MORTAL ENGINES Trailer

Get ready for the steampunk action and YA adventure of Mortal Engines, because with the backing of Peter Jackson, you know this is going to be an in-your-face spectacle.

The trend of adapting YA novels may be waning, but that doesn’t mean we’ve exhausted the idea pool. Philip Reeve’s Mortal Engines book series required a bit more investment from studios because of its complicated dystopian setting. With the world crumbling due to lack of resources, entire cities have taken to the sky, scrounging and stealing for survival. A young woman has the ability to bring one of these predatory cities to its knees, but she needs to team up with a band of outcasts to bring down the leader of the monstrosity.

The familiar elements of YA adventures are there, but the premise requires gobs of special effects to pull off. That’s where Jackson and his team entered, having had plenty of experience adapting large-scale fantasies to the screen. Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens (the same team behind The Lord of the Rings) handled the screenplay, but directing duties were passed on to Christian Rivers. He had worked with them throughout Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit and makes his directorial debut here.

Whether Rivers and his team of largely unknown actors (Hugo Weaving is the biggest name but promising Icelandic actress Hera Hilmar is key to the film) can capture the spectacle of the story will determine whether the series will live or die. Either way, this movie should cut a striking path.

Mortal Engines is directed by Christian Rivers and stars Hera Hilmar, Hugo Weaving, and Robert Sheehan. It will be released in the UK on December 8th, 2018 and in the US on December 14th, 2018. For international release dates, click here.

Do you think this will catch on with audiences or flop at the box office? Let us know in the comments!