When talking about Mortal Engines in the new behind-the-scenes featurette, writer/producer Peter Jackson says, "it's got to be something I've never seen." Consider that for second. The man behind The Lord of the Rings franchise keeps pushing forward and has revealed that if he's going to spend two years of his life on something, it had better be damn good. While we have to wait until December to see Mortal Engines, this behind-the-scenes sneak peek will hold you over until then, making you forget that it's taken so long to get finished.

In the new Mortal Engines featurette we are given insight into the motivations of the characters as well as the cast and crew who meticulously put the movie together. Robert Sheehan, who plays museum apprentice Tom Natsworthy in the film says that he's just as excited as the audiences are to finally see the final cut on the big screen. Sheehan also commented on the ambition of the project. He had this to say.

"With the size and the scope and the imagination of this thing, I'm going to be as amazed by this movie as the audience."

Mortal Engines is based off of the young-adult book series by Philip Reeve and it takes place thousands of years after civilization was destroyed by a catastrophic event. Humankind has had to adapt and a new way of living and has evolved in the ashes of the old world. Gigantic moving cities now roam the Earth, preying upon the smaller towns, and engulfing them to take them over. 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). The two are polar opposites, whose paths should never have crossed, but they forge an unlikely alliance that is destined to change the course of the future.

Mortal Engines is directed by Academy Award winning visual-effects artist Christian Rivers (King Kong). Joining Rivers are The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogies filmmakers Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, who have written the screenplay together. The adaptation is from the aforementioned award-winning book series by author Philip Reeve, which was first published in 2001 by Scholastic and helped give notoriety to the Steampunk genre. On board as producers are Zane Weiner, Amanda Walker, and Deborah Forte, as well as Walsh and Jackson. Ken Kamins joins Boyens as executive producer.

Mortal Engines opens in theaters on December 14th, after being in development since 2009. However, production did not start on the film until October of 2016 with most of the casting being announced in early 2017. Principal photography then started in April of 2017 and wrapped in July. The movie has been in post-production ever since. We have seen two trailer from Mortal Engines and the footage is absolutely jaw dropping, so the wait seems to have been well worth it. Check out the behind-the-scenes featurette below, thanks to the Universal Pictures YouTube channel.