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Mortal Kombat opened on August 18,
1995, and cruised into the top box-office spot with $23 million,
nearly eight times the amount of the only other new release that
weekend, The Baby-Sitters Club. At the time, it was also the
second-highest August opening after 1993's The Fugitive. MK enjoyed a
three-week stay at number one, grossed roughly $70 million in the
U.S., and earned an estimated $122 million worldwide, while the
soundtrack went platinum in less than two weeks. MK was also the first
major success for a video game-movie adaptation, following the
critical and financial disappointments of Super Mario Bros., Double
Dragon, and Street Fighter.
The sequel Annihilation was not as well-received as its predecessor.
The opening weekend take was $16 million and resulted in a number-one
debut at the box office, but it was nonetheless a 30% drop from the
first movie's opener of $23 million. The budget was $30 million,
but the movie grossed only $35 million in the U.S. This represented a
drop of 50% of the original's total domestic gross of $70 million.
Annihilation made $51 million worldwide, whereas the original took in
$122 million. |
