Hugo Weaving and Peter Jackson have a history of working together that stretches back to the actor playing Elrond in the Lord Of The Rings trilogy and beyond. They're re-teaming for Mortal Engines, with Weaving joining the cast of the film that Jackson is producing and co-writing.
Christian Rivers, whose own professional history with Jackson stretches back even further, is in the director's chair for the adaptation of Philip Reeve's book series. The story takes place in a steampunk post-apocalyptic future where cities are mobile and perambulate the planet devouring each other for fuel: a system amusingly called Municipal Darwinism. The St Paul's Cathedral-topped London is the strongest of these Traction Cities, in a world where "old tech" is extremely sought after.
The first novel, Mortal Engines itself, in a very small nutshell, involves an assassination attempt within the Historians Guild; the challenging of apprentice Historian Tom Natsworthy's value system, when he gets stranded overboard his beloved London with the revenge-bent Hester Shaw; and the Terminator-ish "stalker" Shrike (Grike if you're American, where the book seres goes by the awkward title The Hungry City Chronicles) who's on their trail. Mortal Engines is followed by Predator's Gold, Infernal Devices, A Darkling Plain and the prequel Fever Crumb.
Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens wrote the script and shooting will be starting soon, ready for a 14 December, 2018 launch date. Weaving joins a cast that already includes Hera Hilmar, Robert Sheehan, Ronan Raftery and Stephen Lang, but The Hollywood Reporter offers no details on what role Weaving will take in the movie.
Christian Rivers Directing The Mortal Engines Film For Peter Jackson