He has covered everything from Marvel to the Oscars, and Marvel at the Oscars. He also writes obsessively about the box office, charting the many hits and misses that are released weekly, and how their commercial performance shapes public perception. In his time at Collider, he has also helped drive diversity by writing stories about the multiple Indian film industries, with a goal of introducing audiences to a whole new world of cinema.
Having debuted at the number one spot domestically last week, the action sequel Mortal Kombat II slipped down the chart in its sophomore frame at the box office. The movie did, however, manage to pass a massive global milestone as it makes way for The Mandalorian and Grogu next week. Mortal Kombat II serves as a sequel to the franchise reboot Mortal Kombat, which was released simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max in 2021. Warner Bros. was hoping for Mortal Kombat II to replicate the bump that Dune: Part Two and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire saw at the box office, after their respective predecessors were also released day-and-date in 2021.
As of this weekend, Mortal Kombat II has overtaken its predecessor, but is still a long way away from passing its projected break-even point. The movie introduced Karl Urban as Johnny Cage, and brought back the first film’s director, Simon McQuoid. Stars Mehcad Brooks, Jessica McNamee, Ludi Lin, Josh Lawson, Lewis Tan, and Shōgun duo Tadanobu Asano and **Hiroyuki Sanada **also returned for the sequel. The first film grossed a little more than $80 million worldwide against a reported budget of $55 million. The 2021 Mortal Kombat movie received mixed reviews, but was crucially well-liked by fans of the source video game series. It now holds a 55% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes.
Your answers have pointed to one action hero above all others. This is the person built to have your back — for better or considerably, spectacularly worse.
Your partner doesn’t talk much, doesn’t need to, and will have assessed every threat in your immediate environment before you’ve finished your first sentence. John Rambo is not a man of plans or politics — he is a force of nature shaped by survival, loyalty, and a capacity for endurance that goes beyond anything training can produce. He will not leave you behind. He has never left anyone behind who deserved to come home. What you get with Rambo is the most capable, most quietly ferocious partner imaginable — one who has been through things that would have broken anyone else, and who chose to keep going anyway. You’ll never need to ask if he has your back. You’ll just know.
Your partner will arrive perfectly dressed, perfectly briefed, and with a cover story so convincing it’ll take you a moment to remember what’s actually true. James Bond is the most professionally dangerous person in any room he enters — and the most disarmingly charming, which is the point. He operates in a world of layers, where nothing is what it appears and every advantage is used without apology. You’ll never be bored. You’ll occasionally be furious. But when it matters — when the mission is genuinely on the line and the margin for error has collapsed to nothing — Bond is exactly the partner you want. He has survived things that have no business being survivable. He does it with style. That is not nothing.
Your partner will know the history, the language, the cultural context, and exactly why the thing everyone else is ignoring is actually the most important thing in the room. Indiana Jones is brilliant, reckless, and occasionally impossible — but he is also one of the most resourceful, most genuinely knowledgeable partners you could find yourself beside. He approaches every situation with a scholar’s eye and a brawler’s instinct, which is an unusual combination and a remarkably effective one. He hates snakes and gets personally attached to objects of historical significance, both of which will slow you down at least once. It doesn’t matter. What Indy brings is irreplaceable — and the adventures you’ll have together will be the kind people write books about. Assuming you survive them.
Your partner was not supposed to be here. He does not have the right equipment, the right information, or anything approaching the right odds. He has a sarcastic remark and an absolute refusal to accept that the situation is as bad as it looks. John McClane is the greatest accidental hero in the history of action cinema — a man whose superpower is stubbornness, whose contingency plan is improvisation, and whose capacity to absorb punishment and keep moving would be alarming if it weren’t so useful. He will complain the entire time. He will make it significantly more chaotic than it needed to be. And he will absolutely, unconditionally, without question come through when it counts. Yippee-ki-yay.
Your partner has already run seventeen scenarios by the time you’ve finished reading the briefing, and the plan he’s settled on involves at least two things that should be physically impossible. Ethan Hunt operates at the absolute edge of human capability — technically, physically, and intellectually — and he brings the same relentless precision to protecting his partners that he brings to dismantling organisations that shouldn’t exist. He is not easy to know and he will never fully tell you everything. But he will carry the weight of the mission so completely, so absolutely, that your job is simply to trust him — and the remarkable thing is that trusting him always turns out to be the right call. The mission will be impossible. He will complete it anyway.
By comparison, Mortal Kombat II has a 65% score on Rotten Tomatoes, where the consensus reads, “A self-aware slugfest that plays directly to those who know the difference between Fatalities and Babalities, Mortal Kombat II may not be a flawless victory, but it’s likely the most roundly enjoyable entry in the franchise yet.” In his review, Collider’s Aidan Kelley praised the movie, but noted that the 1995 adaptation directed by Paul W.S. Anderson was superior. Mortal Kombat II dropped by a massive 66% domestically this weekend. It added $13 million domestically and $10 million internationally in its sophomore frame, and is now sitting at a cumulative global haul of $101 million. With a reported budget of $80 million, it needs to gross at least $150 million to start turning a profit. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
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