Overseen by Peter Jackson, Mortal Engines is an ambitious sci-fi adventure film, that’s heading into cinemas at the end of 2018.
Starring Hugo Weaving, Hera Hilmer and Robert Sheehan, the movie is being directed by Christian Rivers, and the first trailer and synopsis has just been released. We figured we’d bring them to you. Not least because this looks great.
Here, then, is the trailer…
And here’s the synopsis…
Thousands of years after civilization was destroyed by a cataclysmic event, humankind has adapted and a new way of living has evolved. Gigantic moving cities now roam the Earth, ruthlessly preying upon smaller traction towns. 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.
Mortal Engines is the startling, new epic adventure directed by Oscar®-winning visual-effects artist Christian Rivers (King Kong). Joining Rivers are The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogies three-time Academy Award®-winning filmmakers Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, who have penned the screenplay. The Universal and MRC adaptation is from the award-winning book series by Philip Reeve, published in 2001 by Scholastic.
On board as producers are Zane Weiner (The Hobbit trilogy), Amanda Walker (The Hobbit trilogy) and Deborah Forte (Goosebumps), as well as Walsh and Jackson. Ken Kamins (The Hobbit trilogy) joins Boyens as executive producer.
It’s clear that Universal has more than one film in mind for this. We’ll keep you posted as we hear more on the movie. It’s due in December 2018.
You might have been introduced to Mortal Engines by its teaser trailer. Or maybe it was the initial announcement last year. Or maybe, just maybe, you’re an old-school fan of the 2001 novel from Phillip Reeve.
However you’ve come to be interested in Mortal Engines, Peter Jackson’s latest blockbuster, you need an introduction or a refresher. Look no further.
What is Mortal Engines?
Mortal Engines is a 2018 sci-fi film from Universal Pictures, based on the novel of the same name. It takes place in a post-apocalyptic Europe in an area known as The Great Hunting Ground, which encompasses most of the European and part of the Asian continents. Sometime in the past, human civilization was fundamentally changed by an event known as the Sixty Minute War, implied to be a frenzy of nuclear exchange between America and China.
Since then, a civilization has oriented itself around “traction cities,” the core sci-fi concept of the movie, and the Great Hunting Ground is the largest concentration of them.
What are traction cities?
I’m going to leave you with this paragraph from the Mortal Engines fan wiki:
Traction Cities are vast metropolises built on tiers that move on gigantic wheels or caterpillar tracks. These cities hunt smaller cities (in order to tear them apart for resources and fuel) which in turn hunt towns which in turn hunt villages and static settlements. This practice is known as Municipal Darwinism, which was created by Nicholas Quirke and is based on the evolutionary theories of the ancient philosopher Charles Darwin.
Larger cities typically have mechanisms known as “jaws” to drag smaller cities into their “gut,” a tier of factories and furnaces where the smaller city is stripped for parts and artifacts, while its people are either incorporated into the underclass of the larger city’s population or enslaved.
Cities that eat other cities are known as — wait for it — Urbivores. A great deal of humanity lives in traction cities or is terrorized by them, but airships and remote stationary outposts also exist.
What is Mortal Engines about?
Mortal Engines is based on Phillip Reeve’s 2001 young adult novel, and its three sequels, a series called the Mortal Engines Quartet. The books follow the adventures of apprentice historian Tom Natsworthy (he’ll be played by Robert Sheehan of Misfits fame) and Hester Shaw (Hera Hilmar), who features prominently in the first teaser for the movie.
In the first installment of Mortal Engines, Tom and Hester find themselves attempting to thwart the plans of the head of London’s Guild of Historians, Thaddeus Valentine (Hugo Weaving), who is looking for the secret to an ancient superweapon from before the Sixty Minute War. They are hampered by the deadly steampunk cyborg assassin, Shrike (Stephen Lang), who the Lord Mayor of London hired to kill them.
Is Peter Jackson making Mortal Engines?
Yes, but he’s not directing it. Mortal Engines will be the first screenplay from Jackson and partners Fran Walsh and Phillipa Boyens to not be directed by Jackson himself. Instead, Jackson, Walsh and Boyens are staying in the producers’ chairs, while Christian Rivers directs.
Rivers has spent his career working on storyboards and visual effects in Peter Jackson productions, as well as a second unit director in the Hobbit trilogy, King Kong (2005) and Pete’s Dragon. Mortal Engines will be his first feature-length directing gig.
When does Mortal Engines come out?
Dec. 14, 2018.
The first trailer for the latest movie produced by Sir Peter Jackson has been released.
Mortal Engines, a post-apocalyptic sci-fi film filmed in Wellington and starring Irish actor Robert Sheehan and Iceland's Hera Hilmar, is still in post-production ahead of its December release.
It's set thousands of years after civilisation was destroyed where gigantic moving cities roam the Earth.
The film is being adapted from the popular Phillip Reeve novel and the trailer has received positive reactions from fans on social media.
Mortal Engines, a Universal Pictures production, was granted extra funding by the Government.
Having been shot with the help of more than 1000 Kiwi actors and crew, the Hollywood-funded film has now also been awarded a bonus 5 percent funding grant by the New Zealand Government, Reuters reports.
New Zealand Film Commission chief executive Dave Gibson says the funding recognised the film's lasting economic contribution to the local industry.
"Mortal Engines gives us the opportunity to profile the New Zealand screen industry on the world stage - including our talented pool of actors, experienced crew, and facilities," he said.
New Zealand has one of most generous location incentives schemes in the world, which has succeeded in attracting a series of major international productions to local shores, Reuters said.
Films that make use of Kiwi post production, digital and visual effects services can earn grants worth 20 percent of local expenditure, up to $25 million, and 18 percent for above $25 million.
Seventy percent of the film's 50 speaking roles were snapped up by Kiwi actors, while post production is currently underway at Park Road Post Production in Wellington ahead of a worldwide release in December 2018.
The financial bonus awarded to Mortal Engines also follows the recent signing of a marketing partnership between the New Zealand Film Commission, Education New Zealand and film producers and financiers Universal Pictures, MRC and Hungry City.
NZN / Newshub.
Hollywood studios have partnered with New Zealand organisations to bring the new large-scale production of the epic adventure Mortal Engines to the big screen.
Photo: Facebook / Peter Jackson
The partnership between studios Universal Pictures and MRC (Media Rights Capital) with the Film Commission and Education New Zealand gave the film producers an extra tax break of five percent, in addition to the initial 20 percent tax incentive to film the action movie in New Zealand.
The announcement follows the release of the teaser trailer for the film, which features New Zealand director Christian Rivers and producers Zane Weiner, Amanda Walker, Deborah Forte, Fran Walsh and Peter Jackson.
Film Commission chief executive Dave Gibson said the partnership provided considerable economic benefits and would also strengthen the international perception of the screen industry.
"Mortal Engines gives us the opportunity to profile the New Zealand screen industry on the world stage including our talented pool of actors, experienced crew, and facilities. In doing so, this showcases that New Zealand can cater for large scale full-service productions," he said.
Mr Rivers said New Zealand was chosen as the location for Mortal Engines because of its world class crew, talent, technicians and facilities.
"It's a testament to the skill, talent and imagination of New Zealand crews that they are able to completely fabricate these other worlds that have never been seen before," he said.
More than 1000 New Zealanders, including crew, cast, craftspeople and nearly all the heads of departments, worked on the film.
Mortal Engines, which is based on Philip Reeve's 2001 book, opens worldwide in December 2018.
The teaser trailer can be viewed here.
