When choreographer-turned-director Kevin Tancharoen debuted a short film on YouTube inspired by the Mortal Kombat video game franchise, two things happened:

1. The Internet exploded in a fury of excitement for live-action Mortal Kombat

2. Rumors spread like wild fire as to why anyone gave him money to make a Mortal Kombat film.

The logical theory: Warner Bros. was testing the waters for a new film. Or was it a tie in to a new video game? Or was Tancharoen just a really big geek who took his fan fiction seriously?

The answer? All off the above. Tancharoen originally shot the film with his own money as a spec, a way of proving to people that he was more than just "the guy who helped Britney Spears learn to dance" or "the guy who directed that OK remake of Fame." The short film got him a gig directing a series of Mortal Kombat web shorts that were equally as well-received and now, according to Hollywood Reporter, the journey as concluded with Tancharoen finally landing the gig of director of a Mortal Kombat reboot.

The new movie will be written by Oren Uziel (who wrote Tancharoen's web series, Mortal Kombat: Legacy), but it's unknown if the series' original stars Michael Jai White and Jeri Ryan will make it to the big screen. There aren't too many details, but if Warner Bros liked what they saw of, then the new movie will most likely maintain Tancharoen's reality-based approach. Think Batman Begins by way of karate chops, alternate dimensional baddies and the occasional bloody fatality.

No word on when we might expect to see the feature film, but if you need a taste of what's in store for Mortal Kombat's future, check out Tancharoen's original short Rebirth.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

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