Fans of Mortal Kombat have reason to celebrate, as the new movie will be here sooner than we previously expected. Warner Bros. recently did some shuffling with its release calendar for 2020 and 2021, which resulted in some big shifts for major upcoming titles. One such title is the Mortal Kombat reboot, which is being produced by modern horror master James Wan (The Conjuring, Insidious). Now, we have word that the movie will be here in just over a year.

According to several reports, Mortal Kombat is now set to arrive on January 15, 2021. Previously, Warner Bros. had the video game adaptation slated for March 5, 2021. So it will now be here nearly two full months earlier than originally planned. That is good news for fans, in that, they won't have to wait as long to watch a bunch of skilled and powered fighters beating one another to a bloody pulp on the big screen. It also signifies that the studio seems to have some confidence in what they've got brewing, as they're willing to shave some time off of the possible production schedule to get this thing in front of audiences early. Motal Kombat began shooting in September.

The movie is currently filming under the direction of Simon McQuoid, a commercial director who is making his feature directorial debut. The script comes from up-and-comer Greg Russo, who is also currently writing the Resident Evil reboot, as well as a Space Invaders movie, amongst other high-profile projects. James Wan, who most recently directed Aquaman, is a key producer, but he's currently busy filming his latest horror movie Malignant. With that, it's hard to say just how hands-on he will be.

The cast includes Joe Taslim (Sub-Zero), Hiroyuki Sanada (Scorpion), Chin Han (Shang Tsung), Ludi Lin (Liu Kang), Jessica McNamee (Sonya Blade), Josh Lawson (Kano), Tadanobu Asano (Raiden), Mehcad Brooks (Jax), Sisi Stringer (Mileena) and Lewis Tan in the lead role. However, it hasn't been revealed yet who, precisely, Tan is playing. It's unclear if he will be another classic character from the video game franchise, or someone new entirely. Greg Russo previously revealed that the movie will include fatalities, a staple from the games since the very beginning. It's also expected to be R-rated, which means they won't be pulling punches when it comes to the violence.

Mortal Kombat started life as a fighting game, originally released in 1992. The series has since spawned a long-running series of successful sequels, including Mortal Kombat 11, released earlier this year. To date, the franchise has sold more than 26 million copies. Two previous movies were produced, 1995's Mortal Kombat and its sequel, 1997's Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, neither of which were particularly well received. However, Hollywood has made major progress in recent years with video game adaptations. Warner Bros., specifically, had had luck with titles such as Rampage and Detective Pikachu. We'll be sure to keep you posted as further details on the project are made available. This news comes to us via Deadline.