It has definitively surpassed all other streaming services, and is currently benefiting from the success of the latest, highly anticipated film in the series.
According to FlixPatrol, the new movie Mortal Kombat II quickly rose to the #1 spot on HBO Max‘s streaming charts, just one day after becoming available. The 2021 Mortal Kombat film remains popular at number two, and the original 1995 movie has also entered the Top 10 at number six in the U.S.
Mortal Kombat II Absolutely Destroyed Audience Expectations
Fans were thrilled when Mortal Kombat II, directed by Simon McQuoid and written by Jeremy Slater, hit theaters in May. The movie brought back beloved actors like Jessica McNamee, Josh Lawson, Ludi Lin, Mehcad Brooks, Max Huang, Tadanobu Asano, Joe Taslim, Hiroyuki Sanada, and Lewis Tan. It also introduced new cast members including Tati Gabrielle as Jade, Martyn Ford as Shao Kahn, and Adeline Rudolph as Kitana.
When Mortal Kombat II came out, audiences generally liked it, though critics had a more varied reaction. As of today, Rotten Tomatoes shows an 87% audience score (based on over 5,000 ratings) for the film. However, critics gave it a lower score of 64%, based on almost 200 reviews.
Despite high expectations, Mortal Kombat II didn’t perform as well at the box office as many predicted. It earned only $129 million with an $80 million production cost, which is significantly less than the typical 200-250% return needed for a major blockbuster to be considered successful.
What’s Next for the Mortal Kombat Feature Film Franchise?
Despite not being a huge hit in cinemas, Mortal Kombat II was incredibly popular on other platforms, which more than compensated for its box office performance. Even better news is that work on the next Mortal Kombat movie is already happening, and fans have gotten some exciting previews of what’s to come.
Writer Jeremy Slater recently discussed the difficult decision to kill off a character, and how that impacts the future of the series. He explained that while they had always intended for this character to die in the movie, the actor Ludi Lin gave such a strong performance that they adjusted the scene to give the character more agency in their death.
Slater explained that it’s unclear whether the character truly died or moved on to another dimension. He said the exact events of that moment will be a central mystery in Mortal Kombat III.
Mortal Kombat II is currently available for streaming on HBO Max.
2026-07-27 02:05