Mortal Kombat Annihilation

Mortal Kombat Annihilation
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	John R. Leonetti
Screenplay by	Brent V. Friedman Bryce Zabel
Story by	Lawrence Kasanoff Joshua Wexler John Tobias
Based on	Mortal Kombat by Ed Boon John Tobias
Produced by	Lawrence Kasanoff
Starring	Robin Shou Talisa Soto Brian Thompson Sandra Hess Lynn Red Williams Irina Pantaeva James Remar
Cinematography	Matthew F. Leonetti
Edited by	Peck Prior
Music by	George S. Clinton
Production companies	New Line Cinema[1] Threshold Entertainment[2]
Distributed by	New Line Cinema
Release date	November 21, 1997 (1997-11-21)
Running time	95 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$30 million[3]
Box office	$51.3 million[4]

Mortal Kombat Annihilation is a 1997 American martial arts fantasy film directed by John R. Leonetti in his directorial debut. Based on the Mortal Kombat video game franchise, it is the second installment in the Mortal Kombat film series and a sequel to the original 1995 film, on which Leonetti served as cinematographer. Largely adapted from the 1995 video game Mortal Kombat 3, Annihilation follows Liu Kang and his allies as they attempt to prevent the malevolent Shao Kahn from conquering Earthrealm. It stars Robin Shou as Liu Kang, Talisa Soto as Kitana, James Remar as Raiden, Sandra Hess as Sonya Blade, Lynn “Red” Williams as Jax and Brian Thompson as Shao Kahn. Only Shou and Soto reprised their roles, with the other characters from the previous film being recast.

Mortal Kombat Annihilation was theatrically released on November 21, 1997 by New Line Cinema. The film debuted at number one at the box office but dropped the next week due to overwhelming negative reviews, particularly for its story, characters and special effects. Annihilation was a box office bomb, grossing $51.3 million against a $30 million budget. A direct sequel was consequently canceled and a third film languished in development hell for nearly two decades until the series was rebooted in 2021.