HBO Max has announced a streaming release date for Mortal Kombat II.
The fighting game sequel directed by Simon McQuoid will be available to subscribers starting Friday, July 24. An ASL version of the movie will premiere on the same day, featuring “Visual Vernacular, a unique sign language form that combines elements of ASL, mime, facial expressions and body movements to convey highly visual stories.”
The film will debut on HBO linear the following day, on Saturday, July 25, at 8pm ET.
Mortal Kombat II is a direct sequel to the 2021 movie, which offered a fresh adaptation of the fighting game series originally created by Ed Boon and John Tobias. The Mortal Kombat franchise, now owned by Warner Bros. Games, had previously been adapted in live action by Paul W.S. Anderson in 1995, followed by John R. Leonetti’s sequel Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (occasionally considered one of the worst video game movies ever made) in 1997.
The streaming release date comes just over two months after Mortal Kombat II was released in theaters, where it grossed $129.4 million globally on a reported budget of $90 million. The movie was released on digital platforms in late June.
While the sequel may have faced challenges at the box office, it quickly outperformed the original, which was given a limited theatrical run and simultaneous streaming release during the pandemic. It’s also been better received by critics, currently sitting at 65% on Rotten Tomatoes compared to Mortal Kombat’s 55%.
IGN gave the movie a solid 8/10, with Tom Jorgenson writing that “It might not be Oscar-caliber cinema, and hardcore fans of the game with encyclopedic knowledge of the game may have a bone to pick, but it’s big and loud and gruesome and not afraid to have fun.”
Mortal Kombat III began development before Mortal Kombat II was released in theaters, though updates have been scarce. While we already have some burning questions about what’s next for the Mortal Kombat films, the more pressing question may be what happens to the franchise under Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros.
Blythe (she/her) is an Audience Development Coordinator at IGN who, when she isn’t following streaming news, spends way too much time in character customization screens and tracking down collectibles.
