It's Mother's Day tomorrow, and moms and their daughters will ultimately decide which movie dominates the North American box office this weekend.
The Devil Wears Prada 2 is proving a huge attraction for female moviegoers, and that's going to make the 20th Century Studios title tough competition for Mortal Kombat II during the video game adaptation's opening weekend.
According to Deadline, both movies are currently on track to make $40 million to $42 million by the close of business on Sunday, meaning it's too soon to identify the potential winner. Word of mouth is giving The Devil Wears Prada 2 a boost, but what of the Mortal Kombat follow-up?
Mortal Kombat II has been given a B CinemaScore, which is a step down from 2021's Mortal Kombat's B+ and the A- given to the 1995 movie. A B is on par with Tomb Raider, Resident Evil, Prince of Persia, and Five Nights at Freddy's 2. It's also been rated below Sonic the Hedgehog, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Rampage, and Detective Pikachu.
After attending opening night screenings, moviegoers rate films on an A+ to F scale, providing insights into audience satisfaction. Widely used in the film industry, CinemaScore helps gauge the initial reception of movies and influences box office predictions based on audience feedback.
While a B score may sound good, anything lower than a B+ often signals that the movie failed to live up to expectations, or that the marketing didn't match the film's content.
One person unlikely to be happy with this score is producer Todd Garner. While Mortal Kombat II has 65% on Rotten Tomatoes, he recently blasted critics who gave the sequel a negative review.
"Some of these reviews are cracking me up. It's clear they have never played the game and have no idea what the fans want or ANY of the rules/canon of 'Mortal Kombat,'" he wrote on social media. "One reviewer was mad that a guy 'had a laser eye!' Why the f**k do we still allow people that don't have any love for the genre review these movies! Baffling."
In Mortal Kombat II, Karl Urban stars as Johnny Cage, alongside Adeline Rudolph, Jessica McNamee, Josh Lawson, Ludi Lin, Mehcad Brooks, Tati Gabrielle, Lewis Tan, Damon Herriman, with Chin Han, Tadanobu Asano as Lord Raiden, Joe Taslim as Bi-Han, and Hiroyuki Sanada as Hanzo Hasashi and Scorpion.
Director Simon McQuoid returns to helm the follow-up to his explosive 2021 cinematic adventure, from a screenplay by Jeremy Slater, based on the video game created by Ed Boon and John Tobias. The film is produced by Todd Garner, James Wan, Toby Emmerich, E. Bennett Walsh and McQuoid, and executive produced by Michael Clear, Judson Scott, Slater, and Lawrence Kasanoff.
Joining McQuoid behind the camera are director of photography Stephen F. Windon, production designer Yohei Taneda, editor Stuart Levy and costume designer Cappi Ireland, with casting by Rich Delia and music by Benjamin Wallfisch.
Mortal Kombat II is now playing in theaters.