Warner BrosThe upcoming live-action Mortal Kombat movie reboot has officially found its Sub Zero. It’s been revealed that New Line Cinema has cast actor and martial artist Joe Taslim (The Raid) in the role of the superpowered brawler.
The Hollywood Reporter confirmed the news in an exclusive report, which marks the first official casting announcement for the Mortal Kombat reboot. The project, which is being produced by James Wan (The Conjuring, Aquaman) and is the feature directorial debut of Simon McQuoid, was announced back in 2016 – though Warner Bros has been trying to get a reboot off the ground since 2011.
Sony Pictures ClassicsGreg Russo (who is also penning the Resident Evil movie reboot) announced back in February this year that he’d completed the script, though we still don’t know what the film’s plot will involve, or which characters from the franchise’s massive roster, aside from Sub Zero, will be making an appearance.
McQuoid previously told ABC that they’ll probably take certain artistic licenses with the Mortal Kombat IP in the interests of telling a fresh new story, explaining that they’ve “gone back to the source material” and are turning it “into an epic world” by going “deeper” than the games.
Last year, The Hashtag Show claimed that the film would introduce an entirely new character to serve as the protagonist; Cole Turner, who was described in the reports as a “struggling and widowed boxer who cares more about his young daughter than anything.”
Cole would star alongside series mainstays Sonya and Jax, though one of the film’s producers called these reports out as entirely premature. It’s worth noting that said reports also suggested that Sub Zero and Scorpion wouldn’t be making an appearance. Given Sub Zero has just been cast, it looks like this story was indeed a little off the mark.
Warner BrosThe previous two Mortal Kombat live action movies (Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat: Annihilation) were released in 1995 and 1997. The first one was actually not entirely awful, though its sequel was a much less enthralling watch.
In addition to The Raid, Taslim has appeared in Fast & Furious 6, Star Trek Beyond and the Netflix feature The Night Comes for Us. He’s certainly got the martial arts skills and the gravitas to pull off the role of Sub Zero, so I’m excited to see his take on one of gaming’s most iconic characters.
Warner BrosThe Mortal Kombat movie entered pre-production back in May, and Warner Bros is currently targeting a March 5, 2021 release.
If you have a story you want to tell, send it to UNILAD via [email protected]
Ewan Moore is a journalist at UNILAD Gaming who still quite hasn’t gotten out of his mid 00’s emo phase. After graduating from the University of Portsmouth in 2015 with a BA in Journalism & Media Studies (thanks for asking), he went on to do some freelance words for various places, including Kotaku, Den of Geek, and TheSixthAxis, before landing a full time gig at UNILAD in 2016.