Peter Jackson announces first post-Hobbit project

The Lord of the Rings director will write and produce another adaptation of a classic fantasy series

(Getty)

Things have been quiet for Peter Jackson after finally completing work on The Hobbit trilogy, which unfortunately faced a hurried journey to screen and a lukewarm reception from both fans and critics.

Jackson, however, has decided once more to return to the world of fantasy; The Hollywood Reporter states he will write and produce an adaptation of Philip Reeve's Mortal Engines series of books, a quartet which focuses on a steampunk vision of London, now a monstrously huge machine which rolls across the landscape in search of the planet's dwindling resources.

The director will work once more with Fran Walsh, his wife as well as co-writer and co-producer on the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films, alongside frequent collaborator Philippa Boyens; production is slated to start in spring in New Zealand, though Jackson and Walsh have been quietly working on the adaptation since 2009, when he opted the rights to the books from Scholastic.

He won't be taking the director's chair, though; handing over the reins to Christian Rivers, another New Zealand talent who has storyboarded all of Jackson's films since Braindead. After working as Second Unit Director on Pete's Dragon, Rivers has also long been attached to Jackson's other project, a remake of 1955 British war film The Dam Busters.

Rivers also worked as Visual Effects Supervisor on The Lord of the Rings trilogy, even winning an Oscar for his work on 2005's King Kong, which Jackson also directed.

"Christian is one of my closest collaborators," Jackson said of the announcement. "The combination of emotion and jaw-dropping visuals in Mortal Engines makes this the perfect movie for his move into feature directing. What Christian intends to do with Philip Reeve’s terrific story is going to result in an original and spectacular movie. I wish I could see it tomorrow!"