They wonder, why has it taken this long to get the word out about the film?
But forMortal Engines, which doesnt fall into those categories, Were just not mentioned, Rivers tells EW.
Jackson attributes this to the modern business of franchises.
Credit: Mark Pokorny/Universal Pictures
With so many Traction Cities on the move, resources are dwindling once again.
As an elevator pitch, that surface-level summary can seem complicated.
Its like trying to describeStar Warsto someone [for the first time], Rivers says.
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Its its own thing.
Star Wars-level success is definitely the goal here, though at this point, it seems unlikely.
Internationally, it may be a different story.
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He feels this is what happened withMortal Engines.
[The film is] kind of what they want, Rivers says.
They say, We want something new, we want something to kick off a new universe and stories.
So you make that film, and then its like they dont really know how to market it.
So its an interesting challenge.
Jackson was even going to direct, but thenThe Hobbithappened.
So he set out to make another trilogy of films around J.R.R.
Tolkiens work, and by the end of it all he was spent.
Im just still pretty exhausted, he admits.
Youre just working as hard as it’s possible for you to to make a great film.
Ensuring a propertys longevity means making it stand out.
There lay the biggest challenge.
Some of the heavy lifting began before Rivers took over.
People have asked, Is it steampunk?
ItsMortal Engines, he says.
Despite his efforts, Rivers doesnt considerMortal Enginesto be a Christian Rivers film.
Its more of a collaboration between Jackson, theLord of the Ringsproducers, and himself.
Jackson notes, The franchise industry is very much a producer-driven industry to some degree.
The directors get brought on and they just have be part of the machine thats churning these things out.
Together, theyve all formed their own creative think tank untouched by the systemic effects of franchise-ification.
To some degree, Rivers still feels some of these issues.
Part of the machine, in a way.
Mortal Enginesis in theaters now.
