Universal Pictures has released the latest trailer for Mortal Engines, their upcoming steampunk fantasy based on the book of the same name by Philip Reeve for New York Comic-Con. In addition, the studio also screened the first 25 minutes of the epic film at the annual event, which has been getting positive responses so far. The newest trailer for the movie shows a lot, and like previous trailers, there's definitely a lot more questions than answers, which means that potential viewers may want to read the source material ahead of time.
Mortal Engines takes place hundreds of years after civilization was destroyed by a cataclysmic event, called the "Sixty Minute War." The new trailer dives even further into the origin of Hester Shaw (Hera Hilmar), hinting at the reason why she's the one to keep the motorized city of London from devouring everything in its path. Her mother stumbled upon something that was coveted by Hugo Weaving's villainous Thaddeus Valentine, which leads to her death and Hester's life as a child on the run.
Even with the new footage shown in the latest trailer for Mortal Engines, it's hard not to stare at the unbelievable visual effects. While it's hard to understand what is going on, the film looks stunning and will undoubtedly need to be seen on the big screen to get the full effect. With that being said, hopefully the movie is able to take the excellent and lengthy source material from Phillip Reeve and turn it into a compelling film. So far, fans at New York Comic-Con liked what they saw within the first 25 minutes, so that's already a good start.
Mortal Engines is the startling, new epic adventure directed by Academy Award 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 written the screenplay. The stunning visual effects were 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.
On board as producers for Mortal Engines 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. Mortal Engines hits theaters on December 14th and has been in development for nearly a decade now, leading to a lot of hype surrounding the project. It's been a long time coming and there are diehard fans of the book who are expecting something magical when they make it to the theaters. You can check out the brand-new trailer, and likely the last, below, thanks to the Universal Pictures YouTube channel.