One of the biggest box office flops of recent years is on TV today. The science-fantasy film was initiated by Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson
It was supposed to be a new Lord of the Rings, but it turned out to be one of the biggest financial failures of recent decades. Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson was personally responsible for Mortal Engines: War of the Cities as screenwriter and producer.
The fantasy series had big goals and failed
Mortal Engines is based on the novel of the same name by Philip Reeve, which is the prelude to a quartet of novels. The story takes place many years in the future and mixes science fiction and fantasy elements with a steampunk aesthetic. In this future, cities are mobilized with the help of engines and go to war with each other over rare resources. Historian Thaddeus Valentine (Hugo Weaving) and apprentice Tom (Robert Sheehan from The Umbrella Academy) try to hide from the cities. But it is their acquaintance with the mysterious Hester Shaw (Hera Hilmar) that opens up a way out that could change the fate of humanity.
(Mortal Engines: War of the Cities)
There were some parallels to The Lord of the Rings in the production of Mortal Engines, including the screenplay trio Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Peter Jackson, who adapted Reeve’s first novel. The film was once again shot in New Zealand and Elrond actor Hugo Weaving was in front of the camera. In addition, the story is spread over several books with motifs relating to industrialization and the exploitation of nature. The Lord of the Rings sequel was finished, you might think.
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The science fantasy film probably lost over 170 million dollars
The War of the Cities went down at the box office, however. The film, which cost an estimated 150 million dollars, made a disastrous 15 million in the USA and only 83 million worldwide
(Mortal Engines: War of the Cities)
(Mortal Engines: War of the Cities)The rule of thumb for blockbusters of this size is that they have to collect around two-and-a-half times their budget in order to break even, due to advertising costs and so on. The industry website Deadline estimated the loss at 174 million dollars, which is why Mortal Engines is considered the biggest flop of 2018 and one of the costliest failures ever.
The box office result itself says nothing about the quality. But neither critics nor audiences were particularly enthusiastic. Around 1600 Moviepilot users have rated the film in our database and the average score of 5.8 out of 10 speaks for itself
