It's officially the end of an era for the Mortal Kombat movies after 5 years

Mortal Kombat IIis officially completing its final chapter as the film arrives on streaming this month. The action-packed sequel puts the full world of Mortal Kombat on display, leaning into its video game source material in a way that its 2021 predecessor never fully did. Although the film was not as financially successful as it should have been, it is undoubtedly the best live-action iteration of the video game yet.

Five years into the new franchise's run, the live-action Mortal Kombat movies are officially at the end of an era. There may be an exciting future ahead for the movies, if they are allowed to continue despite their underwhelming box office haul. What's next for the Mortal Kombat franchise after the newest installment?

Mortal Kombat II Is Finally Landing on Streaming

Mortal Kombat II finally arrives on HBO Max on Friday, July 24. This marks the official end of an era that the franchise has been building up to for five years. The 2021 Mortal Kombat film began with a clear story in mind for the sequel, setting up the iconic tournament that is featured prominently in the original video games. This premise finally came to fruition in the recent sequel, completing the arc envisioned from the first movie.

Now, it's time for Mortal Kombat to close the book on this chapter and focus on what comes next. The end of the most recent installment teases a potential storyline for Mortal Kombat III. Meanwhile, the franchise's creators have teased potential spin-offs, including some that follow the likes of Scorpion, Sub-Zero, and Shao Khan.

Mortal Kombat II's streaming release comes after the film dominated the PVOD charts over the last several weeks. It overcame strong competition to climb the charts of platforms like Apple TV and Prime Video, proving that the film has a passionate audience despite relatively low box office numbers. Nevertheless, this success may not be enough to save the franchise's future.

It's Time for the Mortal Kombat Franchise to Move On (But Can It?)

With Mortal Kombat II officially arriving on streaming later this month, it's time for the franchise to move on to the next installment. Unfortunately, things aren't looking good for the live-action video game franchise. While a sequel has been discussed by some of the franchise's creators, it doesn't seem likely after the most recent installment's box office shortcomings.

Mortal Kombat II had a production budget of $80 million, which means that it had to break at least $160 million to be considered profitable in the theatrical window. This is a low estimate, however. The film is more likely to require upward of $200 million to be considered a legitimate success. This seems like a relatively easy number for a franchise to hit in this age of Hollywood, but the sequel failed to do so.

Mortal Kombat II earned only $129 million, making it the highest-earning entry of the franchise, but still falling far short of the necessary benchmark. Warner Bros. Pictures has been notoriously quiet regarding the potential of a third film ever since the sequel hit theaters. As the film arrives on streaming, the franchise's future may be in jeopardy.

The sequel promised another follow-up, even teasing a potential storyline. The film ends with multiple heroes, including Johnny Cage, Kitana, Jade, Sonya Blade, and Lord Raiden, setting out on a mission to conquer death and bring back their deceased allies. Mortal Kombat III would most likely see the resurrections of iconic characters like Jax, Liu Kang, Kung Lao, and Cole Young. Unfortunately, it seems less likely by the day that this film will ever happen.

There are a few points of hope, however. The first is that Mortal Kombat II will most likely perform well on streaming. This could boost Warner Bros.' confidence in greenlighting a sequel. The second is that the franchise could earn greater profit outside the theatrical window through toy and video game sales. This could potentially make up for the losses that the film itself incurred. Still, it seems unlikely that a Mortal Kombat movie will ever turn a profit in the theatrical window again.

Why Don't Mortal Kombat Movies Make Money?

The Mortal Kombat movies have been successful at the box office in the past, but seem to have lost their appeal. Long before the more recent films, the video game franchise was adapted into a series of live-action movies for the first time in the 1990s. Unlike the reboot of the 2020s, this franchise was a surprising moneymaker at first.

The 1995 film, simply titled Mortal Kombat, was an all-out success at the box office. The project was almost universally hated by critics and fans, who ripped it apart for its underwhelming visual effects, shoddy acting, and painful screenplay. Despite this, the film earned $122 million at the worldwide box office, a massive hit against a budget of just $20 million. It is this success that has helped keep Mortal Kombat's big-screen ambitions alive, even more than thirty years later, as studios keep hoping to create a hit on the same level as the original.

Unfortunately, the poor reviews for the 1995 movie eventually caught up with the Mortal Kombat franchise. The 1997 sequel, Mortal Kombat Annihilation, was met with much less enthusiasm. It was received far worse than its predecessor, earning a staggering 4% approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Not only that, but it made a tiny fraction of the original film's earnings at the box office, grossing only $51 million against a budget of $30 million.

This understandably led New Line Cinema to cancel the movie franchise, though it continued in a few animated sequels. It wasn't until decades later that the 2021 Mortal Kombat film finally brought the franchise back to the big screen. While this film is remembered as a success, it wasn't quite as financially lucrative as fans may think.

Released in 2021, the Mortal Kombat reboot had to contend with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which hit movie theaters hard. As a result, the film was released on HBO Max and in theaters simultaneously. It was a tremendous hit on streaming, becoming one of the biggest premieres in the platform's history. It also made money, but still not as much as one might expect.

Mortal Kombat only earned $84 million worldwide, much less than the original film that came out more than two decades earlier. Its only solace was that its budget was a tiny $55 million. Still, the film wouldn't be considered profitable from theatrical earnings alone. It's difficult to calculate streaming revenue for specific movies, but it's doubtful that Mortal Kombat was ever profitable for Warner Bros.

This makes Mortal Kombat II's box office failings all the more understandable. With a budget of $80 million, the film would have had to hit at least $160 million to break even. This is a number that even the franchise's highest-earning entry didn't even come close to reaching. It seems that the stink of the original franchise's negative reviews still sticks to Mortal Kombat all these years later. General audiences either associate the films with poor quality or don't care about the video game source material. Either way, the franchise may be a lost cause for Warner Bros.

Mortal Kombat II will be available to stream on HBO Max beginning July 24, 2026.