Mortal Kombat 3 Was Already Being Written — Now Its Future Is Suddenly Uncertain

TL;DR

• Mortal Kombat 3 has not officially been greenlit by Warner Bros. or New Line.
• Director Simon McQuoid says the project is still going through its “life cycle” and he does not know if it will move forward.
• Mortal Kombat II earned approximately $129.5 million worldwide against a reported $80 million production budget.
• Writer Jeremy Slater had already been developing a third movie, and the sequel deliberately left several storylines open for it.

Mortal Kombat II ends like a movie that fully expects another round. Characters die with obvious opportunities to return, unfinished conflicts remain hanging over Earthrealm, and screenwriter Jeremy Slater had already begun working on the next installment before audiences even saw the sequel.

Three months later, that confidence has faded considerably. Director Simon McQuoid now says he simply does not know whether Mortal Kombat 3 will happen, with the franchise’s future apparently caught somewhere between a screenplay that already exists and a studio that has yet to formally greenlight production.

Simon McQuoid Can’t Promise Another Mortal Kombat

During a new interview with TheWrap, McQuoid was asked directly about the status of the third movie and whether he would return to direct it. His answer was much less certain than fans probably hoped to hear.

“I think it’s still going through its life cycle. So I don’t know yet. I’m not sure.”

That does not mean the movie has been canceled. It does mean there is currently no public indication that Warner Bros. and New Line have committed to actually making it. McQuoid also revealed that he has several non-Mortal Kombat projects in development, including one that is already casting, suggesting he is not keeping his schedule open while waiting for the franchise to make a decision.

His position is understandable. McQuoid has now spent two films inside this universe, beginning with the unusual circumstances surrounding the 2021 reboot and then returning for a sequel designed to be considerably larger. If the studio takes its time deciding what comes next, the filmmaker has other stories he wants to pursue rather than waiting indefinitely.

The Third Movie Got Surprisingly Far Without A Greenlight

What makes the uncertainty frustrating is how much work had already gone into planning another installment. At New York Comic Con in October 2025, Slater revealed that he had been asked to begin writing the third movie. By May, he said he was nearly finished with a new draft, even though New Line had still not officially approved production.

That distinction matters. Headlines announcing that a writer is working on Mortal Kombat 3 can easily sound like confirmation that the sequel is happening, but studios regularly commission scripts before deciding whether to spend tens of millions of dollars actually making them. In this case, the screenplay appears to have been developed so the creative team would be ready if Mortal Kombat II performed strongly enough to justify another film.

The movie itself certainly behaves as though Slater expected to use those ideas. The ending leaves Earthrealm with unfinished business, while several character developments were deliberately designed with another installment in mind.

Mortal Kombat II Improved At The Box Office — Just Not Enough

Financially, Mortal Kombat II did considerably better than its predecessor in raw theatrical dollars. The sequel opened to $38.5 million domestically and ultimately earned approximately $79.8 million in North America and $49.7 million internationally, bringing its worldwide total to roughly $129.5 million.

The 2021 reboot finished with only about $84.4 million worldwide, but that comparison needs a giant COVID-era asterisk. Warner Bros. released the first film simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max as part of its controversial Project Popcorn strategy, and McQuoid recalled that the studio told him the movie performed extremely well on the streaming service. Its $23.3 million domestic opening was also achieved while movie theaters were still operating under pandemic-era conditions.

The second movie had a conventional theatrical release and therefore carried very different expectations. GamesRadar reports a production budget of around $80 million, meaning the $129.5 million worldwide gross was not enough to automatically make the film profitable once marketing and distribution expenses are considered. Warner Bros. Discovery subsequently pointed to weaker theatrical performance from releases including Mortal Kombat II and Supergirl while discussing disappointing studio revenue for the quarter.

The Sequel Was Supposed To Be The Bigger, Better Version

McQuoid has been open about the fact that he viewed the second movie as an opportunity to correct things he felt the 2021 reboot could have handled better. He wanted stronger emotional stakes, more visual variety, more female characters and, perhaps most importantly for longtime fans, an actual Mortal Kombat tournament. Kitana, Jade and Shao Kahn joined the story, while Karl Urban’s Johnny Cage finally delivered the character teased at the end of the first movie.

The result was received somewhat better critically, though hardly overwhelmingly. GamesRadar notes that the sequel currently sits at 64% on Rotten Tomatoes compared with 55% for its predecessor. That is an improvement, but not the kind of critical breakout that might convince a studio to overlook a theatrical performance that came in below expectations.

In other words, Mortal Kombat II landed in an awkward middle ground. It was not a catastrophic flop, audiences did not completely reject it, and it made significantly more theatrically than the 2021 movie. It simply may not have made enough to justify automatically spending another $80 million or more on the next chapter.

Liu Kang’s Story Was Already Planned For Mortal Kombat 3

The uncertainty is especially noticeable because Slater has already discussed one major storyline intended for the third film. Spoilers ahead for Mortal Kombat II.

Liu Kang appears to die during the sequel, but Slater confirmed after release that the character was always intended to return in Mortal Kombat 3. The filmmakers even altered the way his death was presented so his eventual resurrection would remain mysterious rather than feeling completely obvious.

That means the creative team was not simply throwing random sequel bait onto the screen. At least some of the unanswered material had a planned payoff sitting inside Slater’s developing script. If Warner Bros. decides not to continue, those threads could become permanent loose ends rather than setups waiting for another movie.

Mortal Kombat May Need Streaming To Save The Next Round

There is one factor the theatrical numbers cannot completely measure: how well Mortal Kombat II performs at home. The original reboot became a sequel largely because Warner Bros. saw strong engagement beyond its pandemic-era box office, and McQuoid has repeatedly emphasized how important that HBO Max response was to building confidence around the franchise.

The sequel is now available digitally and on 4K UHD and Blu-ray, giving Warner Bros. additional revenue and audience data beyond the $129.5 million theatrical run. Strong home-entertainment sales or streaming engagement could potentially strengthen the argument for continuing, although neither Warner Bros. nor New Line has said that a particular performance threshold will determine the third movie’s fate.

There are other possibilities as well. A third movie could be made at a lower budget, delayed until the studio has a clearer strategy for the franchise, or reshaped around the characters and storylines that connected most strongly with audiences. None of those outcomes has been announced, but “in limbo” is very different from “dead.”

Mortal Kombat 3 Has A Script — What It Needs Is A Greenlight

The strange thing about the current situation is that creatively, Mortal Kombat 3 appears more prepared than many hypothetical sequels. Slater has been writing it, major character arcs have already been mapped out, and Mortal Kombat II leaves plenty of room for another tournament, resurrection or ridiculously violent Fatality.

The missing piece is the one that matters most: Warner Bros. and New Line deciding the numbers justify another investment.

McQuoid is not closing the door, but he is not pretending everything is moving forward either. For a franchise where every fight eventually ends with a definitive “Finish Him,” the latest update is considerably less satisfying.

For now, Mortal Kombat 3 remains alive. It is simply waiting to find out whether the studio wants another round.