Lord Of The Rings Director’s Post-Apocalyptic Flop Gets New Life On Netflix 6 Years Later

Mortal Engines has found its renaissance on Netflix several years later. Mortal Engines is a dark fantasy film written by Lord of the Rings visionary Peter Jackson. The film takes place in a post-apocalyptic world wherein cities mounted on wheels have to consume each other to survive. Mortal Engines features a leading cast including Hera Hilmar, Robert Sheehan, Hugo Weaving, Jihae, Rohan Raftery, Lelia George, and Patrick Malahide.

Now, Mortal Engines has found its new success on the Netflix top 10 chart for the United States Mortal Engines squeaked its way onto the rankings, coming in at no. 9 in the United States for the week of April 1–April 7. Topping the list this week were The Little Things, Baby Driver, Glass, and Split. Coming in right above Mortal Engines on the chart was The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which has been in the top 10 for 19 weeks.

Mortal Engines’ Reception Explained

While it has found success on Netflix now, the path to victory for Mortal Engines has been far from smooth. Upon its release, Mortal Engines was panned at the box office, scoring a mere 26% on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences at the time also largely disliked the film, with Mortal Engines scoring a 48% among critics. Its detractors dissed Mortal Engines for choosing the steampunk style over meaningful substance, calling Mortal Engines emotionally thin and poorly crafted.

The box office results for Mortal Engines did not look that much better. The high-concept fantasy film brought in a mere $83.6 million at the worldwide box office. This meant that Mortal Engines ended up losing tens of millions of dollars, as the estimated budget for the film was $100 million. Mortal Engines did particularly poorly in the United States, making a mere $15.9 million. The combination of its critical reviews and box office made Mortal Engine distinctly classifiable as a flop.

Click here to watch Mortal Engines on Netflix

Because of this, it is somewhat surprising that the fantasy film has made a comeback on Netflix. Jackson’s involvement in Mortal Engines — which was likely supposed to be hopeful for the film in its initial release — might be one draw, as Lord of the Rings was an incredibly successful franchise in its time. Additionally, Mortal Engines does have a fascinating concept, albeit poorly executed, so some fantasy fans may be interested in becoming absorbed in its world. However the streaming success of Mortal Engines came to be, at least the 2018 film can taste some bit of audience appreciation via the Netflix charts.

Source: Netflix