Mortal Kombat II Just Got Hit With A Big Delay, But It Sounds Like There’s A Good Reason For It

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For the next four months, we still have exciting films scheduled for release in 2025. Until recently, “Mortal Kombat II” was among them. However, new information suggests that the sequel has been moved to the 2026 movie lineup. It appears there’s a valid reason for the delay of “Mortal Kombat II,” pushing its release date back by approximately six months from its original plan.

Instead of premiering on October 24, coinciding with the release of the Bruce Springsteen biopic “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere,” the scheduled date for Mortal Kombat II has been moved to May 15, 2026. Currently, only Amazon MGM Studios’ “Is God Is” is set to premiere on that day. However, The Mandalorian & Grogu, the next Star Wars movie, will release the following week. This new date places Mortal Kombat II’s release in a similar timeframe to when its predecessor was first introduced, as the Mortal Kombat reboot had a simultaneous theater and HBO Max release on April 23, 2021.

What’s causing the hold-up? As reported by Deadline, it appears to be due to the massive success of the first Mortal Kombat II trailer, which was unveiled in July. With over 107 million views worldwide, Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema, and Atomic Monster have supposedly determined that this R-rated action flick is more suitable for the early summer movie season. Furthermore, the article mentions that keeping Mortal Kombat II in its October 24, 2025 release date would have meant releasing it a week after Halloween, which isn’t typically a lucrative period at the box office.

In addition, it’s said that Mortal Kombat II has done well during previews, a fact that likely makes studio leaders optimistic about turning it into a summer film. Add to that the success of another Warner Bros. release, Final Destination: Bloodlines, which earned $287 million worldwide when released in mid-May this year, I find myself agreeing with the decision to greenlight Mortal Kombat II.

Apologies to those eagerly anticipating Karl Urban as Johnny Cage, but you’ll have to wait an extra seven months for that. The earlier Mortal Kombat movie managed to make $84.4 million globally, however, this was during a time when cinemas were still feeling the brunt of the pandemic. Fortunately, the action film turned out to be HBO Max’s biggest film launch and received enough positive feedback that a sequel was greenlit. Now, we have the chance to determine if this new take on the renowned video game franchise can make waves at the box office.

More to come…

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2025-08-30 02:56