Last week, we heard that the first trailer for Peter Jackson’s Mortal Engines would be hitting screens alongside Star Wars: The Last Jedi. We know that the trailer didn’t get shown in our theater, but we can at least check it out now that it’s been released online.

I’m not familiar with the property, so right now it just looks like a cross between Mad Max and Howl’s Moving Castle. That said, the initial trailer is absolutely beautiful!

Mortal Engines opens December, 14th, 2018 and stars: Hera Hilmar, Robert Sheehan, Jihae, Leila George, Ronan Raftery, Colin Salmon, Patrick Malahide, Regé-Jean Page, Stephen Lang and Hugo Weaving.


Thousands of years after civilization was destroyed by a cataclysmic event, humankind has adapted and a new way of living has evolved. Gigantic moving cities now roam the Earth, ruthlessly preying upon smaller traction towns. Tom Natsworthy (Robert Sheehan)—who hails from a Lower Tier of the great traction city of London—finds himself fighting for his own survival after he encounters the dangerous fugitive Hester Shaw (Hera Hilmar). Two opposites, whose paths should never have crossed, forge an unlikely alliance that is destined to change the course of the future.

Mortal Engines is the startling, new epic adventure directed by Oscar®-winning visual-effects artist Christian Rivers (King Kong). Joining Rivers are The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogies three-time Academy Award®-winning filmmakers Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, who have penned the screenplay. The Universal and MRC adaptation is from the award-winning book series by Philip Reeve, published in 2001 by Scholastic.

On board as producers are Zane Weiner (The Hobbit trilogy), Amanda Walker (The Hobbit trilogy) and Deborah Forte (Goosebumps), as well as Walsh and Jackson. Ken Kamins (The Hobbit trilogy) joins Boyens as executive producer. Universal will distribute the film worldwide.