In 1993, Kyle Wyatt had no idea his voice would be immortalized in Mortal Kombat's franchise. Turns out, he wouldn't know his "Mortal Kombat" scream was iconic until 1997.
Originally, Wyatt recorded his scream as part of a 1993 commercial for "Mortal Monday" -- when video game company Acclaim released home versions of 1992's Mortal Kombat video game for Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, Game Boy and Game Gear. When asked if Wyatt knew his voice would reappear in Mortal Kombat's film theme song, he told Slate, "I really didn’t find that out until somebody called me up years ago and said, 'Hey, dude, we know you did this work here. Did you know it’s being used in a song?' And I said no, I didn't."
Wyatt added, "I said, 'That’s cool. And then they started taking the audio and using it in some of the games and in the TV shows and this song and I was like, 'Well, that’s cool.' And then I would be talking to my buddies who played the game, and I’d go, 'Hey, man, that’s me.' And they were going, 'No, it’s not.' I’d say, 'Go to IMDb. That is me, bro.' They were like, 'No way.' And it’s so funny now. I’m 52. I’ve got a 13-year-old, a 12-year-old and a 5-year-old. They just think it’s the coolest thing. Now they’re talking to their friends going, 'Oh, that was my dad.'"
The actor added, "You know what’s funny? I don’t think I saw the commercial for a year or two down the road. I mean, at that time, I just didn’t really think anything of it. I thought, Hey, it’s a gig. I got paid and it was a one-time deal." He added that at that time there were no discussions of royalties for his voice. "I mean, I’m not getting royalties off of this thing," he said. "I wish I was. Back then it was a one-time payout thing. And then we signed our rights away for them to use it however they wanted."
The official synopsis for McQuoid's Mortal Kombat film reads,
Inspired by the blockbuster video game franchise, which most recently enjoyed the most successful video game launch in its history with Mortal Kombat 11, Mortal Kombat features MMA fighter Cole Young, a brand new character to the Mortal Kombat universe, played by Lewis Tan.
In the film, Cole is unaware of his heritage, and why he is being hunted by Outworld's Emperor Shang Tsung’s best warrior, Sub-Zero. Fearing for his family’s safety, Cole goes in search of Sonya Blade at the direction of Jax, a Special Forces Major who bears the same strange dragon marking Cole was born with. Once he is brought to the temple of Lord Raiden, Cole begins his training with experienced warriors Liu Kang, Kung Lao and rogue mercenary Kano. Soon he will stand with Earth’s greatest champions against the enemies of Outworld in a high stakes battle for the universe.
Directed by Simon McQuoid and produced by James Wan, Mortal Kombat stars Lewis Tan as Cole Young, Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade, Josh Lawson as Kano, Tadanobu Asano as Lord Raiden, Mehcad Brooks as Jackson "Jax" Bridges, Ludi Lin as Liu Kang, Chin Han as Shang Tsung, Joe Taslim as Bi-Han and Sub-Zero, Hiroyuki Sanada as Hanzo Hasashi and Scorpion, Max Huang as Kung Lao, Sisi Stringer as Mileena, Matilda Kimber as Emily Young and Laura Brent as Allison Young. The film arrives in theaters and on HBO Max April 23.
Source: Slate
0 Comments