MOVIE NEWS – Finally, the often discussed Mortal Kombat movie reboot is finally happening, with James Wan (The Conjuring, Aquaman) set to produce. We’ve heard about this project for many years now, with only the usual update every months. Still, the actual progress was moving at a snail’s pace. Finally, things have firmed up and Wan will be team up with New Line Cinema to bring the much liked and very violent video game franchise to the big screen for modern audiences.

According to a brand new report, Mortal Kombat will directed in South Australia, with pre-production which will go underway later this month. It’s expected that the production will use Australian crews and will even do post-production and visual effects work down under. As reported before, commercial director Simon McQuoid will direct the project, which will serve as his feature directorial debut. James Wan had this to say about it in a statement.

“I’m really happy and excited to be bringing another show back to Australia with ‘Mortal Kombat,’ especially after having such a great experience filming Aquaman.”

Right now, plot details haven’t been revealed, so there isn’t all that much to go on. But with pre-production getting underway in the very near future, we should be hearing more regarding casting sooner rather than later. Certain rumors have been floating around in that regard, with one report suggesting Joel Edgerton may be eyed for the role of Kano. Beyond that, it isn’t clear which characters from the video game’s long history will show up on screen. Much of that will be up to Greg Russo, who penned the current draft of the screenplay. Russo is also responsible for the in-the-works Resident Evil reboot.

James Wan has a tremendous relationship with New Line and its parent company Warner Bros. He’s responsible for The Conjuring universe of movies, which have consistently been big earners at the box office. Wan also helped to turn the tide for DC Films with Aquaman, which grossed $1.14 billion at the box office to become the highest-grossing DC movie ever. The studio is no doubt hoping some of that magic will rub off on their latest attempt at a big-budget video game movie adaptation. Warner Bros. recently released Detective Pikachu and, as video game movies go, it’s been received rather well and is doing pretty decent business at the box office.

That said, Mortal Kombat will be something different entirely. This is an ultra-violent video game franchise and the movie is sure to be R-rated. The games have been adapted for the big screen previously, with the first movie coming in 1995. A follow-up, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, was released in 1997. Neither movie was received very well by critics, but they were amongst the first wave of major Hollywood video game adaptations. The new Mortal Kombat movie does not yet have a release date set, but we’ll be sure to keep you posted as further details on the project are made available. This news was previously reported by Variety.