Mortal Kombat, the newest adaptation of the long-running, ultraviolent video game, comes in part from the imagination of co-writer Greg Russo. I was lucky enough to speak with the scribe over Zoom, and we pored over the process of bringing the game to the screen.
Through our conversation, we talked about the decision to center the film on a new character, the crafting of new relationships with familiar characters, the strange joys of writing story-motivated fatalities, and the deep emotion necessary even in scenes when a man shoots a spear out of his hand at a man who can make things freeze.
We also talked about the future: What could the Johnny Cage tease in the final scene mean? What do Russo's designs for a Mortal Kombat film trilogy look like? And how are his other video game movies, Saints Row and Space Invaders, coming along?
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