Spielberg and Jackson unite for Tintin
Story by Jack Foley
STEVEN Spielberg and Peter Jackson are to unite to bring popular children’s character Tintin to the big screen according to trade publication Variety.
A three picture deal has reportedly been struck which involves the filmmakers directing one film each – although a the third has still to be decided.
Jackson’s special effects team Weta Digital – who worked on his Lord of the Rings trilogy as well as the current Bridge To Terabithia – are to use 3-D animation to bring the character to life.
The Tintin stories were created by Herge – aka Belgian artist Georges Remi – in 1929 and follow the adventures of the reporter, his dog Snowy and best friend Captain Haddock.
The film’s stories will be taken from the 23 albums Herge published between 1929 and 1976, which are estimated to have sold 200 million copies and been translated into over 50 languages.
Spielberg has long been a fan of the series and has been looking to make a film version of the books for 25 years. He told Variety: “Herge’s characters have been reborn as living beings, expressing emotion and a soul which goes far beyond anything we’ve seen to date with computer animated characters.
“We want Tintin’s adventures to have the reality of a live-action film and yet Peter and I felt that shooting them in a traditional live-action format would simply not honour the distinctive look of the characters and world that Herge created.”
To explain exactly what that means, Weta has produced a 20-minute test reel showing how the finished films might look.
Both Spielberg and Jackson will be available by the end of the year after they have finished working on Indiana Jones 4 and The Lovely Bones respectively.
The two were first united after Jackson agreed to direct The Lovely Bones, based on Alice Sebold’s best-selling book, with Spielberg’s DreamWorks studio.
Find out more about Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones or his Dam Busters project
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