| Mortal Kombat: Rebirth | |
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| Directed by | Kevin Tancharoen |
| Written by |
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| Based on | |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Scott Kevan |
| Edited by | Kevin Tanchaoren |
Release date |
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Running time | 8 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Mortal Kombat: Rebirth is a 2010 Americanshortfan film directed byKevin Tancharoen, with fight choreography by Larnell Stovall. Based on theMortal Kombat series offighting games, the short-film "actually was made by the director to sellWarner Bros. Entertainment on his vision for a reimaginedMortal Kombat film."[1] The short-film features an alternative version of theMortal Kombat universe. The characters of the game are portrayed with vastly different origins, based on realism. There is no mention of Outworld or any other supernatural elements, although the tournament itself is a main part of the storyline in this short.
Tancharoen himself noted that he wouldn't shy away from supernatural elements entirely in a feature-length adaptation, but they have to be "done in a very tasteful way".[2] The pitch eventually evolved into theweb series,Mortal Kombat: Legacy.
Deacon City Police CaptainJackson Briggs informs the assassin Hanzo Hasashi about the criminalsReptile andBaraka; the latter has recently killed actor-turned-undercover-officerJohnny Cage in a fight. Briggs believes they were both working for a man namedShang Tsung. He asks Hasashi to kill them in a mysterious tournament hosted by Tsung. When offered his freedom in exchange for accomplishing such tasks, Hasashi reveals that he willingly had himself incarcerated—and could free himself at any time. ThenSonya Blade arrives with a folder and informs Hasashi that his enemy Sub-Zero is alive and the one he killed was hisbrother. It becomes clear to Hasashi that the terms of his participation in the tournament involve killing Reptile, Baraka and Shang Tsung in return for access toSub-Zero. Since the real Sub-Zero will be at the tournament, Hasashi, now calling himselfScorpion, agrees to participate.
Initially appearing on YouTube, the video was received with confusion by websites such asIGN and1UP.com, both of which were uncertain if the video was a viral marketing ploy to promote either a new film or a video game. Contradicting reports came from the actors involved, with White's representatives believing it was an advertisement for then upcoming 2011Mortal Kombat game,[6] while Ryan admitted her appearance was as a favor to a friend and described the video as a pitch for a film.[7][8]
Kevin Tancharoen, the director of the short film, spent about $7,500 to produce it, and took two months to produce everything. Filming took place in April 2010 over a period of two days, using borrowed cameras. Actor Matt Mullins already knew the director, but had not had an opportunity to work with him. A few months before filming Tancharoen called him, inviting him to participate in a short film he was planning to shoot. The script was sent to Mullins who, impressed with the text and the director's vision for the franchise, agreed to participate as Johnny Cage.[2][8][9] Tancharoen himself has admitted that the film was never meant to be seen public, he merely wanted to use it as a pitch to Warner Bros, but when uploading it toYouTube, he accidentally published it to the public.[10]
Series co-creatorEd Boon himself has noted that the film was "awesome"[11] and had "no idea it was being made",[12] though he did opine that it "probably crosses the line" as far as "re-imagining" goes.[13] He later stated that he thought it was "incredibly well done" and that it was "a legitimate alternate universeMortal Kombat".[14]
Larnell Stovall, besides being responsible for the choreography of all the fights, was also responsible for presentingMichael Jai White to the project.[15]Jeri Ryan, when asked about her role in the film, said she agreed to do it as a favor to a friend.[16]
The web series,Mortal Kombat: Legacy, spawned as a result of the short, premiering onMachinima.com'sYouTube channel from April 11, 2011 to September 26, 2013 for two seasons. Tancharoen returned as writer and director, alongside much of the cast, although the show takes place in a separate continuity with more supernatural elements.
In September 2011, shortly after the release ofLegacy's first season, Tancharoen was hired to helm theMortal Kombat film reboot with Oren Uziel, hisRebirth co-writer, scribing. However, Tancharoen dropped from the project in October 2013. The film eventually released in 2021, where Uziel was given story credit.
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