Peter Jackson announces first post-Hobbit project
The Lord of the Rings director will write and produce another adaptation of a classic fantasy series
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.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!"
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments