Mortal Kombat: Legacy Series Hits Machinima

Ever since we saw the live action Mortal Kombat short last year, we’ve been craving similar action from director Kevin Tancharoen, and we’re about to be rewarded for all our hard drooling.  Yes, the hotly anticipated digital Mortal Kombat: Legacy series will be premiering worldwide on Machinima.com on 12th April.

Tancharoen’s now famous unnofical Mortal Kombat short, dubbed Mortal Kombat: Rebirth, punched the internet in the face last year and immediately set speculation ablaze with confused rumours.  Was it a teaser for a real film in production?  Was it a teaser for a, then unannounced, new game?  What was it?  For a short time no one knew, but what they did know was that its hard gritty edge, dark as pitch story, and brutal action were everything that should epitomise a mortal Kombat live action film. This is how a game movie should be done.  No Hollywood candy here, just fast, nasty, and on-myth.  Tancharoen had played it smart.  He funded the short, directed and produced it himself, using his friends to help him to get the attention of the studios because he wanted the job.  Hats off to the man – anyone who goes so far as to create a short masterpiece in order to try and get the job deserves to be rewarded and fans also clearly thought so.  The clamouring and comments began for him to be handed the franchise…

Fast forward to… well, now, and here we are.  No film just yet, but instead, perhaps better, we have a digital series, once again directed by Tancharoen and once again, as in the short, starring Jeri Ryan (Star Trek: Voyager) as Sonya Blade and the always awesome Michael Jai White as Major Jackson ‘Jax’ Briggs.

The director had this to say:

“Machinima is the perfect entertainment destination to premiere the series.  They have a massive audience of gamers from around the world.  We worked very closely with NetherRealm Studios and Ed Boon, and we’re now putting the finishing touches on the episodes.  I’m confident we’ve stayed true to the Mortal Kombat lore and am hoping the fans will be blown away by what they see.”

The series comprises of nine live action shorts, which will show each character’s motivation behind their participation in the fabled tournament, with promised insights into the characters and the Mortal Kombat universe.  What else can we say but ‘hell yeah’.

• EA Announce The Sims 4: City Living Expansion
• PETA Crosses The Line with Farming Simulator 17
• Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor - Review
• Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments - Review
• ONE Ring