The inescapable echo of turkey gobbling can mean only one of two things: either someone's cracked out Mortal Kombat II for a little retro revenge, or there are thanks to be given in the MK homeland!

We understand not everyone celebrates Thanksgiving this time of year, but in the spirit of MK's origins and the general act of well wishing, we hope you'll oblige. Afterall, Mortal Kombat fans have had a lot to be thankful for in the last couple of years!

#10 Mortal Kosplay
We kinda missed the boat on Halloween, so why not start simple?
The influx of interest in Mortal Kombat has been a boon [see what I did there?] to fans of dressing up as their favourite kick-butt characters. This kostume kombat phenomenon goes well beyond the thrills of Halloween and officially endorsed costumes, extending to some of the world's biggest pop culture events and contests. There have been official models endorsed, too, as I'm sure you've managed to notice.

As an enlightened bastion of modern thinking, Mortal Kombat Online would never think to stoop to merely objectifying the female cosplayers among us, but that doesn't mean we aren't as thankful for the Kitana and Jades of the world, as much as Scorpion and Sub-Zero. Not to mention some of the less usual suspects! Check out the MKOmmunity's own keruuu (and friend) rocking a seriously bad ass Kung Lao and Nightwolf combo! [pictured right]

Yes, yes. Mileena, too. Perverts...

#9 The Fans
You can't have a wave of living tributes in costume without fans to squidge and wiggle inside them! The ragtag crew in the Mortal Kombat Online MKOmmunity represent only the tip of the iceberg, the coolest and most handsome fans who've flocked to Mortal Kombat in the last few years.

The continued success of the series is a testament to the diehard loyalty of its fans, old and new. Mortal Kombat has always had a sympathetic ear toward the fanbase, incorporating some of our ideas and rumors into the very games themselves! MK and MKO more than anyone knows what it means to be thankful for the fans (most of the time)!

#8 Music & Soundtrack
Fans of the Mortal Kombat games have long been spoiled by the tailor-made soundtracks of Dan "Toasty" Forden. The atmospheric musicman returned in 2011 to work his magic (and "toasty" cameo) in the latest game [read more], but he wasn't the only artist inspired by the warriors!

Mortal Kombat has a long and interesting history with music outside the games. From The Immortals' classic (infamous) concept album and single, to the borrowed music of the movies, music has made fans of many. Songs Inspired by the Warriors took MK back to the pop-alternative masses, uniting characters like Reptile with artists like Skrillex in an audio-concept fusion.

#7 Return to Live-Action
Granted, this step hasn't come without controversy, resulting in a wide variety of perspectives, not all of them good. Even so, however you slice it, the demand for a return to movies has been there since the 1997 sequel flopped, and we're thankful Mortal Kombat is getting another run.

Two new official websites were unveiled for the upcoming entry in the Mortal Kombat franchise. The first is the website of the development studios, indeed called NetherRealm Studios as previously reported. The website currently features an anime-splash type logo featuring a silhouette of Scorpion. This will apparently be the MK team's official website. Currently, the site is bare except for the link to the official page for the upcoming game itself, titled at this point simply Mortal Kombat. This page seems to be under construction as well, featuring only the official Facebook profile of the game. Recently uploaded appears to be the logo of the game.

Our friends over at TRMK are reporting on the strong possibility that WB Games Chicago (the home of the MK team) will be renamed to Netherrealm Studios. According to gaming blog Superannuation, WB Games has registered the name "Netherrealm Studios". Following up on that, Patrick McCarron of TRMK did some checking, and found that the domain name netherrealmstudios.com has been registered by WB Games. While the name currently does not resolve, it's certain that it will be up and running at some point soon. From the TRMK news posting:

According to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the folks over at Warner Bros. have fully secured their rights to the Mortal Kombat intellectual property, by trademarking games and clothing.

The three patents cover the following areas:

• CD-ROM computer game discs; game equipment sold as a unit for playing a parlor-type computer game; downloadable software for use in playing online computer games, downloadable computer game software; video and computer game programs; video game cartridges and cassettes
• Providing an on-line computer game; conducting contests on-line; providing a computer game that may be accessed by telecommunications network; and electronic publishing services, namely, publication of text and graphic works of others on-line featuring articles, novelizations, scripts, comic books, strategy guides, photographs and visual materials
• Clothing for men, women and children – namely, shirts, t-shirts, sweatshirts, jogging suits, trousers, pants, shorts, tank tops, skirts, blouses, dresses, rainwear, sweaters, jackets, coats, raincoats, snow suits, ties, robes, hats, caps, sunvisors, belts, scarves, sleepwear, pajamas, lingerie, underwear, boots, shoes, sneakers, sandals, socks, booties, slipper socks, swimwear and masquerade and Halloween costumes and masks sold in connection therewith

Some are already speculating that there may be a return to the mid-90s, in which Mortal Kombat merchandise was everywhere. It may be a bit early for such predictions, although this certainly would be a good first step in such a direction.

Thanks go to forum member cyberdog for raising this discussion!

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..

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.

Ed Boon: Did you play last night? What bugs did you run into?

After months of speculation and legal maneuverings, the sale of Mortal Kombat developer/publisher Midway Games is finally going through. Within the past day, the court overseeing the Chapter 11 bankruptcy of Midway noted that there were no other bidders for Midway's assets, so the only bidder for the company was Warner Bros.. In addition, all objections to the sale (including Threshold's question over IP rights and Vin Diesel's Tigon Entertainment questions about owed payments) were resolved, clearing the way for Warner Bros. to purchase the company. From the Chicago Tribune article: