After earning $129 million at the global box office, Mortal Kombat 2 is coming to streaming. On Friday, Warner Bros. announced a streaming release date for this year’s Mortal Kombat movie sequel, confirming an HBO Max debut on July 24. Thus begins Mortal Kombat 2‘s “full life cycle,” according to director Simon McQuoid, which may ultimately determine whether Mortal Kombat 3 ever happens.
Mortal Kombat 2 debuted in movie theaters on May 8 and opened to $48 million at the domestic box office. Ultimately, the movie went on to make $79.7 million domestically and $49.7 million internationally, according to Box Office Mojo. Warner Bros. released the film digitally on June 9, and a physical release on 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD is scheduled for July 28.
The previous Mortal Kombat movie was an HBO Max streaming hit; it debuted simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max as part of HBO’s commitment to release its 2021 film slate both in theaters and on HBO Max.
Mortal Kombat 2 stars Karl Urban as Johnny Cage, alongside Adeline Rudolph as Kitana, Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade, Josh Lawson as Kano, Ludi Lin as Liu Kang, Mehcad Brooks as Jax, Tati Gabrielle as Jade, Lewis Tan as Cole Young, Damon Herriman as Quan Chi, with Chin Han as Shang Tsung, Tadanobu Asano as Lord Raiden, Joe Taslim as Bi-Han/Noob Saibot, and Hiroyuki Sanada as Hanzo Hasashi/Scorpion.
Mortal Kombat 2 received mostly positive reviews from critics, according to Rotten Tomatoes. Fans seemed to like the film better, praising the action, focus on fan-favorite characters, and grisly, game-accurate Fatalities. In our review of Mortal Kombat 2, reviewer Jake Kleinman said the sequel “is an extremely forgettable movie.”
He continued, “Calling it a movie is actually pretty generous: It feels more like a series of well-choreographed fight scenes set against meticulously crafted backdrops, then strung together with a plot and dialogue that recreates the experience of watching a video game cutscene. Mortal Kombat 2 is also a full-throated apology for the 2021 movie, in response to fan criticism. […] If that’s what the Mortal Kombat fandom is looking for, more power to them. But if you’re expecting any of the hallmarks of quality storytelling, you won’t find them here.”
While Mortal Kombat 3 was said to be in development last year, the sequel is still uncertain given Mortal Kombat 2‘s so-so box office performance. (The film reportedly had an $80 million budget.) Director Simon McQuoid recently told Polygon that the film still needs to have its full life cycle on streaming and home video before WB commits to another. Hopefully, we’ll get resolution to Mortal Kombat 2‘s cliffhangers at some point.