Mortal Engines film facts and trivia
Everyone loves nuggets of gold about how movies are made, the secrets that are well hidden until the movie is made and some good old trivia. Just look at Star Wars trivia, everyone loves that!
Here's what we've learned about the making of the first Mortal Engines feature movie, including a few well placed Easter Eggs that IMDB may have missed...
Here's what we've learned about the making of the first Mortal Engines feature movie, including a few well placed Easter Eggs that IMDB may have missed...
- Mortal Engines is the first feature film directed by Christian Rivers. At one point he was going to direct the remake of The Dambusters however that project was put on the back burner.
- The first of Philip Reeve's novels to be turned into a movie. Railhead next?
- Filming took mostly place at Weta Studios in Wellington's suburb of Miramar in New Zealand. This is where Peter Jackson and Richard Taylor and co have based themselves for 20 years making films such as Braindead, King Kong and The Frighteners.
- Peter Jackson purchased the film rights from Philip Reeve in 2001 and has quietly worked on the movie ever since.
- This is the first film written by Peter Jackson (with his usual partners Fran Walsh and Phillipa Boyle) that he has not directed. First-time helmer (and Jackson protege) Christian Rivers has the directing duties.
- Produced by WingNut Films, the same company Jackson uses everytime he makes a movie.
- Katherine Valentine is seen holding a book about the Sixty Minute War written by Nimrod Pennyroyal. This is a great Easter Egg as Pennyroyal is actually a pivotal character in the series that enters the fray in the first sequel Predators' Gold. Given Pennyroyals books are usually works of fiction though marketed as nonfiction, it's quite likely this book is a complete nonsense.
- Actress Hera Hilmar has been cast as Hester Shaw.
- The trailer made its debut with The Last Jedi.
- The name of the movie comes from a line in William Shakespeare's Othello.
- Mark Hadlow has a role in the movie. His first acting connection with Peter Jackson was in the Hobbit trilogy so it's clear Hadlow is a trusted and respected actor within that circle. He plays Orme Wreyland.
- The pin Chudleigh Pomeroy wears is the one that Bilbo Baggins wore in The Fellowship of the Rings.
- Rivers deliberately steered away from the movie looking like Mad Max. "We didn't want it to be post-apocalyptic dystopia so, we didn't want it to be 'Mad Max.' We didn't want it to be 'Hunger Games' or 'Divergent.' That's kind of a bleak, dystopian sort of film, you know? It needed to tie to our world." Funnily enough most reviews seemed to compare it to Fury Road!
- Look carefully for modern artifacts in the Museum and keep an eye out for the Despicable Me - Minions! They are in a section called "Deities of Lost America". In the novel the humans have mistaken Mickey Mouse for a god. Due to ownership rights, the Minions have been subbed in.
- 63 sets were built in Jackson's studio at Miramar, Wellington. These included the London GUT (Great Under Tier), Shrike’s workshop, Pomeroy’s museum, the slave market, and St. Paul’s Cathedral (in which MEDUSA is housed).
- The production received a rebate from the New Zealand government to recognise it had created a lot of employment opportunities and training for New Zealanders.
- Hester Shaw has two eyes in the film whereas in the book she only has one due to being sliced with a sword by Valentine prior to the start of the novel. The book made Hester face very ugly with a grotesque scar which was toned down for the movie. Learn more about Hester Shaw's character arc!
- Author Philip Reeve and his son were cameo extras in the film. They filmed their parts when Reeve made a secret trip to New Zealand in May 2017.
- Singer Jihae is playing Anna Fang, a key figure of the Anti Traction League. The theme song Jihae sings is a cover of Vera Lynn's 'There'll Always Be An England.'
- Hester and Tom shared a Twinkie between - the joke beign Twinkies can last forever.
- The opening scene is striking similar to the opening of Star Wars: A New Hope.
- Jackson first started trying to make Mortal Engines in 2008 and would have directed it had the saga of The Hobbit's production being held in limbo not got in the way.
- Liam Vogel was the official second unit director, however, Peter Jackson jumped in every so often.
- Noted Lord of the Rings concept designer John Howe worked on the movie.
- The legal entity of the production was a company called 'Squeaky Wheels'.
- 'Squeaky Wheels' was also the working name of the movie and it was shipped to theatres as such.
- The novel originally started out as a short story called Urbivore. The concept of moving cities came directly from that. The story was notable for having a male aviator called Fang - the name clearly carried over to the Anna Fang character. The word urbivore stuck with Reeve as he used in to describe a giant city in A Darkling Plain.
- The Shrike character name was inspired by Max Shreck from the Nosferatu film. When Reeve learned the film 'Shrek' was coming out, he amended the name. Shrike is so named for the bird that kills its insect prey by spiking it on thorns and other sharp plants.
- The opening chase of Salthook and London is closely modeled in concept on the opening of Star Wars.
- Salthook has been renamed Saltzhaken for the movie.
- The electronic screens around London show wanted posters that features Peter Jackson’s face. This is presumably his cameo.
- Completely non related but still interesting, Darth Maul says 33 words in The Phantom Menace.
- The film has a different ending from the novel. Surprise!
- Tom Holkenborg who wrote the score said of it "I think I found a balance between the brutality of Mad Max while honoring the orchestral writing that made the 50s great."
- When London's public address system warns "Be aware, children may be temporarily separated from parents.". This is a deliberate real world reference to American politics where immigrant families where separated as a matter of policy under the Trump administration.
- Peter Jackson brought the rights to the film in 2009 meaning it took nearly 10 years to get the film on screen - you can thank The Hobbit for being turned into 3 films for that!
- Just chipping some of the greatest Darth Vader quotes from Star Wars here!
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