Mortal Kombat movie beats expectations with ‘US’s biggest pandemic box office weekend’

Warner Bros.’ latest Mortal Kombat movie has driven the US’s biggest box office weekend since the start of the pandemic.

According to figures published by Deadline, the video game adaptation generated some $22.5m, which marks the biggest R-rated opening to date during the Covid-19 pandemic.

When combined with Funimation’s Demon Slayer, which also debuted in the US, $52.9m was generated during the weekend, which represents a 180% increase over the previous period and the biggest overall weekend since mid-March last year.

Around 60 percent of US theaters are said to be open currently, while Warner Bros. is also releasing its 2021 movies – including Mortal Kombat – on its HBO Max streaming service.

Mortal Kombat’s performance has reportedly exceeded the expectations of Warner Bros., which was reportedly anticipating first-weekend revenue in the region of $15m.

“New Line once again far exceeded expectations and brought a movie that wowed fans general audiences,” said its domestic distribution boss Jeff Goldstein in a statement.

Mortal Kombat 2021 is helmed by Simon McQuoid, making his feature directorial debut, and produced by James Wan (Aquaman), Todd Garner (Into the Storm), E. Bennett Walsh (The Amazing Spider-Man 2) and McQuoid.

further reading

New Mortal Kombat movie: watch the opening 7 minutes now

Check out the beginning of the film ahead of its release on Friday

While it was poorly received by critics, the original Mortal Kombat movie grossed over $120 million worldwide following its release in 1995. Its sequel, 1997’s Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, grossed $50 million.

The Mortal Kombat video game franchise launched in 1992. According to co-creator Ed Boon, it had sold some 46 million units prior to the release of the most recent series entry, April 2019’s Mortal Kombat 11. And Boon said in October 2020 that Mortal Kombat 11 had sold eight million copies.