Dhruv Trivedi
‘Mortal Kombat’ is a fantasy martial arts film based on the video game franchise of the same name and serves as the reboot of the eponymous film series. It is the first feature-length directorial project for director Simon McQuoid and features the widely recognized characters from the iconic video game. The film follows the long-running fighting tournament known as Mortal Kombat between the Earthrealm and Outworld, of which the latter has won nine out of ten matches.
With Earthrealm’s last hopes pinned on their fighters, the movie is quickly set up for multiple blazing and ingeniously gruesome fight sequences, with equally dramatic backdrops— which also made the original game phenomenally popular. If you’re as excited as us about ‘Mortal Kombat’ and are wondering where all its epic fight sequences were shot, then we’ve got a treat for you!
Mortal Kombat Filming Locations
‘Mortal Kombat’ was filmed predominantly in Australia. The various locations used to depict everything, from Chicago to 14th century Japan in the movie, are all based in the Land Down Under. Principal photography took place from September 16, 2019, to December 13, 2019, and was undertaken in studios as well as on location.
According to local reports, the film’s production at the time was the largest in South Australia’s history, generating about 580 jobs and utilizing 1500 local extras. Let’s take a closer look at the specific filming locations of this movie.
South Australia, Australia
The state of South Australia provided the wide variety of locations that were required to film ‘Mortal Kombat.’ The state’s capital city of Adelaide was used for filming both indoor and outdoor scenes. A backstreet just off the popular shopping street, Rundle Mall, in the city center was used for three consecutive overnight shoots.
The street used is the brick-lined Fisher Place, at the northern end of Gawler Place. Overnight production activity reportedly took place at the nearby Gallerie Building, which was formerly a retail arcade in the 90s. The interior of this old commercial building was most likely used to film one of the many one-on-one fight scenes.
Additional filming was done at the Adelaide Studios, located at 1 Mulberry Road, (226 Fullarton Road,) Glenside, with assistance from the South Australian Film Corporation. Post-production for ‘Mortal Kombat,’ a large enough project by itself given the film’s heavy use of special effects, was further outsourced to five different South Australian companies: Rising Sun Pictures, Mill Film, KOJO, Resin, and Artisan Post Group.
It’s no wonder that the film’s production reportedly provided a boost of about $70 million to the state’s economy. Port Adelaide, a historic section of the city that houses a large collection of colonial buildings, was also used for a one-day shoot. According to 9 News Adelaide, roughly 700 extras took part in the shoot in Port Adelaide, which was set up to look like Chicago.
The Adelaide Hills in the Mount Lofty Ranges, which border the city of Adelaide, provided a conveniently close location to film scenes requiring natural landscapes. The pine plantation forests of Mount Crawford, in the Adelaide Hills, were used to portray 14th century Japan and can be seen in the opening shots of the movie.
The town of Coober Pedy in northern South Australia and the surrounding valleys, caves, and quarries were used extensively for the dramatic backdrops. Scenes filmed here include those that depict the Temple of Raiden in the movie. Additionally, a coal mine located in the mining town of Leigh Creek stood in for the realm of Outworld in the movie.
On his extensive use of locations as opposed to studios, director McQuoid stated how important it was for him to have the scenes shot on location as much as possible, as opposed to being shot in front of a green screen “in a parking lot.” He wanted the special effects to add to the film’s world instead of doing all the heavy lifting.
Chicago, Illinois
Production was reportedly also undertaken briefly in Chicago, though it is unclear whether it was on location or in the studio. It is possible that scenes filmed at Port Adelaide in Australia, which depict Chicago, were further bolstered with additional footage from the actual city.
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