The man best known for his work on the Lord of the Rings trilogy returns to the world of fantasy film-making with an adaptation of Philip Reeve’s book series Mortal Engines, for which the first trailer was released today.
Jackson has written the new film, along with his wife Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, and also acts as producer alongside Zane Weiner, Amanda Walker, and Deborah Forte. Christian Rivers, a long-time Jackson collaborator as storyboarder, visual effects director, and splinter unit director, is the film’s director.
When first announcing the film, Jackson said of Rivers: “Christian is one of my closest collaborators. The combination of emotion and jaw-dropping visuals in Mortal Engines makes this the perfect movie for his move into feature directing.
“What Christian intends to do with Philip Reeve’s terrific story is going to result in an original and spectacular movie. I wish I could see it tomorrow!”
Reeve’s four-book series centres around a steampunk, dystopian future, where cities mounted on monstrous machines fight for the world’s dwindling resources, “ruthlessly preying on smaller traction towns” as the official statement announces.
The statement continues: “Tom Natsworthy (Robert Sheehan)— who hails from a Lower Tier of the great traction city of London — finds himself fighting for his own survival after he encounters the dangerous fugitive Hester Shaw (Hera Hilmar). Two opposites, whose paths should never have crossed, forge an unlikely alliance that is destined to change the course of the future.”
The film also stars Stephen Lang and LOTR alumni Hugo Weaving.
The first, and presumably not last, instalment of the Mortal Engines series is set for release on 14th December 2018.
Watch the first trailer below:
