Adeline Rudolph in “Mortal Kombat II.”
Warner Bros. Pictures/New Line Cinema
Mortal Kombat II had a strong opening in theaters worldwide over the weekend, which naturally begs the question of whether there will be a Mortal Kombat III.
Directed by Simon McQuoid, Mortal Kombat II is the sequel to the 2021 big-screen reboot of the Midway video game-turned-movie franchise that originated with director Paul W.S. Anderson’s version of Mortal Kombat in 1995. While the 2021 film was hampered, box office-wise, by the COVID-19 pandemic because of Warner Bros.’ day-and-date theatrical/streaming release strategy that year, the studio’s subsidiary New Line charged on with a sequel.
As such, Mortal Kombat II opened in much more favorable conditions on Friday, where it earned $38.5 million domestically and $23 million internationally for a worldwide box office tally of $61.5 million in its first weekend frame.
Mortal Kombat II brings the fan-favorite character Johnny Cage (The Boys star Karl Urban) in for the sequel. In the film, Cage is a washed-up action film star is recruited by the ethereal thunder god, Lord Raiden (Tadanobu Asano), to join his team of fighters to take on the tyrannical ruler Shao Kahn (Martyn Ford), before he can establish rule over the Earthrealm.
The sequel also stars Adeline Rudolph as Kitana, Josh Lawson as Kano, Mehcad Brooks as Jax Briggs, Ludi Lin as Liu Kang, Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade, and Tati Gabrielle as Jade.
While some films included end- and/or post-credits scenes to tease a potential sequel, Mortal Kombat II has none. Nor is there any teaser spelled out in the end credits, a la the Marvel Cinematic Universe, that says either Mortal Kombat, Cage or any of his fellow characters “will return.” Instead, the last words in the credits are simply that of the film’s title, Mortal Kombat II.
‘Mortal Kombat III’ Is Already In Motion, Screenwriter Says
Fans who may have been dejected by the lack of any end- or post-credits teaser for a Mortal Kombat III need not worry about the future of the film series, because the sequel is already in development.
During the panel presentation for Mortal Kombat II at the New York City Comic Con in October 2025, screenwriter Jeremy Slater — accompanied by stars Karl Urban, Adeline Rudolph, Martyn Ford and Tati Gabrielle and director Simon McQuoid — announced that Mortal Kombat III was already in the works.
“Our friends at New Line and Warner Bros. are so happy and excited with this movie,” Slater told the crowd at New York Comic Con (via Comic Book). “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.”
While it’s true that not all sequels in development ever see the light of day, Slater and the film’s stars have every reason to be confident that Mortal Kombat III will happen. Chief among the reasons is that Mortal Kombat II isn’t being burdened with a monolithic production budget to recoup.
Instead, Mortal Kombat II had a production price tag of $80 million before marketing costs, according to Variety.
That’s a bargain price compared to most visual effects-heavy movies, namely any release in the Marvel Cinematic Universe or the DC Universe. In fact, the smash hit comedy drama The Devil Wears Prada 2 — which won the box office battle against Mortal Kombat II over the weekend — had a production budget of $100 million, per Variety.
Mortal Kombat (2021) is streaming for subscribers of HBO Max and is available for purchase or rent on a variety of digital platforms. Mortal Kombat II is new in theaters.