Hot on the tails of the Sonya confirmation story, there is some good evidence that Kitana is also confirmed.

On the personal webpage of Brenda Barrie (the actress who did the motion capture for Wonder Woman and Catwoman in MK vs. DC Universe), there was indication that she was going to take up the role as the Edenian Princess and that the game was to be released on December 25, 2010.

Since then, however, the page has been altered.

It seems likely that she spilled the beans a little early and was asked by Warner Bros to remove the information. Still, both Sonya and Kitana fans have reason to rejoice now, as it seems a sure thing that their favorite characters have made it into the game in some form.

A big thanks to fellow fansites FDMK and MK Universe for the news and screencaps!

Sonya's most recent voice actress, Dana Lyn Baron confirmed earlier this month that in September of 2009 she had once again lent her voice for the veteran Mortal Kombat character. This is a quote from her regarding it:

In September — right before I left for Paris & the South of France — I reprised my role as Sonya Blade for Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment’s next installment of the MORTAL KOMBAT videogame.

In November, we reported that WB had registered a trademark for Sonya Blade, though it's uncertain if this might be related or not. Regardless, this information does confirm Sonya will be appearing in some form of upcoming Mortal Kombat video game.

You can read this comment and more about Dana at her website.

Thanks to our forum members for alerting us to this story, as well as FDMK.net for being the first Mortal Kombat site for reporting on this.

With recent reports of the third MK movie being started up again by Warner Bros., it was only a matter of time before Threshold Entertainment voiced its concerned about its own intellectual property rights on the Franchise.

Apparently, Threshold had signed a contract with Midway to renew its rights to the films as recently as 2006. Warner Bros. has selected a screenwriter (Oren Uziel) apparently without any involvement from Threshold, therefore they have filed a new breach of contract lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court stating that WB "has avoided communicating with Threshold and has in bad faith prevented Threshold from utilizing the interest they have in the MIDWAY property".

Interestingly enough, the complaint also mentions separate litigation from Threshold Entertainment against Warner Bros. for the rights to the two previous films.

Ed Boon, commenting from Twitter, had this to say:

February 17, 2010: Must. Bite. Tongue. Harder.... http://tinyurl.com/ylejpnu

So, who really is entitled to produce the third Mortal Kombat film - Warner Bros. or Threshold? Does Midway's bankruptcy and subsequent purchase by WB negate Threshold's rights, or not? These are the questions that will be decided in court, but its the fans who could ultimately lose, as there currently seems to be no end in sight for the nearly 15 years the movie's been in "development hell".

To read Threshold's original complaint in its entirety, click here (PDF format). To read the article on Kotaku, click here.

Thanks again to samus_aran3900 for yet another News Lead!

Update: February 25, 2011 – Warner Bros. won a major victory in a Los Angeles Superior Court this week, with the finding that a December ruling judgment for them to pay Threshold $14,000 rendered the rest of the case moot. (The original amount of the lawsuit against Warner Bros. was for $9.3 million). Warner Bros. wrote, in a statement to Hollywood Reporter regarding how WB honored the contract regarding income from the first two MK movies:

"We are very pleased that the court dismissed Threshold’s multi-million dollar claims... This victory fully vindicates Warner’s position that it accounted to Threshold fairly, appropriately and according to the parties’ contract."

While this seems to clear the way for Warner Bros. to proceed with releasing the Mortal Kombat films on Blu-Ray unhindered [full story], Threshold has announced plans to appeal and additionally, has 2 separate pending lawsuits against Warner Bros., one of them potentially hindering their ability to proceed with the upcoming Mortal Kombat live action series..

Microsoft has announced that it will be dropping online play for their original Xbox systems effective April 15, 2010. This means no more Xbox Live for the following Mortal Kombat games:

• Mortal Kombat: Deception
• Mortal Kombat: Armageddon
• Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict (featuring Raiden)

Additionally, Microsoft has announced that original Xbox games that have been formatted to work on the Xbox 360 will also lose the ability to be played online.

To read the original story in its entirety, click here. Thanks go to samus_aran3900 for the tip on this story!

According to a report seen on Kotaku, all of Midway's titles on Xbox LIVE Marketplace have been removed. This also includes the sole MK title on Arcade: Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. According to the article, the titles are still available on the console if the titles were already purchased, and could possibly still be downloaded if deleted. However, it is not possible to purchase them at this time. The cause of the removal is not known at this time, but it's very possible it's due to rights transfers between Midway and Warner Bros. Games.

Interestingly, PSN Midway titles have been unaffected so far. Whether this will continue to be the case remains to be seen.

To read the story on Kotaku, click here.

Our thanks to our friends over at TRMK for the heads-up on this new development!

UPDATE - 12:15 PM CST - Microsoft's Major Nelson has confirmed on his Twitter that the games were pulled due to rights issues, and that if you had purchased them you can still play them or re-download them. To see his Twitter where he posted this information, click here. Our thanks again to our friends at TRMK for the heads-up!