Indonesian movie star-slash-martial artist Joe Taslim will soon add another major Hollywood project to his growing filmography as he’s just been confirmed to have landed the role of Sub-Zero in an upcoming reboot of the movie franchise based on the popular arcade fighting game series Mortal Kombat.
As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, Joe is the first cast member to sign onto the -action adaptation of the iconic fighting game, which will be filmed in South Australia later this year. The Mortal Kombat reboot will be produced by James Wan (Saw, Aquaman) and directed by commercial director Simon McQuaid in his feature film debut. The screenplay is written by Greg Russo (writer of the upcoming Death Note 2 and Resident Evil reboot).
According to Variety, the Mortal Kombat reboot is slated for release on March 5, 2021.
Joe, a former member of Indonesian national judo team, currently stars in Warrior, a Cinemax series adapted from a story by martial arts legend Bruce Lee. He made his feature film debut in the Indonesian cult action flick The Raid with fellow action star Iko Uwais (who has also branched out to Hollywood with Mile 22, Star Wars: The Force Awakens and the upcoming Stuber, among others). Joe’s first Hollywood roles were in Fast & Furious 6 in 2013 and Star Trek Beyond in 2016.
He recently appeared in Indonesia’s first Netflix original, The Night Comes For Us by Timo Tjahjanto, and the action-comedy flick Hit and Run.
Sub Zero is a fighter whose superpower is the ability to control ice, and he’s one of the original characters from the first Mortal Kombat game, which hit arcades in 1992. The character is also well known for wearing a ninja mask, but it remains to be seen if Joe’s face will be obscured for the entirety of the movie.
This isn’t the first Mortal Kombat film produced by New Line Cinema, as the game was also adapted into live action movies in the 1990s to mixed reviews, first in 1995 by director Paul W.S Anderson and followed by Mortal Kombat: Annihilation in 1997.
