‘Mortal Kombat’ Web Series, Kevin Tancharoen Get a Movie Deal

How many views does a web series based on one of the most popular video game titles of all time need in order to convince executives at a major motion picture studio to revitalize an all but defunct, decade-and-a-half old film franchise based on the same video game? I have no idea! But in the case of Kevin Tancharoen, Mortal Kombat, and Warner Bros. the answer is roughly 50,000,000 views across nine episodes for an average of about 5.5 million views per installment.

New Line Cinemas announced plans to make a live-action, big screen reboot of the fatality-fueled movie franchise thanks to the wild success of Tancharoen’s nine-part Mortal Kombat: Legacy web series, which was initially ordered by Warner Premiere thanks thanks to the wild success of Tancharoen’s “leaked” proof of concept for a Mortal Kombat

film. The studio tapped Tancharoen to direct and Legacy writer Oren Uziel to write the feature, which is expected to be produced for well under $100 million.

Much like the web series, the flick is expected to premiere around the debut of the next installment of the Mortal Kombat video game franchise. Legacy debuted on April 18, 2011, while Mortal Kombat (aka Mortal Kombat 9) hit game store shelves a day later on April 19 and has sold over three million copies to date.