After years of rumors, discussions and little movement (up until very recently), the long-awaited Mortal Kombat reboot has finally begun filming. The news was confirmed by writer Greg Russo on Twitter. Russo shared the first set photo, which didn't reveal all that much, as it's merely a photo of the clapboard with some very blurry people lingering in the background. But the big takeaway here is that this train is finally rolling down the tracks. Russo had this to say in his caption.

"May the Elder Gods watch over us! #ItHasBegun"

Production is taking place in Australia. This project has been in the works for some time at New Line Cinema, but the studio hadn't managed to crack the code on just how to revive the popular video game franchise for the big screen. It didn't hurt matters when James Wan, director of The Conjuring and Aquaman, boarded as a producer. Simon McQuoid has been tapped to make his feature directorial debut. McQuoid was mostly known as a commercial director before scoring this gig.

Story details are virtually non-existent as of this writing. As far as the cast goes, Lewis Tan is set to play the lead role, though who precisely he will be playing remains under wraps. The rest of the ensemble includes Ludi Lin as Liu Kang, Mehcad Brooks as Jax, Tadanobu Asano as Raiden, Sisi Stringer as Mileena, Joe Taslim as Sub-Zero, Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade, Josh Lawson as Kano, Chin Han as Shang Tsung and Hiroyuki Sanada as Scorpion. Brooks recently took to Instagram to tease Jax's fighting style with a brief video. Brooks had this to say in his caption.

"It's so fun finding Jax's fighting style, his swag and his relentless power punches that need to feel like they'd put a fucking hole in a barn. Happy to be working with some of the best stuntmen, sensei and fight choreography team in the business. Y'all ain't ready. #justakidfromaustin #mortalkombat #jaxbriggs"

Greg Russo is perhaps the most interesting factor in this whole thing. The writer has nothing in the way of produced work, but he's the sole credited writer on Mortal Kombat and that helped score him gigs writing a Resident Evil reboot, as well as an adaptation of the game Space Invaders. Russo, in discussing his take on the classic fighting game, has made comparisons to Deadpool, in terms of tone, while promising it will earn its hard R-rating, and that it will feature fatalities.

Mortal Kombat was first released in 1992 and has since gone on to sell more than 26 million copies across its various titles over the years. Two live-action movies were produced based on the game in the 90s during Hollywood's early years of video game adaptations. We'll be sure to keep you posted as any further details on the project are made available. Mortal Kombat is currently set to hit theaters on March 5, 2021. Be sure to check out the set photo from Greg Russo's Twitter account for yourself.