Mortal Kombat 2 Breaks All-Time Franchise Rotten Tomatoes Record With Audience Score Debut

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Johnny Cage makes an intense grimace in Mortal Kombat 2

Published May 8, 2026, 11:53 AM EDT

Jordan is the Senior Editor for Movies & TV News at Screen Rant. She graduated from the University of Oregon with a B.A. in Psychology and a minor in Media Studies. An editor, writer, and digital media specialist based in New York City, you can also find her bylines on Business Insider.

Jordan originally hails from Washington State, giving her an undying loyalty to any Seattle sports team, though she's also spent time in Virginia, Oregon, and New Orleans. She runs on coffee and classic movies, taking pride in having seen every film on AFI's 100 Greatest Films list and every Best Picture Oscar winner.

Johnny Cage returns to fight his way to an impressive new Mortal Kombat franchise record on Rotten Tomatoes.

Following the first round of early showings for its May 8 premiere, Mortal Kombat 2 has officially arrived with the franchise's best Rotten Tomatoes audience score of all time. From over 500 verified ratings, Mortal Kombat 2 has debuted with a 90% audience Rotten Tomatoes score, the highest of any film adaptation yet. However, this score is expected to fluctuate as more audience ratings roll in throughout opening weekend.

In comparison with previous live-action adaptations, Mortal Kombat (2021) has an 85% audience score, Mortal Kombat Annihilation (1997) holds a 24% score, and Mortal Kombat (1995) has a 58% rating. Meanwhile, the new film still surpasses recent animated films in the franchise, with 2020's Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge having an 86% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms (2021) holding a 61% score, and Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind (2022) having an 87% rating.

Movie

Rotten Tomatoes Critics Score

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score

Mortal Kombat II (2026)	68%	90%
Mortal Kombat (2021)	55%	85%
Mortal Kombat Annihilation (1997)	4%	24%
Mortal Kombat (1995)	44%	58%
Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind (2022)	80%	87%
Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms (2021)	50%	61%
Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge (2020)	90%	86%

On the critical front, Mortal Kombat 2 has also already shattered a big franchise Rotten Tomatoes record. With a 68% score from critics, Mortal Kombat II has the highest Rotten Tomatoes score of any live-action adaptation of the hit video game franchise. It's now become the first "Fresh" live-action Mortal Kombat movie, with its three predecessors ranging between 4–55% "Rotten" ratings from critics. However, it still falls behind the ratings for recent animated adaptations, with Snow Blind having an 80% critics score and Scorpion's Revenge boasting a record-high 90% rating.

Mortal Kombat II Review: Video Game Movies Should Be Better Than This By Now

Despite being a second shot at adapting this material, Mortal Kombat II still operates as if its central premise isn’t interesting enough for a film.

Now an early success with critics and audiences review-wise, Mortal Kombat 2 is also projected to fare well at the box office for its opening weekend. Early predictions have the film coming in at the top spot over The Devil Wears Prada 2 this weekend, with some estimates eyeing an approximate $80 million worldwide box office debut. Alongside The Devil Wears Prada sequel, the film is going up against Michael and the debuts of Amazon's mystery comedy The Sheep Detectives and James Cameron and Billie Eilish's co-directed concert movie Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (Live in 3D).

The cast of Mortal Kombat 2 includes returning stars Karl Urban as Johnny Cage, Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade, Josh Lawson as Kano, Ludi Lin as Liu Kang, Mehcad Brooks as Jax, Lewis Tan as Cole Young, Chin Han as Shang Tsung, Tadanobu Asano as Lord Raiden, Joe Taslim as Sub-Zero, and Hiroyuki Sanada as Scorpion. Among the major newcomers are Adeline Rudolph as Kitana, Tati Gabrielle as Jade, and Ana Thu Nguyen as Sindel.

It was reported in October 2025 that Mortal Kombat 3 is already in development at Warner Bros., with the film's prospects now being boosted by record-breaking critical and audience responses. However, the deciding factor may come from the 2026 video game franchise adaptation's overall box office performance. Against a reported $80 million budget, Mortal Kombat 2 is already off to a strong start before major competition arrives over Memorial Day Weekend with Disney's The Mandalorian and Grogu.