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by Keith Demko Posted:December 22nd, 2009 at 10:48 am
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The New Zealand newspaper Dominion Post is reporting that Peter Jackson, whose new movie The Lovely Bones made its limited U.S. debut Friday, is now at work on “secretly” adapting Phillip Reeve’s quartet of Mortal Engines fantasy novels for the big screen.
The paper reports the project is in early development, with work on a movie about the first of four books under way and Weta Workshops “believed to be” working on the giant mobile cities that populate the novels. None of this was given any further verification than “industry sources say,” and a spokesman for Jackson told the newspaper only “any comment should come from Peter.”
So, what are the books about? They take place in a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by a nuclear showdown called the “Sixty Minute War.” To avoid the earthquakes left in its wake, the world becomes divided into immense mobile cities known as Traction Cities, which often battle each other for supremacy. Just the possibilities of what Jackson could do with all that sets the mind reeling.
Find out more about what Jackson has on his plate after the jump.
Peter Jackson’s next movie roles will be as a producer. He’s fulfilling that role for director Guillermo del Toro’s The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkein’s prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, which Jackson of course directed himself for the big screen. Jackson and professional partner Philippa Boyens also wrote the screenplay for the del Toro project, which is actually being made into two movies, with the first scheduled for release in 2011.
He’s also producing Steven Spielberg’s take on the Belgian comic series Tintin with The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn. They have their eyes set on turning the Tintin series into at least a trilogy, with Jackson rumored to be set to direct the second installment.
Jackson also has war on the brain. He’s optioned the rights to the Temeraire series of novels by Naomi Novik, which reimagine the events of the Napoleonic Wars as if they were fought with a force of dragons manned by aviators. The possibilities for eye candy there are endless.
And, since the man apparently can’t stop working, he’ll also be producing New Zealand director Christian Rivers’ remake of the World War II movie Dambusters, if that comes to fruition. The original 1955 movie followed two dual stories, the development of the “bouncing bomb” and Operation Chastise, the Royal Air Force’s attacks on the Ruhr dams in Germany.
As you can see, Jackson is a very busy man. What does that mean for Mortal Engines we don’t know. But if you’re a fan of Peter Jackson, the next few years are looking pretty great. More as we hear it.
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I am very excited about Jackson directing the Mortal Engines series (fingers crossed about the rumour's veracity). I always felt that the Jackson-Weta team-up was the only agent capable of bringing the world of cannabalistic mobile city-states to life. Ah, those scenes of battling gargantuan machines and the mountain wall that divides Europe and Asia… PSYCHED.
As for the lack of new Jackson IP, I don't care as long as the movies he makes are great movies. All right, King Kong was boring but I trust that he'll make both Temeraire and Mortal Engines better and hopefully with more of his own style in it.
I totally agree with you about the “as long as the movies he makes are great movies.” If he bombs Mortal Engines, or makes it ANY less enjoyable than it’s movie adaption SHOULD be, I’ll cry. For real.
I totally agree with you about the “as long as the movies he makes are great movies.” If he bombs Mortal Engines, or makes it ANY less enjoyable than it’s movie adaption SHOULD be, I’ll cry. For real.
I loved the first book, I hope it turns out the way I imagined it.
I loved the first book, I hope it turns out the way I imagined it.
I love the Mortal Engines book and all the other ones in the series. I cant wait for it to come to the big screen. And as for Peter Jackson he’s my favourite producer so I know he’ll make it a blockbuster. But the one thing that disappoints me about this movie is that it does not have all the facts straight. In the book of Mortal Engines the city’s eat each other to get parts,food etc not for supremacy. But other than that I am completely PSYCHED as well.
I LOVED ALL THE BOOKS I HOP THE MOVE WILL BE AT LEST 1 8TH AS GOOD