Peter Jackson made a recent announcement on his facebook page that his next movie project will be adapting Philip Reeve’s book, Mortal Engines. The book is set in a post-apocalyptic future where cities move about on wheels, devouring smaller cities for their resources. The book is the first in a series of four books, presenting the opportunity for ‘sequels’ down the road.
The project will bring together many of the crew who worked on The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit franchises, including Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens who adapted the Mortal Engines script. The movie will be directed by Christian Rivers, the VFX master of The Hobbit. From Deadline Hollywood:
“Christian is one of my closest collaborators,” says Jackson in a statement. “The combination of emotion and jaw-dropping visuals in Mortal Engines makes this the perfect movie for his move into feature directing. What Christian intends to do with Philip Reeve’s terrific story is going to result in an original and spectacular movie. I wish I could see it tomorrow!”
The text of PJ’s facbook post is below
OUR NEXT MOVIE!
Hi Folks,
It’s been a quiet few months, but I’m very happy to tell you that our next project is now underway.
WingNut Films be producing a feature film based on Philip Reeve’s book Mortal Engines, to be directed by Christian Rivers. The script has been written by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and myself.
Some of you may recall that Christian was going to direct the Dambusters a few years back. Since then he’s kept himself busy, making short films, and directing Second Units on The Hobbit and Pete’s Dragon.
Our involvement in Mortal Engines actually pre-dates Dambusters (which is still happening) – Christian actually worked on Mortal Engines previs way back in 2009. It’s very exciting to finally get it underway!
We’ve had the rights to Philip’s book series for several years, but have had to wait for the right time to make it.
If you haven’t read the books, you should. They present a stunning look into the future, when all of Earth’s major cities are now mounted on wheels, roaming across the landscape as massive “Traction Cities”. Our society has build itself on the principals of Municipal Darwinism – this basically involves the bigger cities hunting down, and consuming, the smaller ones. And that’s only the backdrop to an original and emotional personal story.
Philip Reeve has created a range of intriguing characters, following their adventures in our strange future world through four books – “Mortal Engines”, “Predator’s Gold”, “Infernal Devices” and “A Darkling Plain”.
The moment we read these novels, we knew what exciting movies they’d make. I literally can’t wait to see them!
The movie will be financed by MRC and Universal, and shooting will get underway next March, in New Zealand. Producers Zane Weiner and Amanda Walker, who both worked on the Hobbit, will be spearheading the NZ based team, along with Deborah Forte in the US.
No casting to announce yet, but Weta Workshop and Weta Digital are both onboard.
With the wheels now rolling on Mortal Engines, I’ll bring you a lot of news and sneak peeks at what we’re doing over the coming months.
Cheers,
Peter J
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One of my favorite things to do at Comic-Con is to do a booth tour video of many of the collectibles that you can find at the Weta Workshop booth. As you’ve seen from my previous post, Weta has some really superb items this year, like the new Lurtz at Amon Hen, Boromir at Amon Hen, Saruman the White at Dol Guldur, Lady Eowyn of Rohan, and the Elven Warrior. Those are just the items you can order right now. There are also amazing items like Galadriel at Dol Guldur, Grond, War Troll, Skully Helm, and the 1:30 line which were being previewed at this years Comic-Con. Hope you all enjoy this look at all these great items!
Continue reading “Collecting The Precious – Weta Workshop Comic-Con 2016 Booth Tour”
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Comic-Con 2016 has come to and end. However, I’m here to let you know that we’re just getting started with the excitement over what we saw during last week’s event. In this article, we bring you pictures of the many items that could be found at the Weta Workshop booth. Weta had so many new items this year, and they were all amazing. I can’t wait to get so many of these into my collection. The new items making the show this year that fans can pre-order right now are: Lurtz at Amon Hen, Boromir at Amon Hen, Saruman the White at Dol Guldur, Elven Warrior, and Lady Eowyn of Rohan. Fans also have these superb items to look forward to Galadriel at Dol Guldur, War Troll, Skully Helm, Grond, Gimli at Helm’s Deep, The Witch King at Dol Guldur, and the 1:30 Dol Guldur Environment/mini-figures. Below you will find details of these statues with edition sizes and the names of the talented artist who bring you these collectibles. You will also find pictures taken during Comic-Con. I hope they bring you the excitement of event the way I saw it as I was drooling over these collectibles.
Continue reading “Collecting The Precious – Weta Workshop Comic-Con Booth Coverage Part 1”
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As we approach another Comic-Con I wanted to share a review of an item I loved from last years Comic-Con. The amazing Minas Tirith Environment from Weta Workshop was the scene stealing item of their booth last year. Sculptor Leonard Ellis out-did himself with the detail that went into this piece, from the detailed front gate to the last little brick in the upper-most wall. This is the kind of piece that you feel, with the right camera, you could do a fly over to film your own Minas Tirith scene. Thankfully for collectors, this piece is an open edition and can still be had. I would encourage you to get your Minas Tirith today.
Continue reading “Collecting The Precious – Weta Workshop’s Minas Tirith Review”
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We spotted an interesting read over at Denofgeek.com. posing the question as to whether any fantasy film will ever be able to outshine Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy.
“Legend, Krull, The Neverending Story, Dune, all have their fans but none captured the zeitgeist anywhere close to how Lord Of The Rings did from late 2001, along with Harry Potter. We finally had fantasy films faithful to the genre’s most rock-solid source material, made by a relatively independent director in a country mostly neglected for big-budget filmmaking, and brave enough to commit to a fantasy world with both digitally-aided grandeur and a practical, lived-in feel.”
Of course, it depends on what one’s definition of ‘outshine’ is: Box office success? The ability to support sequels? Motivating people to seek out more of the particular fantasy world? Read the article, then let us know. Read more…
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Last week we teamed up with our friends at HarperCollins to give away 10 of their amazing The Lord of the Rings Movie Trilogy coloring books.
Now, after all the ping pong balls have landed, we’re happy to announce the 10 lucky fans who will be getting a copy delivered to their doors. There are 6 winners from the United States and 4 winners from other areas of the globe. We want to thank HarperCollins for allowing us to give these away and for including the Ringers who don’t live in the United States. Continue reading “Collecting The Precious – The Lord of the Rings Movie Trilogy Coloring Book Contest Winners”
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