Mortal Kombat III is already in the works.

A follow-up to 2021's Mortal Kombat won't be released until May 2026, seven months later than planned, but screenwriter Jeremy Slater revealed during an appearance at New York Comic-Con over the weekend that New Line and Warner Bros. have already greenlit a third film in the series.

He urged the audience to see Mortal Kombat II in cinemas when it is release so executives "make sure they know there's an audience for this movie because we want to keep making them for you guys."

Director Simon McQuoid explained during the Comic Con appearance that Mortal Kombat II had been delayed as a result of being a "victim of our own success".

He added: "Every time people have seen this movie, it's gained momentum.

"We've created a massive summer blockbuster, so I think we should all be proud of the fact that Mortal Kombat II and the franchise itself is going to kick off next year. Yes, we have to wait, but it's going to feel massive when it comes out."

The screenwriter noted the sequel heavily focuses on Karl Urban's Johnny Cage and Adeline Rudolph's Kitana.

Director Simon added: "The goal was, after the first one came out, really, to make Mortal Kombat II feel like a full-length feature version of the tone we created in the opening of Mortal Kombat I.

"We felt that we just scratched the surface. There is so much to Mortal Kombat, to the lore, so much to work with that I thought we could just expand everything onto an even greater scale.

"It was about pushing the boundaries with everything. I wanted to have much more emotion with the characters, so there were much higher highs and lower lows.

" I wanted us to journey through all of the realms and different places, levels and environments you can go to in Mortal Kombat. I wanted us to spend more time in those places and to be able to use the treasure trove created over the years."

Jeremy noted writing the movie was "daunting" because it would have been so easy for it to run into several hours.

He said: "It's a great problem to have when you have a movie with 20 main characters. There's so much to choose from. It's so daunting at the same time.

"You can't make a six-hour Mortal Kombat movie."

Mortal Kombat II will be released in IMAX, with the director explaining it adds "a little bit more" to the movie.

He said: "I actually wanted to do something with that real estate that, if you consider yourself a fan of Mortal Kombat, you have to see it in IMAX. There are some little bits of joy in there. You won't see it in regular screenings, and it affects the story a little bit."