Peter Jackson’s ‘Mortal Engines’ Finally Moving Forward
Several years ago,Peter Jacksongot involved withMortal Engines, a post-apocalyptic steampunk adventure based on the books byPhilip Reeve. The project went on the backburner while Jackson went off to direct the threeHobbitmovies, but now that he’s back from Middle-earth he’s gettingMortal Enginesgoing again. However, he won’t be the one directing. Instead,Mortal Enginesis revving up with Jackson protégéChristian Riversbehind the wheel.
According toDeadline,Mortal Engineis a go at MRC and Universal, with production slated to begin next spring in New Zealand. The project reunites many of the people who worked on Jackson’s Tolkien franchise. Jackson will produce with his wifeFran Walsh, who has worked on all of his movies since 1989’sMeet the Feebles. The pair also wrote the script withPhilippa Boyens, who teamed with them on all theLord of the RingsandHobbitmovies as well asKing KongandThe Lovely Bones.
Rivers, too, is a longtime collaborator of Jackson and Walsh’s, starting out as a storyboard artist onDead Alive. He did VFX work on theLord of the Ringsmovies and won an Oscar in 2006 forKing Kong. More recently, he served as a splinter unit director onThe Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. But his most recent project doesn’t involve Jackson at all — he was the second unit director on Disney’sPete’s Dragon.Mortal Enginesmarks his feature directing debut.
First launched in 2001, Reeve’sMortal Enginesseries is set in a post-apocalyptic world where “traction cities” roam the earth gobbling up resources and sometimes each other. In the first book, the mayor of London has plans to consume a smaller town, with potentially disastrous consequences. It falls to a group of young people to stop him and save the day. It all sounds a bit likeMad Maxmeets Victorian-era London, with some of the reliable YA tropes mixed in.Mortal Enginesis the first of four books so far, and of course Universal is hoping the movie adaptation will launch a franchise.
