We at Collider are happy to exclusively debut the first listen of Tom Holkenborg’s score for the upcoming fantasy adaptation Mortal Engines. Produced and co-written by Peter Jackson, the film takes place in a future world in which Earth’s cities now roam the globe on huge wheels, battling each other. Two unlikely heroes come together in an attempt to change the course of the future.

This marks Holkenborg’s (also known as Junkie XL) kind of first foray into post-apocalyptic territory since his terrific work on Mad Max: Fury Road, but the score to Mortal Engines is a very different approach. This theme, titled “London Suite in C Major,” is positively epic in scope, but blends somewhat otherworldly sounds with the soundscape of regality. It’s an enticing tease of the full score to come.

Listen to a snippet from Tom Holkenborg’s Mortal Engines score below. Directed by Christian Rivers, the film stars Hera Hilmar, Robert Sheehan, Jihae, Leila George, Ronan Raftery, Colin Salmon, Patrick Malahide, Regé-Jean Page, and Stephen Lang. Mortal Engines opens in theaters on December 14th.

Here’s the official synopsis for Mortal Engines:

Hundreds of years after civilization was destroyed by a cataclysmic event, a mysterious young woman, Hester Shaw (Hera Hilmar), emerges as the only one who can stop London — now a giant, predator city on wheels — from devouring everything in its path. Feral, and fiercely driven by the memory of her mother, Hester joins forces with Tom Natsworthy (Robert Sheehan), an outcast from London, along with Anna Fang (Jihae), a dangerous outlaw with a bounty on her head.

 

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. Visual effects are created by a Weta Digital team led by Ken McGaugh, Kevin Smith, Luke Millar and Dennis Yoo. The Universal and MRC adaptation is from the award-winning book series by Philip Reeve, published in 2001 by Scholastic.