Last summer's "unofficial" Mortal Kombat: Rebirth test footage has landed its director, Kevin Tancharoen, a job with Warner Bros. While Rebirth won't become a full-length feature film (you can't kill off Johnny Cage like that!), Warner apparently saw something in the imaginative re-imagination of its new aging fighting game franchise. As reported earlier this month, Tancharoen will helm a live-action Mortal Kombat digital series, which will be released in conjunction with the new game (launching April 19) "this spring through online digital retailers." Does that mean we have to pay for them?

Warner teased that the live-action shorts, to commence (crunch time) filming in Vancouver early next month, will provide "never-before-revealed insights" into the characters from the new game and its "universe," including Liu Kang and, of course, the beloved Johnny Cage (you see, Tancharoen?). The company will reveal further details shortly, including casting (and hopefully pricing -- or lack thereof). It's been reported that Michael Jai White will reprise his Rebirth role as Jax.

[Pictured: Scorpion from MK: Rebirth test footage; full video after the break]