mortal engines

Universal Pictures just released a new trailer for ‘Mortal Engines,’ the upcoming fantasy film based on the novel written by Philip Reeve. The film features a screenplay by the Oscar-winning ‘Lord of the Rings’ writing team of Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens, with Christian Rivers directing. Rivers began as a storyboard artist on Jackson’s ‘Braindead’ and continued to work on visual effects and second unit directing on the LOTR franchise, ‘The Hobbit,’ and ‘King Kong.’ ‘Mortal Engines’ will serve as his directorial debut.

The film is set in a futuristic version of the world, where Earth’s major cities roam the globe on huge wheels and battle each other. Two unlikely heroes come together to try and change the course of the future.

While the trailer is visually stunning, the trailer is confusing when it comes to the actual plot of the flim. Hugo Weaving is featured having a confrontation that is hard to understand without any other context, but maybe future trailers will clear things and give audiences a better idea of the story.

‘Mortal Engines’ also features Hera Hilmar, Robert Sheehan, Jihae, Leila George, Ronan Raftery, Colin Salmon, Patrick Malahide, Regé-Jean Page, and Stephen Lang. Here is an official synopsis of the film:

Thousands of years after a cataclysmic event, humans try to survive on a planet where gigantic moving cities ruthlessly prey upon smaller traction towns. When Londoner Tom Natsworthy encounters the dangerous fugitive Hester Shaw, he soon finds himself forging an unlikely alliance that changes the course of the future.

‘Mortal Engines’ opens in theaters on December 14th. Check out the trailer below!