A new early tracking chart shared via Puck News and based on data from The Quorum shows Mortal Kombat II leading a group of upcoming genre titles, but the numbers also come with a surprise.
Mortal Kombat II posts a 48 awareness score and a 48 interest score, putting it ahead of The Mandalorian & Grogu and Masters of the Universe.
However, the bigger story is that awareness slipped by 2 points and interest dropped by 4 over the previous two weeks.
That is not usually what you want to see as release gets closer.
Update: The film has opened, and the box office looks to be underperforming.
Mortal Kombat II Still Leads The Pack
Even with the decline, Mortal Kombat II remains in the strongest spot among the fan-driven titles on the chart.
The film sits ahead of The Mandalorian & Grogu, which came in at 46 awareness and 46 interest, and ahead of Masters of the Universe, which posted 38 awareness and 42 interest.
So while the trend line dipped, Mortal Kombat II is still outperforming those comparable titles in both categories.
The Surprise Is The Drop
The chart also follows CinemaCon, which should have at least helped raise awareness if the event was really breaking through to general audiences.
Instead, Mortal Kombat II lost ground.
That suggests the CinemaCon chatter likely stayed inside the industry and fan bubble instead of reaching mainstream moviegoers in a measurable way.
A small dip is not the end of the world, but awareness usually goes up as marketing ramps and a movie gets closer to release.
WB did ramp up marketing this week, prior to the film debuting in theaters next week.
Mortal Kombat II is the strongest
The good news is Mortal Kombat II still has the strongest footing of the group covered here.
The less encouraging part is that the movie is not building the kind of broad awareness you would expect from a recognizable video game brand with release getting closer.
That leaves the next phase of marketing looking important. Mortal Kombat II has the interest. The question is whether Warner Bros. can turn that into stronger momentum with a wider audience.
Release info
Mortal Kombat II gets released in theaters on Friday, May 8th, and on Thursday with early previews. Simon McQuoid directs.
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.
