“Mortal Kombat II” key art.
Warner Bros. Pictures
Mortal Kombat II, the sequel to the 2021 reboot of the classic video game, is coming soon to digital streaming after an underwhelming month in theaters.
Mortal Kombat II opened in theaters on May 8. Karl Urban (The Boys) stars in the film as Johnny Cage, a washed-up action movie star who is tracked down in the Earthrealm by Lord Raiden (Tadanobu Asano) and Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee) to fight against the malevolent Emperor Shao Kahn (Martyn Ford) in a Mortal Kombat tournament. If Shao Kahn wins, the existence of the Earthrealm is in peril.
Directed by 2021 Mortal Kombat filmmaker Simon McQuoid, Mortal Kombat II also stars Adeline Rudolph as Kitana, Josh Lawson as Kano, Mehcad Brooks as Jax, Lewis Tan as Cole Young, Ludi Lin as Liu Kang and Tati Gabrielle as Jade. In addition, Hiroyuki Sanada (Shōgun) reprises his role as Hanzo Hasashi/Scorpion from the 2021 version of Mortal Kombat.
Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment announced Tuesday that Mortal Kombat II will be released on digital streaming via premium video on demand on Tuesday, June 9. Mortal Kombat II will be available for purchase on a variety of digital platforms, including Apple TV, Fandango at Home, Prime Video and YouTube Movies & TV for $24.99. Since digital rentals are typically $5 less than purchase prices, viewers can expect to rent Mortal Kombat II for $19.99 for 48 hours.
‘Mortal Kombat II’ Has Struggled Throughout Its Theatrical Run
The release of Mortal Kombat II comes as the film winds down its disappointing domestic theatrical run. While the film had a solid opening weekend May 8-10 with $38.5 million from 3,503 North American theaters, it still wasn’t enough to defeat The Devil Wears Prada 2, which earned $41.6 million in its second weekend in theaters.
After that, Mortal Kombat II plunged 65% in domestic ticket sales in its second weekend of release despite a slight upward tick in its theater count (3,534 venues), earning only $13.4 million May 15-17. From there, Mortal Kombat II began shedding theaters, dropping to 2,726 locations beginning May 22-24, and 1,603 May 29-31.
Mortal Kombat II to date has earned $78 million domestically and $47.8 million internationally for a worldwide box office tally of $125.8 million. The film had a production budget of $80 million before marketing costs, according to Variety.
While Mortal Kombat II eclipsed its production budget with its $125 million-plus global theatrical take, it’s important to point out that, per industry standards, 50% of that tally goes to theater owners, leaving the film’s studio with $62.5 million of the box office.
On top of that, the studio needs to recoup the amount it spent on marketing Mortal Kombat II, plus miscellaneous expenses and residuals, before forging a path for profitability. As such, the future of the franchise — sequel screenwriter Jeremy Slater has said that Mortal Kombat II is in development — remains uncertain.
Rated R, Mortal Kombat II is still playing in theaters and will arrive on PVOD on June 9.
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