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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Previewed during Comic-Con 2016 at the Weta Cave, our friends at Weta Workshop are proud to announce their newest statue for The Hobbit Trilogy line of statues. Joining the collections of many collectors world-wide is none other than The Witch-King as we saw him at Dol Guldur during The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. This fantastic statue is a super dynamic pose of The Witch-King looking to take out a member of The White Council. Collectors, you can add this to your collection for $349 and I would do so quickly as the edition size of this one comes in at only 750 pieces. The expected delivery of this one is scheduled for December of this year.
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Tonight we have several new items from our friends at Weta Workshop. The first of these new items was my personal favorite at this years San Diego Comic-Con.
The beautiful Lady Galadriel at Dol Guldur is without a doubt the best version of this character we’ve had a chance to add to any of our collections. This stunning piece comes in with an edition size of only 750 pieces world wide and can be purchased for $275. You can expect to have her in March of 2017.
The next two items continue the growing resurgence of the helm line. Fans can now add the helm of Dain Ironfoot as well as The Witch King as we see him at Dol Guldur during The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. Both the helms come in with a price tag of $79 and edition sizes of 750 pieces. If you manage to order all three helms that have been released so far by September 30th, 2016 by midnight (NZT) you can be in the running to get the #1/500 Uruk-Hai helm.
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There is a lot more to come on the new Middle-earth film collection from us here at TheOneRing.net. To be honest, the greatest discussions of Tolkien happen behind the scenes with the staff via email from staffers with recognizable names and ones that get less attention but who are still wicked smart. It is all pretty interesting. There is lots of great commentary and info to come from that staff.
Staffer Deej (soon to be part of the TORn team appearing at Dragon Con) posted our original story.
But, lets get to the nuts and bolts of what is being released on Nov. 1. while sticking to the facts — with minor background info as notes.
There are three products hitting store shelves, all listed here with suggested retail prices in American dollars.
MIDDLE-EARTH 6-FILM COLLECTION
Theatrical versions DVD: $35.99
Theatrical versions Blu-ray: $68.99
Limited collector’s edition: $799.99
So see, that $800 price tag rumor was bogus; it is one Abraham Lincoln penny less than originally thought. Lets have a look at the promotional material. Continue reading “The nuts and bolts info on the new Middle-earth 6-film collection release”
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If you’re into 1:6 figures of your favorite Middle-earth characters then Asmus Toys has you covered. Their latest figure is Gandalf the Grey and the fantastic thing about this figure is that it covers both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. How is that? This figure comes with all the staffs Gandalf uses over the course of all six films. The thing that blows me away the most in the pictures of this figure is how well done the clothes look. They really look movie screen quality. I also like the blend of sculpted hair in the beard and real hair on the top of his head. The final thing that really impressed me was if you want to recreate the bridge scene from The Fellowship of the Ring. Gandalf comes in with a price tag of $199 and comes with an insane amount of stuff.
Gandalf the Grey Specs:
Authentic and detailed fully realized likeness of Gandalf the Grey from The Lord of the Ring trilogy and the Hobbit trilogy.
Asmus Toys KP01A+ male body
Approximately 30 cm tall
Over 36 points of articulation
Features :
An authentic likeness of the actor from the film.
- One pair of relaxed posture hand
- One pair of weapon holding hand
- One pipe holding hand
Special features on Clothing:
- One signature grey wizard hat
- One pair of brown long sleeved inner shirt
- One dark grey robe
- One dark grey hooded cloak
- One brown woven belt
- One printed blue belt plus sheath holder
- One pair of brown leather boots
- One traveling bag
Special features in weapons:
- One wizard staff, used in the first entry of the movie.
- One wizard staff, used to defeat Balrog
- One elvish sword
- One sword sheath
- A pipe
Accessories:
- One interractive cutom base of the broken bridge in Moira
- One Asmus Toys figure stand
- One display base of Asmus.
PRE-ORDER ONLY: One wizard staff, used in the Hobbit movie
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This week I had the pleasure of chatting with Stephen Hunter (Bombur) about his latest projects, his new 
