London as a giant, trundling mobile city storming around the country gobbling up other, smaller municipalities? Could happen. And, indeed does in Philip Reeve's book series Mortal Engines, which is now being brought to the screen by Oscar-winning VFX man Christian Rivers and someone he's had a little experience working with, Peter Jackson. The latest image from the film has cropped up, and you can see it above.
It's a little over-generous to describe this as a "first" look – you might recognise the image of a plundering Londinium from the film's first trailer, which dropped all the way back in December.
We're promised fresh footage from the movie soon, but there is at least a longer synopsis to enjoy until it arrives in the coming days. Ready? Here we go: "Thousands of years after civilization was destroyed by a cataclysmic event, humankind has adapted and a new way of living has evolved. Gigantic moving cities now roam the Earth, ruthlessly preying upon smaller traction towns. 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). Two opposites, whose paths should never have crossed, forge an unlikely alliance that is destined to change the course of the future."
So now you know. Rivers is directing, with Jackson producing and writing the script alongside regular LOTR collaborators Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens. The cast also includes Hugo Weaving, Stephen Lang, Ronan Raftery, Caren Pistorius and Frankie Adams. Mortal Engines rumbles on to our screens on 14 December.
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