The first teaser trailer for Peter Jackson's Mortal Engines will premiere before screenings of Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Christian Rivers directed Mortal Engines based on Philip Reeve's YA series of the same name. News on the film has been scarce since Jackson released some concept art back in May.
Mortal Engines takes place on a war-ravaged future earth where entire cities have literally gone mobile, roaming the countryside on giant wheels in search of smaller cities to devour. A denizen of one of these bizarre Traction Cities, Tom Natsworthy (Robert Sheehan), sees his life forever changed when he encounters Hester Shaw (Hera Hilmar), a mysterious young woman from the Outlands. Mortal Engines touches on themes of class warfare, environmental calamity and the costs of war. The movie also stars Hugo Weaving, Stephen Lang, Jihae, Ronan Raftery and Patrick Malahide.
Related: Peter Jackson Reveals Mortal Engines Movie Concept Art
Peter Jackson has announced on Facebook that the first teaser trailer for Mortal Engines will play worldwide before screenings of Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Jackson first revealed the project back in 2009. The movie was announced in 2016 with Jackson co-writing the script alongside Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens.
Mortal Engines marks the feature film directorial debut of Christian Rivers, Jackson's long-time storyboard artist, visual effects man and second unit director. Jackson himself is behind-the-scenes on this one, acting as producer and writer. Universal will count on Jackson's magic touch with sprawling fantasy material working again with steampunk dystopian YA fiction.
The dystopian YA trend that brought us the hit Hunger Games movies has of course fizzled after the failed Divergent series. Universal hopes the man who made $5.8 billion worldwide with his six Middle Earth movies will reverse that trend. A franchise could be in the offing if Mortal Engines can find an audience. Reeve wrote four novels in his Mortal Engines series, mapping out a very Jackson-style epic story.
It won't hurt the film's prospects to have the first teaser trailer debut in front of The Last Jedi. Projections estimate The Last Jedi will open to $200 million in the US and $450 million worldwide. Universal hopes some of those innumerable Star Wars fans will be intrigued by Mortal Engines' story and visuals. The visual element is sure to be rich and fascinating given the talent Jackson always assembles for his films. Jackson himself is a key element, both for his skill at shepherding big productions and for his name.
Next: Peter Jackson’s Mortal Engines Adaptation Gets a 2018 Release Date
Source: Peter Jackson
