Watch The Epic Teaser Trailer For Peter Jackson's Mortal Engines

Our first look at Peter Jackson's next sci-fi epic Mortal Engines is here. Universal shared a teaser trailer for the upcoming film on Monday, showing off the epic take on the four-part novel series by Philip Reeve.

The Mortal Engines books are set in a dystopian future in which society as we know it has been destroyed by a cataclysmic event. In an effort to adapt, humanity has formed giant moving cities which roam the Earth, preying on smaller traction towns. The story follows Tom Natsworthy (Robert Sheehan), a man from the Lower Tier of the great traction city of London, who has to fight for his survival alongside the dangerous fugitive Hester Shaw (Hera Hilmar).

The trailer kicks off with a view of London, one of the roaming cities, destroying everything in its path. Standing right in its way is a smaller engine containing Shaw and a small group of other travelers, all of whom seem to be firmly at risk when their ship is captured and pulled inside the bigger city. Although it goes mostly wordless, the trailer definitely shows off the desperation inherent in the story, while also leaving plenty to be discovered further down the line.

Hugo Weaving, Ronan Raftery, Patrick Malahide, Stephen Lang, Colin Salmon, Jihae, Rege-Jean Page, Mark Hadlow, Sophie Cox, Aaron Jackson, Kee Chan, Mark Mitchinson, and Leila George also star in Mortal Engines. Christian Rivers, an Oscar-winning visual effects artist who worked with Jackson on The Lord of the Rings, directs the film, which is based off a script from Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens. Jackson also produces the film alongside Walsh, Zane Weiner, Amanda Walker, and Deborah Forte. 

Mortal Engines has a Dec. 14, 2018 release date.