Mortal Kombat could have been even more gory but director feared ‘getting in trouble’ for ‘full-on’ violence

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Mortal Kombat director Simon McQuoid has revealed that he toned down some of his early ideas for gory scenes in the film, because he feared getting in trouble.

Fans of the video game are hyped for the adaptation, which certainly hasn’t held back on the gore.

However, filmmaker Simon admitted there was still a boundary when it came to the violence.

‘We knew there was a line we couldn’t cross,’ Simon explained. ‘It was a constant calibration, balance and discussion.

‘There were a couple ideas early on that we knew if we did them justice, if we shot them the way they should be shot, they were possibly too full-on and could get us in trouble.’

He added to Variety: ‘There was a lot of discussion about the fatalities and how they were all different from each other; they couldn’t be the same. We talked about blood a fair bit.’

Based on the iconic game, the new Mortal Kombat movie will centre on new character Cole Young (Lewis Tan), who is unaware of his heritage and warrior Sub-Zero (Joe Taslim), who has been sent after him by Outworld’s Emperor Shang Tsung (Chin Han). 

Cole trains with experienced warriors at the temple of Lord Raiden (Tadanobu Asano), including Kano (Josh Lawson) and Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee), to prepare him for battle against the enemies of Outworld. 

While fans are excited to see the violence of the video game done justice in the R-rated reboot, they also can’t wait to see the characters brought to life for the first time since the original movies 25 years ago.

Previously chatting to IGN, Simon explained he wanted to keep Scorpion as close to the game version as possible, keeping the ‘dignity and elegance’ of his armour.

‘We really wanted to be very true to his heritage and make it feel very genuine.

‘That’s really why it was born out of this touch of samurai about it. Obviously, there’s been many, many versions of Scorpion’s costume and how he looks, but out of authenticity came this version of Scorpion that kind of felt real but also felt very powerful.

‘[Scorpion’s costume] needed to have the armour plating with the detail in it and had a sort of dignity and elegance about it, which matched his character from the beginning.’

He described actor Taslim as ‘amazing’ in bringing ‘extraordinary presence’ to the role of Sub-Zero and called Sanada ‘a very, very gifted swordsman and athlete’.

However, UK fans might have a while to wait for the epic release.

There are currently no confirmed release plans for Mortal Kombat in the UK, with Warner Bros telling Metro.co.uk that details are still TBC, and cinemas remain closed until May 17. 

It is thought that Warner Bros may be waiting for cinemas to reopen to give it a full theatrical release, but at present no dates are confirmed for when the movie will arrive in cinemas or for streaming. 

Hang in there guys!

Mortal Kombat is available on HBO Max in the US. It does not currently have a UK release date.

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