Spielberg & Jackson - The Adventures of Tintin

maquiladora

I don't think anyone saw this one coming.....

Spielberg, Jackson team for Tintin

Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson are teaming to direct and produce three back-to-back features based on Georges Remi's beloved Belgian comic-strip hero Tintin for DreamWorks. Pics will be produced in full digital 3-D using WETA Digital’s groundbreaking performance capture technology. The two filmmakers will each direct at least one of the movies; studio wouldn't say which director would helm the third. Kathleen Kennedy joins Spielberg and Jackson as a producer on the three films, which might be released through DreamWorks Animation.

Tintin has long been a passion project for Spielberg; he and Kennedy have held various film rights to the comedic adventure book series off and on for more than 25 years. With the rights in place, Spielberg, Jackson and DreamWorks began quietly developing the project. Jackson has also long been a fan of the comic books.

Jackson's New Zealand-based WETA Digital, the f/x house behind "The Lord of the Rings" franchise, produced a 20-minute test reel bringing to life the characters created by Remi, who wrote under the pen name of Herge.

"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," Spielberg said.

"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 honor the distinctive look of the characters and world that Herge created," Spielberg continued.

Official word of the three-pic pact comes just weeks after Jackson inked a deal with DreamWorks to direct "Lovely Bones," based on Alice Sebold's haunting tome about a 14-year-old girl who watches over her family — and attacker — from heaven after she is raped and killed.

Tintin project, announced by the two filmmakers and DreamWorks co-chair-CEO Stacey Snider, may explain, at least in part, why DreamWorks emerged the winner in the bidding for "Bones," beating out several other suitors.

Tintin also answers the question of which tentpole Jackson will turn his attention to next.

The Spielberg-Jackson project isn't likely to languish in development for long. Spielberg could become available this fall after wrapping "Indiana Jones 4." Jackson will wrap "Bones" by the end of the year. He had been developing another possible franchise, Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series, set during the French Revolution.

Spielberg and Jackson have selected three stories from Remi's "The Adventures of Tintin" series, which encompassed 23 books published between 1929 and 1976. The series still attracts 2 million new fans a year.

Series, which has sold more than 200 million copies worldwide, chronicles adventures of a junior reporter who will follow stories to the ends of the earth, even though he often finds his own life in jeopardy. His able assistants include a white dog named Snowy, the lunatic Captain Haddock, the muddled genius Professor Calculus and the Thompson Twins.

Jackson said WETA will stay true to Remi's original designs in bringing the cast of Tintin to life, but that the characters won't look cartoonish.

"Instead," Jackson said, "we're making them look photorealistic; the fibers of their clothing, the pores of their skin and each individual hair. They look exactly like real people — but real Herge people!"

DreamWorks bought the film rights from Herge Studios in Brussels, Belgium. Company is led by prexy Fanny Rodwell, Remi's wife when he died in 1983.

"We couldn't think of a better way to honor Herge's legacy that this announcement within days of the 100th anniversary of his birth, May 22, 1907," Rodwell said.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117964927.html?categoryid=10&cs=1

TheIrishGrover

maquiladora wrote:

I don't think anyone saw this one coming.....



http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117964927.html?categoryid=10&cs=1

Yeah, saw that earlier on empireonline I think. Never was into Tintin but..... Holy ****: Jackson and Spielberg working together? how insane could THAT be? I know everyone will be looking for Lucas to be the third but would love to see someone just a bit different. Going to sound weird but I think Brad Bird could be excellent. There's a very sly wit in Iron Giant and The Incredibles but nothing that's too out there and that would look out of place. Just a sharp wit. Anyway, that's my two cents.

PS. What'll their BUDGETS be like? Those two lads? Working together like that? With that tech? They'll make James Cameron look like Robert Rodriguez. Haha

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

ooh

this will not end well

aidan_walsh

TheIrishGrover wrote:

I know everyone will be looking for Lucas to be the third

Sweet Jesus on a trampoline no.

monkeyfudge

I've always been a huge fan of the comic books.

I reckon they'll be able to do a good job... although I don't envy them the task of trying to pick which books to film as there are so many quality titles in there.

I'd rather they stay away from the earlier ones as I think the later ones with the larger ensemble cast would work much better on film.

Petey2006

Lucas wont be allowed near this trilogy. Uwe Boll would have a better chance.

TheIrishGrover

aidan_walsh wrote:

Sweet Jesus on a trampoline no.

I know. How bad would that be? Can see him falling off some alien buffalo or something. Can you IMAGINE the dialogue? haha

madrab

Sea Captain: Youngling im your father

TinTin: NOOOoooOOOooooOoOooOOOOOooooOOOOoooOOOoOooOOo!!!!?!??!

Pigman II

Michael Bay could direct part3. I can see it now. Tin Tin joins the US military and gets his first erection whilst looking at a T2 Armoured tank.

Lirange

They'll have their work cut out to make the milquetoast Tintin interesting.

Johnny Bitte

Tintin????? Tintin..........who the **** is Tintin, who would want to watch that ****e. What are they, cleary someone is slipping in to much MJ in their tea!

Royale with Cheese

The_Goose135 wrote:

Tintin????? Tintin..........who the **** is Tintin, who would want to watch that ****e. What are they, cleary someone is slipping in to much MJ in their tea!

My thoughts exactly. Hollywood is coming out with some real shíte these days but a fúcking tin tin trilogy?

monkeyfudge

I think you need to seriously sit down and read one of the books.

You can clearly see Tintin's influences at work in the Indianna Jones movies so it's only natural that Spielberg would want to do this.

The Seven Crystal Balls, The Calculus Affair and Flight 714 would be the ones I'd reckon would make the best films, but they'll probably do the two moon landing books as they're very well known.

lodgepole

monkeyfudge wrote:

I think you need to seriously sit down and read one of the books.

You can clearly see Tintin's influences at work in the Indianna Jones movies so it's only natural that Spielberg would want to do this.

The Seven Crystal Balls, The Calculus Affair and Flight 714 would be the ones I'd reckon would make the best films, but they'll probably do the two moon landing books as they're very well known.

Would you recomend this? Seems like a solid price... Or would the Anchor Bay sets be more useful?

monkeyfudge

Lodgepole wrote:

Would you recomend this? Seems like a solid price... Or would the Anchor Bay sets be more useful?

I picked up a copy of that myself actually. A very good price. Haven't got around to watching it yet, so I can't tell you how well it's aged. But I seem to remember it being a fairly good adaption with quality animation.

There was an earlier animated series with poorer animation in it.

lodgepole

I bought it anyway, it seems the only difference between it and any other set is that it only has an English soundtrack with no option for French. That put me off initially, but it seems it was animated with the English dialogue in mind. Anyway, you can't go wrong with €20. If I like the first few i'll pick up one of the books.

Johnny Bitte

monkeyfudge wrote:

but they'll probably do the two moon landing books as they're very well known.

Moon landing! Are you seroius?

I barely remember watching a cartoon of this when I was younger and switched it off cause I wanted to go stick needles in my eyes.

To me, it looks like Hollywood is **** out of ideas and are grabbing any piece of crap to make a movie out of.

adonis

james spader????

tintin is great stuff...full of misogyny/racism/sexism...really subversive..lost on some people though.

monkeyfudge

The_Goose135 wrote:

I barely remember watching a cartoon of this when I was younger and switched it off cause I wanted to go stick needles in my eyes.

To me, it looks like Hollywood is **** out of ideas and are grabbing any piece of crap to make a movie out of.

You barely remember watching it? And yet you are passing judgment on it?

Either pick one of the books or watch an episode of the more modern series... I'm sure you can find it on youtube.

biko

I used to be a big fan of the comic books.
Hope the films turn out well. I will def go see the first one.

Mitch Connor

if they make Tintin look 'real' (skin tones etc) but keep the charactor design, i can't help but think its gonna look a little creepy -but then i thought the charactor models in Polar Express looked a bit creepy at time, so i'm just a little weird.

JP Liz V1

http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=29355

Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson have chosen Empire to reveal the first look at The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn. Headed our way next October, the film adapts the enormously popular books by Hergé in performance-captured, 3D form.
Our exclusive and specially-Weta-created cover is a riff on the iconic image of Tintin (Jamie Bell) and his dog Snowy picked out by a spotlight as they are running. Then we have a couple of stills from the film, one showing you Andy Serkis’ Captain Haddock and another with Haddock and Tintin adrift at sea and signalling for help.
“With live action you’re going to have actors pretending to be Captain Haddock and Tintin,” says Peter Jackson. “You’d be casting people to look like them. It’s not really going to feel like the Tintin Hergé drew. It’s going to be somewhat different. With CGI we can bring Hergé’s world to life, keep the stylised caricatured faces, keep everything looking like Hergé’s artwork, but make it photo-real.”

[URL="javascript:largePic(2581,615,810)"][/URL]
Click the cover above to enlarge

So what can we expect from the story? Here’s what Spielberg told us. “The first part of the film, which is the most mysterious part, certainly owes much to not only film noir but the whole German Brechtian theatre — some of our night scenes and our action scenes are very contrasty. But at the same time the movie is a hell of an adventure.”
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The film also stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as Thompson and Thomson respectively (“When people first heard that bit of casting they thought that we’d gone barking mad,” says Jackson. Adds Spielberg, “The Thompson Twins can’t be clones of each other. Nick and Simon provided all the differences we needed to foil for each other. They have a wonderful moment in the movie where they start to have an argument about whose sidekick is whose.”) and Daniel Craig as Red Rackham. It also features Cary Elwes, Toby Jones, Mackenzie Crook and Daniel Mays.
And for those of you thinking really far ahead, what has Jackson got planned for his Tintin adventure if and when the planned sequel happens? “One of my favourites is The Seven Crystal Balls, so that’s the one I’ve always been thinking of,” he says. “I also really like the Eastern European ones, the Balkan ones like King Ottoman’s Sceptre and The Calculus Affair. I think it’s a terrific setting for a thriller, the weird Balkan politics and the mysterious secret service agents. I think the Moon ones are terrific, but they’d be good for the third or fourth Tintin film, if we get that far. We want to keep his feet on the ground just a little bit longer.”

maquiladora

Holding off judgement until I see some footage with the characters actuallly moving and speaking but I like the style of those stills at least.

Josey Wales

Today Empire has the first look at Speilberg's version of Tintin. I have to say that I'm a little unimpressed by the pictures. Although it is hard to judge without seeing it in action.

AnonoBoy

Captain Haddock looks pretty good to me.

ricero

IT be great if it was the dubbed YouTube version teeside tin tin if you have never seen them I suggest to watch them there brillant

Ridley

Josey Wales wrote: »

Today Empire has the first look at Speilberg's version of Tintin. I have to say that I'm a little unimpressed by the pictures. Although it is hard to judge without seeing it in action.

It's stylised after Beowulf, ain't it?

The CGI/Jamie Bell/Peter "King Kong" Jacksor factor I'm skeptical of clashing against Steven Moffat-Edgar Wright-Joe Cornish/Tintin/Peter "Lord of the Rings" Jackson is what keeps me having to wait to see it moving aswell.

Duggy747

Tintin still looks like somebody took a shìt on his head. :pac:

Ah, I'll wait until I see motion before I can properly make a comment on the looks. I'm expecting high detail visuals here, regardless if it takes a closer cartoonish look or not.

At least Captain Haddock LOOKS like Captain Haddock in that picture.

yabadabado

ricero wrote: »

IT be great if it was the dubbed YouTube version teeside tin tin if you have never seen them I suggest to watch them there brillant

+1.funny stuff.

jaykhunter

It's far too cheeky to come out and say "hey yo, it's a trilogy" right off the bat. I used to read Tintin ~15 years ago and remember them fondly but I have no want to go see a movie with him in it. I guess if it's an awesome Professor-Layton styled project it might be a decent watch, but I can't see mass appeal for a well-mannered Belgian reporter. Well if anyone can Jackson & Spielberg certainly have the pedigree for success.

Some stories of TinTin haven't aged well.....



:eek: (From "Tintin In The Congo")

L31mr0d

Hope this scene is in it:

http://ceebeegeebee.wordpress.com/2007/07/19/tintin-insanest-of-the-insane/

Bubs101

jaykhunter wrote: »

It's far too cheeky to come out and say "hey yo, it's a trilogy" right off the bat. I used to read Tintin ~15 years ago and remember them fondly but I have no want to go see a movie with him in it. I guess if it's an awesome Professor-Layton styled project it might be a decent watch, but I can't see mass appeal for a well-mannered Belgian reporter. Well if anyone can Jackson & Spielberg certainly have the pedigree for success.

Some stories of TinTin haven't aged well.....



:eek: (From "Tintin In The Congo")

Congo is one of the first ones though, if you compare it to the later ones it's hilariously out of date. I would love 7 crystal balls , easily my favourite one but the lack or RUssel Crowe as captain Haddock sucks balls

jaykhunter

to be fair, stereotypes/racism was far more commonplace and accepted decades ago. It's just shocking and hilarious to see it today.

Not a fan of Russell Crowe but I can see why they chose him.

Bubs101

Oh, Crowe is Haddock. I just presumed they didn't pick him and was complaining because he'd be perfect

Making movies and fighting round the world

jaykhunter

lol, foigtin' round the world.

Oh right, have any voice actors been cast yet?

Whippersnapper

Russell Crowe is not Haddock.

Andy Serkis is.

Whippersnapper

Wolfe Tone

I love Tintin! French people may explode over this.

Gill Prenderville Photo

No way! I had no idea about this....I'm very intrigued. Skeptical, but very curious!!

coldwood92

There was a feauture in Empire about this
It will be good

senordingdong

Didn't realise Tintan had such an elite following.

Mickeroo

Here's the new US one sheet for Tintin. Look at the writing credits, I had no idea Joe Cornish and Edgar Wright had a hand in this, this makes me excited.

The Mad Hatter

Hey, Steven Moffat still gets a writing credit. This could be very good.

Moffat, Wright and Cornish???


Ugh.


I think I just wee'd a little

johnny_ultimate

There's enough talented people behind the camera to suggest this could be special.

It's only the technology that has me a bit concerned - can only wait and see though!

Mickeroo

Boom! Here's the first teaser trailer: http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/paramount/theadventuresoftintin/

Animation looks a bit basic to me at the moment but its a long way off before it'll be released yet. Doesn't give much away but story wise it looks like it could be great.

TheIrishGrover

While you can't fault the credentials: Jackson and Spielberg producing and directing, Weta doing the effects and the amazingly geek writing crew of Moffat, Cornish and Wright, I just can't get excited about this. I really don't like that polar-express style mo-cap animation. I understand what they're trying to do: Make a kind of live action animation, but I just can't help thinking that it would be so much better straight up animated, either traditionally or computer animated a-la Toy Story.

Imagine what it would be like if it was directed by Brad Bird in a similar style to his "The Iron Giant"

As a fan of animation and a Sci-Fi geek I never thought a Peter Jackson produced, Spielberg directed animated movie written by Moffat, Wright and Cornish would make me go "Meh"

The Mad Hatter

Papa Smut wrote: »

Moffat, Wright and Cornish???


Ugh.


I think I just wee'd a little

Moffat was originally brought in to write, but he was offered the choice between working on Tintin with Steven Spielberg and working on Doctor Who, and he chose Doctor Who.

missingtime

Edit: Sorry didnt see it posted above.

Teaser trailer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddiKjC_4BOo

johnny_ultimate

The trailer looks amazing until there are people involved :pac: The lighting at the start is unreal though - WETA are certainly the best effects group out there at the moment.

senordingdong

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

There's enough talented people behind the camera to suggest this could be special.

It's only the technology that has me a bit concerned - can only wait and see though!

I would agree, not sure I can fault Jackson but Speilberg can really get carried away with himself sometimes.