The Vine: Jackson gets 'Tintin' scoop
May 15, 2007
A week after DreamWorks picked up Peter Jackson's "Lovely Bones," Steven Spielberg and Jackson are teaming up again, this time to bring Spielberg's long-gestating pet project "Tintin" to the big screen.
Sources said Monday that Jackson and Spielberg would each direct installments of the franchise, which is based on a series of Belgian comic books called "The Adventures of Tintin" by Herge. It is unclear whether other filmmakers would be involved, and no script has been written.
The movies would be made using motion-capture technology.
In the comics, Tintin is a young Belgian reporter and world traveler who is aided in his adventures by his faithful dog Snowy. He later was joined by such colorful characters as Captain Haddock, Professor Cuthbert Calculus and bumbling detectives Thomson and Thompson. The books, hugely popular in Europe, have been translated into 50 languages, with more than 200 million sold.
Spielberg is a lifelong Tintin fan, first optioning the film rights just before Herge, whose real name is Georges Remi, died in 1983.
Tintin's road to the Hollywood screen has been rocky, with the options lapsing multiple times and Spielberg distracted by other projects. There were two live-action Tintin movies filmed in the 1960s and three animated ones, but all were low-key releases. Two animated television series have been made, both of which were adaptations of the comic strips rather than original stories. Last year, London's Young Vic theater company did a musical version of "Tintin in Tibet."
Spielberg is repped by CAA; Jackson is repped by Key Creatives.
Sources said Monday that Jackson and Spielberg would each direct installments of the franchise, which is based on a series of Belgian comic books called "The Adventures of Tintin" by Herge. It is unclear whether other filmmakers would be involved, and no script has been written.
The movies would be made using motion-capture technology.
In the comics, Tintin is a young Belgian reporter and world traveler who is aided in his adventures by his faithful dog Snowy. He later was joined by such colorful characters as Captain Haddock, Professor Cuthbert Calculus and bumbling detectives Thomson and Thompson. The books, hugely popular in Europe, have been translated into 50 languages, with more than 200 million sold.
Spielberg is a lifelong Tintin fan, first optioning the film rights just before Herge, whose real name is Georges Remi, died in 1983.
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Tintin's road to the Hollywood screen has been rocky, with the options lapsing multiple times and Spielberg distracted by other projects. There were two live-action Tintin movies filmed in the 1960s and three animated ones, but all were low-key releases. Two animated television series have been made, both of which were adaptations of the comic strips rather than original stories. Last year, London's Young Vic theater company did a musical version of "Tintin in Tibet."
Spielberg is repped by CAA; Jackson is repped by Key Creatives.
