Simon McQuoid lifts Mortal Kombat Ii to $5.2 million in previews
Mortal Kombat II opened its North American run with $5.2 million in Thursday previews and an early Imax screening on Wednesday, giving the sequel its first box-office read before the weekend rush. Warner Bros. and New Line are working with a domestic launch in the $35 million to $40 million range and a worldwide bow between $65 million and $80 million.
That puts the movie on a different track from 2021’s Mortal Kombat, which debuted to $23 million including $5.5 million in previews and early screenings. The earlier film finished at $42 million domestically and $84.4 million globally, a run shaped by a simultaneous theatrical-and-HBO Max release during the pandemic.
Simon McQuoid Returns
Simon McQuoid returned to helm Mortal Kombat II from a script by Jeremy Slater, with Karl Urban joining the franchise as Johnny Cage. Johnny Cage is a washed up ’90s action star called to take part in a tournament that will determine the fate of Earthrealm, a setup that gives the sequel a more recognizable commercial hook than the first film had at launch.
The $5.2 million preview figure is useful because it arrives before the broader Mother’s Day weekend slate has fully played out. In this part of the market, early preview money tends to show whether a sequel can stay inside the studio’s own range or whether it needs a much larger Saturday and Sunday pull to reach the top end of the forecast.
Warner Bros. Range
The $35 million to $40 million domestic range is lower than the $45 million or more that tracking services had indicated, which makes the preview number especially important for exhibitors watching the frame. If the film lands near the top of the studio’s range, it would still trail the kind of opening that some market watchers had been pointing to earlier in the week.
New Line and Warner Bros. are also projecting a $65 million to $80 million worldwide bow, so the domestic number will set the tone for how much the movie needs to travel overseas to justify its opening frame. The preview total gives the sequel a visible start, but it also leaves the weekend run to do the heavier lifting.
The Devil Wears Prada 2
Wednesday and Thursday brought cleaner wins for other titles on the slate. The Devil Wears Prada 2 crossed $300 million globally on Wednesday and passed $100 million in North America on Thursday, while the Michael Jackson biopic Michael went over $200 million domestically on Thursday.
For Mortal Kombat II, the immediate read is straightforward: the film has a solid preview base, but it still needs a clean weekend to land inside the studio’s forecast. If it gets there, the opening will look like a controlled launch for a franchise sequel; if not, the gap between tracking and studio expectations will define the conversation around the film’s first frame.
