7 Dec 2018

Peter Jackson's Mortal Engines premieres in LA

1:54 pm on 7 December 2018

Sir Peter Jackson's Mortal Engines premiere proved to be a showcase for New Zealand film-making talent, says NZ Film Commission boss.

WESTWOOD, CA - DECEMBER 05: Fans at the premiere Of Universal Pictures' "Mortal Engines" at Regency Village Theatre on December 5, 2018 in Westwood, California.   AFP

Fans wait for the stars to arrive at the premiere of Mortal Engines in Los Angeles. Photo: AFP

The film premiered in Los Angeles and is a sci-fi/fantasy set in a world many thousands of years in the future where earth's cities now roam the globe on huge wheels.

Jackson was joined on the red carpet by fellow producers/writers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens and first-time director Christian Rivers.

Head of the NZ Film Commission Annabelle Sheehan said it was a great night and she was proud to watch a movie that is centred on "an extraordinary world all created by New Zealanders".

She said while fans of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit are excited by the prospect of another movie from the Jackson, Walsh and Boyens team, Mortal Engines is a very different film.

"It's an extraordinary dystopian world but with great complexity and colour so it's pretty interesting... It does benefit from the branding of being made by some great film-makers."

Mortal Engines.

Mortal Engines. Photo: Facebook / Peter Jackson

Ms Sheehan says while Rivers is making his debut as a director, he has worked on several other Jackson movies and has been mentored for several years before being given this opportunity.

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