It’s been two years since Peter Jackson finally left Middle Earth with “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies,” and he’s mostly been keeping a low profile, popping up to surprisingly back Sean Parker‘s premium VOD service. But over the summer it was revealed that the director was working on a secret project over his pal Steven Spielberg‘s Amblin Entertainment. And while details on that movie haven’t been revealed, another Jackson project is gearing up, albeit one he won’t be directing.
For years, Jackson has been shepherding along an adaptation of Philip Reeve’s “Mortal Engines,” the first in a four book steampunk book series. He’s written the script along with his regular collaborators Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, but probably well weary of tentpoles by this point, Jackson is passing the director’s chair to Christian Rivers.
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Hardly a newcomer, Rivers has over two decades of work in the biz, most of it with Jackson as a storyboard artist, but leaping to a unit director on “The Hobbit” films, helming many action sequences. He was also recently second unit director on David Lowery‘s “Pete’s Dragon,” and has plenty of visual effects experience. Basically, it’s in good hands. As for the story, it’s a high concept tale set in a post-apocalyptic future where teenager Tom Natsworthy and a young woman make a discovery that could change the world around them. That’s a fairly simple summation, but jump to Wikipedia to see how deep and detailed this tale is.
Filming begins next spring in New Zealand, which likely means casting will be ramping up soon. If you’ve read the book(s), let us know your thoughts, and it’s nice to have Jackson back even if he’s directing just yet.
