At long last, the much-discussed Mortal Kombat movie reboot is finally happening, with James Wan (The Conjuring, Aquaman) set to produce. We've been hearing about this project for several years now, with only the occasional update every handful of months. Though, actual progress seemed to be moving at a snail's pace. However, things have finally firmed up and Wan will be teaming up with New Line Cinema to bring the beloved and violent video game franchise to the big screen for modern audiences.

According to a new report, Mortal Kombat will shoot in South Australia, with pre-production set to get underway later this month. It's expected that the production will utilize Australian crews and will even do post-production and visual effects work down under. As previously reported, commercial director Simon McQuoid is set to helm the project, which will serve as his feature directorial debut. James Wan had this to say about it in a statement.

"I'm really happy and excited to be bringing another show back to Australia with 'Mortal Kombat,' especially after having such a great experience filming Aquaman."

At present, plot details haven't been revealed, so there isn't all that much to go on. But with pre-production getting underway in the very near future, we should be hearing more regarding casting sooner rather than later. Certain rumors have been floating around in that regard, with one report suggesting Joel Edgerton may be eyed for the role of Kano. Beyond that, it isn't clear which characters from the video game's long history will show up on screen. Much of that will be up to Greg Russo, who penned the current draft of the screenplay. Russo is also responsible for the in-the-works Resident Evil reboot.

James Wan has a tremendous relationship with New Line and its parent company Warner Bros. He's responsible for The Conjuring universe of movies, which have consistently been big earners at the box office. Wan also helped to turn the tide for DC Films with Aquaman, which grossed $1.14 billion at the box office to become the highest-grossing DC movie ever. The studio is no doubt hoping some of that magic will rub off on their latest attempt at a big-budget video game movie adaptation. Warner Bros. recently released Detective Pikachu and, as video game movies go, it's been received rather well and is doing pretty decent business at the box office.

That said, Mortal Kombat will be something different entirely. This is an ultra-violent video game franchise and the movie is sure to be R-rated. The games have been adapted for the big screen previously, with the first movie coming in 1995. A follow-up, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, was released in 1997. Neither movie was received very well by critics, but they were amongst the first wave of major Hollywood video game adaptations. The new Mortal Kombat movie does not yet have a release date set, but we'll be sure to keep you posted as further details on the project are made available. This news was previously reported by Variety.