Simon McQuoid’s Mortal Kombat film is reportedly circling actor Joel Edgerton for the role of Kano according to an exclusive at That Hashtag Show. The news comes following word that screenwriter Greg Russo completed his latest script for the upcoming production which the report also states is being slated to shoot in the summer.
The road to a new Mortal Kombat movie has been a long one from its heyday in the late 90s with Paul W.S. Anderson and John R. Leonetti respectively helming the first two films based on the then-Midway fighting game franchise created by Ed Boon and John Tobias. A third remained in limbo that supposedly would have filmed in Louisiana were in not for Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
As the game franchise took shape under the Netherealm banner, Kevin Tancharoen sparked hope for a feature film with his own leaked proof of concept in 2010 featuring Jeri Ryan, Michael Jai White and Ian Anthony Dale. The three actors recurred in their respective roles as Sonya Blade, Jackson Briggs and Scorpion in Mortal Kombat Legacy, the first a digital two-season series – a third was presumably in production but nothing came of it in the years since as Tancharoen parted ways from the studio’s feature film prospects.
Oren Uziel and Dave Callaham initially penned the project prior to Russo’s own involvement. The screenwriter went on to recently confirm fighting character Kabal would appear in the film next to hinting the importance of the franchise’s first-seven characters, Kano included. Provided that the studio confirms it, Edgerton, whose credits partly include Warrior, Zero Dark Thirty and Red Sparrow, will be the third actor to portray the role of Kano – nemesis to Blade and Briggs – following late actors Trevor Goddard and martial arts star Darren Shahlavi.
Last July, That Hashtag Show, previously revealed a brief character roster, including new plot details to the new live-action Mortal Kombat film that center on Cole Turner, a washed-up boxer who, along with his daughter, is recruited to help protect Earth alongside a team of warriors locked in an eternal battle with killers from another dimension.
Along with Kano, Blade, Briggs and Kabal, the roster included Reiko, Nitara, Jin/Lord Raiden, Mileena, Liu Kang, Kung Lao, Shang Tsung and Drahmin. Several days later, Russo took to Twitter to inform fans that not only was the character list that That Hashtag Show prematurely leaked incomplete, but it was also based off an older version of the film; To date, Omega Underground included an updated character list that hints the film will presumably include Sub-Zero.
Last December, filmmaker James Wan, who came aboard in 2015 to produce the film, followed up on the film and spoke to the press at a junket for his recent DC Comics adaptation of Aquman.
“That has been such a tricky one just trying to get the script to a point. People don’t know this, fans don’t understand this, but there’s just so much on the business side of things…”, said Wan. “…to try and get the right budget for it, and we want to make sure we have enough resources and the budget to do the film right. If I can’t get the right resources and find the right filmmaker for it, I don’t want to do it, and I’m so busy already. I don’t need to clutter my plate with more stuff if I don’t believe it can be done right.”