pushed back to April while the latter has been bumped up a week into February.
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In addition to the latest adaptation of the Midway Games franchise and live-action/CGI hybrid cinematic debut of the beloved animal foes, the studio has also announced that the Hugh Jackman-starring sci-fi drama Reminiscence from Westworld co-creator Lisa Joy in her feature directorial debut has been pulled from its April 16 release and now sits with an unset 2021 release.
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 Joe Taslim as Sub Zero; Ludi Lin as Liu Kang; Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade; Josh Lawson as Kano; Tadanobu Asano as Raiden; Mehcad Brooks as Jackson “Jax” Bridges; Chin Han as Shang Tsung; Hiroyuki Sanada as Scorpion; Max Huang as Kung Lao; Sisi Stringer as Mileena; and Lewis Tan.
James Wan (The Conjuring universe, Aquaman) and Todd Garner (Into the Storm, Tag) are producing. Larry Kasanoff, E. Bennett Walsh, Michael Clear and Jeremy Stein are serving as executive producers.
Bringing the hugely popular property to the big screen, director Simon McQuoid lead a team of Australian and U.S. filmmakers, including director of photography Germain McMicking (True Detective, Top of the Lake: China Girl), production designer Naaman Marshall (Underwater, Servant), editor Scott Gray (Top of the Lake, Daffodils), and costume designer Cappi Ireland (Lion, The Rover).
The first video game in the series was developed by Midway Games and released in 1992. The storyline sees a diverse range of fighters hailing from eighteen different realms become pitted against one another in an epic tournament. Quite a few sequels followed the original game with the most recent, Mortal Kombat 11, being released earlier this year.
Two Mortal Kombat movies were previously made. The first, simply titled Mortal Kombat, was directed by Paul W.S. Anderson and was released in 1995. It was followed two years later with a sequel, Annihilation, which also paved the way for two television series: the animated Defenders of the Realm and the live-action Konquest. Two web series have been released based on the property as well from director Kevin Tancharoen.
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Tom & Jerry will follow Chloë Grace Moretz (Suspiria)’s Kayla, a new employee at the extravagant Park hotel who hires broke alley cat Tom to get rid of mouse Jerry in an attempt to secure her job. Michael Peña (Ant-Man & the Wasp) has signed on to star as Terrance, the deputy general manager of the hotel who acts as a bully to Kayla and begins clashing with his new employee as she impresses upper management with her battle against the animal duo.
In addition to Moretz and Peña, the cast for the film includes Rob Delaney (Deadpool 2), Colin Jost (Saturday Night Live) and Ken Jeong (Crazy Rich Asians). Tim Story is directing for Warner Bros. from a script by Kevin Costello. The Story Company’s Sharla Sumpter Bridgett will also produce the project, while Story, Adam Goodman, Steven Harding, Sam Register, Jesse Ehrman and Allison Abbate are attached as executive producers.
The film will feature an animated (and silent) Tom and Jerry, whose shenanigans will take place in a live-action world. This is the first in a series of similarly designed projects from WB with the others being Space Jam 2 from producers Ryan Coogler, Maverick Carter and LeBron James; Scooby Doo, which Chris Columbus is currently overseeing; and a Wile E. Coyote vs. ACME hybrid feature, with Chris McKay from the LEGO universe as creative supervisor.
Tom & Jerry will debut in theaters and on HBO Max on February 26 while Mortal Kombat will debut in theaters in IMAX and on HBO Max on April 16!