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New Mortal Kombat movie announced

Unofficial web short creator to direct.

A new Mortal Kombat movie has been given the green light, with the man responsible for last year's impressive unofficial web short given the nod to direct.

According to Los Angeles Times, New Line Cinema is teaming up with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment on the project, with production to start next year ahead of a planned 2013 release.

Director Kevin Tancharoen caught Warner's eye when an unofficial proof-of-concept short he made in 2010 called Mortal Kombat: Rebirth went viral. He was then signed up to make nine officially sanctioned web promos - called Mortal Kombat: Legacy - to push this year's video game reboot.

"The new game and the online shorts prompted us to consider a reboot of a brand we hadn't been actively thinking about," commented New Line boss Toby Emmerich.

Tancharoen's partner Oren Uziel is writing the script, with the film expected to take a more realistic approach to the source material than the two Mortal Kombat movies released in the '90s.

The production's budget is expected to come in under $100 million. No word on possible casting yet.

Emmerich and Tancharoen said that the plan is to release the movie in tandem with the next, as yet unannounced, Mortal Kombat game.

It's not the first time Tancharoen will helm a big Hollywood production - he also directed the critically mauled 2009 Fame remake.