The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn

[Just Jeans]

Steven Moffat is set to write the planned trilogy of Tintin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventures_of_Tintin) films, with Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson also involved.

From ComingSoon (http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=37909):

British scribe Steven Moffat is writing DreamWorks' Tintin, the movie trilogy collaboration from Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg that adapts the European comic strip created by Herge, says The Hollywood Reporter.

Moffat is best known for penning the new "Doctor Who" series and the BBC's "Jekyll."

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.

Kathleen Kennedy is serving as producer on the three feature films, which will be made using performance-capture technology and produced in digital 3-D. Jackson and Spielberg are each directing an installment, with the helmer of the third movie to be determined.

With Stephen Moffat writing, there's no way this can be bad.

[Geddy Peart]

Holy shit, a Tintin movie?! I used to watch the cartoon as a kid.

With Jackson and Spielberg on board it can't be half bad.

[Just Jeans]

Steven Moffat has won a Hugo Award two years in a row for his writing, and he's highly acclaimed in the UK (he created Coupling, Jekyll, and has done four episodes of Doctor Who, with two more on the way in 2008.) His writing coupled with Jackson's and Spielberg's directing creates a no-lose situation. I honestly think Moffat is one of the best writers in television today. It's nice to see him moving into feature films.

[Alex DeLarge]

MOFFAT? MOFFAT?! MOFFAT?!?!

:D:D:D

I have no idea what Tintin is, but I'll watch anything with Moffat involved.

[Just Jeans]

I reckon Tintin is Moffat's way of keeping busy during the 2009 "Gap Year". :)

[Scarecrow]

Can't beleive I missed this... that's just... stunning!

If this is all true then he's pretty much hit the big time now!


- Scarecrow

[Cody]

Holy shit, a Tintin movie?! I used to watch the cartoon as a kid.

So did I, on HBO I think. I also read some of the comic strip collections.

Andy Serkis talks (http://www.indielondon.co.uk/Film-Review/the-cottage-andy-serkis-interview) and reveals director order

Q. Are you going to be reuniting with Peter Jackson again for Tintin?
Andy Serkis: In fact tomorrow I’m flying out to start on Tintin. Steven Spielberg is directing the first one, and then Peter Jackson is doing the second. The bulk of the shoot starts in September but things got a little bit moved around after the writers’ strike.

Q. Do you feel a special kinship with him?
Andy Serkis: Yeah, I mean at the moment he’s doing The Lovely Bones at the moment, which I think is going to be amazing. But we do seem to be in sync, certainly in terms of collaborating and creating characters and so on. I think we have a similar sense of humour about things, so yeah we do seem to have fused in a particular way.

Q. Were you at all worried when Peter first got back in touch that having played Gollum and King Kong, he might ask you to play Snowy the dog?
Andy Serkis: [laughs] Absolutely, in fact people assume that I am, which is even more disturbing [he’s playing Captain Haddock].

[Scarecrow]

Serkis is in it as well? This is sounding amazing. And Moffat... go Grand Moff Steven! :D


- Scarecrow

[killingvector]

Thompson and Thomson will be interesting casting choices.

[Cody]

Thomas Sangster Cast As "Tintin" (http://www.darkhorizons.com/news08/080321m.php)

17-year-old British actor Thomas Sangster ("Love Actually," "Nanny McPhee," "The Last Legion") has apparently been cast to play the titular role in Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson's planned trilogy of Tintin films according to The Daily Mail.

The first of the performance capture films is slated to begin filming this Fall with Spielberg directing, whilst Jackson will helm the second movie.

Sangster has already been to Los Angeles to work on pre-production test sequences with both directors. He joins Andy Serkis, who has already been cast as Captain Haddock. No further casting on other characters like Cuthbert Calculus, the Thomson twins or Nestor have yet been announced.

Which story is being utilised is also presently unknown, though its speculated that of the 23 graphic novels that Belgian author Herge penned from 1929-1976, it will be the three two-part stories that will serve as the basis for each film.

This would mean Spielberg will adapt "The Secret of the Unicorn" and "Red Rackham's Treasure" stories. The first book follows the pair racing to find three parchments, hidden inside the masts of three ship model replicas, which lead to a buried treasure of Haddock's ancestor Red Rackham. The second sees the voyage to find the treasure somewhere in the Caribbean.

Sangster was last seen in the 'Human Nature' two-part episode of last year's season of "Doctor Who". He begins filming Jane Campion's new project "Bright Star", a romantic biopic about John Keats, later this month.

[Scarecrow]

I HOPE this is true because he'd be fantastic in the role!


- Scarecrow

[killingvector]

He is a solid choice. I always like the kid in Finding Neverland too, but since I haven't seen him recently, he may have a goatee, a rock band, and a purposely bald head to mask a receding hairline at this point in time.

[Just Jeans]

Steven Moffat turned down the job working on the script for the second Tintin film so that he could pursue a job as head writer on the BBC sci-fi/drama Doctor Who:

The Mail on Sunday newspaper in the United Kingdom is running a news story titled 500,000 pounds Mr Spielberg? Sorry, I've got a date with the Beeb, says the new Dr Who writer (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1036567/500-000-Mr-Spielberg-Sorry-Ive-got-date-Beeb-says-new-Dr-Who-writer.html), in which it claims that incoming Doctor Who executive producer and chief writer Steven Moffat turned down a lucrative deal to write the second instalment of the new Tintin film franchise in order to take over the running of Doctor Who.

Moffat tells the Mail that he had originally signed up to write the first two Tintin films of the planned trilogy, to be directed by Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson. However, after completing the first film, Moffat was offered his new position with Doctor Who, and pulled out of the deal.

"I was offered the Doctor Who job and accepted immediately," Moffat is quoted as telling the paper. "I hope you won't make what happened sound too dramatic. I talked to Steven and he understood completely. I could not work on the second Tintin film and work on Doctor Who. So I chose Doctor Who. Steven is a fan and he understood my passion for the series completely."

"There are no bad feelings between Spielberg and me, but Doctor Who has to come before Hollywood."

Good on Moffat. And good on Spielberg for understanding. :)

[French Friday]

Secret of the Unicorn/Red Rackham's Treasure and Objective Moon/We Walked on the Moon are my favorite two-parts Tintin graphic novels and I hope they will be the first and second movies hitting theaters.

Red Rackham's Treasure has that great Indiana Jones feel that will fit so well with Spielberg. We Walked on the Moon could make a great Apollo 13-like movie. Is the other two-parts story The Seven Crystal Balls/The Temple of the Sun or is my memory wrong ? That one could make a great Peter Jackson movie, based on the atmosphere of his previous movies, that Tintin story is the closest one to his cinematography.

I hope the french version will give the characters (Calculus, Thom(p)sons) their original french/belgium names (Tournesol, Dupond/Dupont) BTW despite it's an english production. I'm sure they will be.

[Just Jeans]

Moffat clears up 'Tintin' confusion. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7517423.stm)


Scriptwriter Steven Moffat has denied he "quit" a deal to work on Steven Spielberg's forthcoming Tintin trilogy so he could oversee TV's Doctor Who.

A newspaper report that he had "turned down" a two-film deal with Spielberg was "a bit misleading", Moffat said.

He had planned to finish Tintin before starting Doctor Who but was delayed by the US writers' strike, he said.

In May it was announced he would replace Russell T Davies as lead writer and executive producer on Doctor Who.

Mr Moffat told the BBC that "nothing less than Doctor Who could have torn me away" from Tintin, which he described as a "stunning project" he was "proud" to be part of.

But it was "the proper duty of every British subject to come to the aid of the Tardis", he added.

'Very patient'

Clarifying the chronology of the deal, he said he had not accepted the offer to replace Russell T Davies on Doctor Who during the three-month strike, which ended in February.

"In fact it was already in the works," Moffat said.

"The strike just meant that I was unable to finish my work on the Tintin films given my new commitments."

He said Spielberg had been "very patient and understanding about the situation, despite the problems it created".

He also said that, contrary to the report, it was Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson who was a fan of Doctor Who, rather than Spielberg, who just "knows and admires the show".

And he added that "the figures quoted" in the paper "are also entirely speculative and wildly inaccurate".

Lead role cast

Spielberg and Jackson will each direct one film in the trilogy, which is based on Herge's famous comic book character.

It is expected they will work together on the third film.

The first movie is expected to be released at some point next year.

Mr Moffat had been adapting the tales of a young Belgian reporter and his faithful dog Snowy for the big screen.

The books, which have sold more than 200m copies around the world, are available in 50 languages.

Thomas Sangster, 18, will take the lead role. He is known for playing Liam Neeson's son in British comedy Love Actually.

And the voice of Gollum from Lord of the Rings, Andy Serkis, has signed up to play Captain Haddock.

[Scarecrow]

At least he got the first one completed. :D


- Scarecrow

[Cody]

Studio says no to Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson (http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-tintin19-2008sep19,0,5882061.story)

Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson don't hear "no" very often.

But after they submitted a final budget of $130 million for their 3-D animated movie "Tintin," based on the Belgian comic strip, to Universal Pictures, the studio balked. The decision has left the two powerful filmmakers scrambling to find another financial partner.

When even Spielberg and "The Lord of the Rings" director Jackson, who have made some of the biggest blockbusters in history, can't get their movie made, you know something is up in Hollywood. Universal's refusal to finance "Tintin" underscores how in today's tough economic climate, bottom-line concerns trump once-inviolable relationships between studios and talent.

Until now, however, filmmakers of Spielberg's and Jackson's stature were thought to be immune to the brass-knuckles tactics of the studios. Squeezed by a business trapped between rising costs and leveling revenues, the two filmmakers are Hollywood's latest -- and most prominent -- victims of cost containment.

Movie studios have long entered into financial arrangements with talent for reasons other than pure economic reward. Sometimes a deal is made for the prestige of associating with a famous actor or director; sometimes it is done in the belief that half a financial loaf from a proven hit maker is less risky than a whole one from an untested filmmaker; and still other times it happens simply to keep relations warm so the talent will want to work for the studio.


The particular problem for Universal with "Tintin" is that Spielberg's and Jackson's involvement comes with a huge price tag. The two filmmakers together would command such a large percentage of the movie's revenue as part of their compensation -- without putting up any of the capital themselves, as is typical in Hollywood -- that it takes a substantial slice of the profit off the table for the backers.

Studios in recent times have shunned some costly deals with filmmakers and stars. Fox decided not to make the comedy "Used Guys" in 2006 with Jim Carrey and Ben Stiller after concluding the deals with the actors outweighed the odds of making its money back. And many in Hollywood also remember how Paramount Pictures just barely broke even the same year on "Mission: Impossible III." Even though the movie grossed nearly $400 million worldwide, its star and producer Tom Cruise pocketed more than $80 million.

And "Tintin" is arguably a very risky project. It is based on the 1929-to-1976 book series written by the late Georges Remi, under the pen name Herge, about the global adventures of a young reporter and his dog, Snowy. The comics have a loyal following in Europe but are mostly obscure to U.S. audiences.

Paramount, which owns DreamWorks, where Spielberg has been developing "Tintin" for many years, had agreed to finance half the film but was hoping to have a financial partner in Universal. Paramount, a Viacom Inc. unit, has shouldered the vast majority of the more than $30 million spent on scripts, character design and initial animation and 3-D tests -- even before the movie had officially been given the green light for production. (Those costs are included in the $130-million budget.)

Spielberg has wanted to make "Tintin" since 1983, when he optioned the movie rights at his Universal-based production company, Amblin Entertainment. He has conceived the project as a trilogy, with the first film to be directed by him, the second by Jackson and no plans yet for the third.

Spielberg hoped that "Tintin" would be the next movie he would direct, with production to begin this month. The first two movies, using so-called motion-capture technology, were to be filmed back to back, similar to how Jackson made the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

But in a surprising move, when Spielberg and Jackson approached Universal, which has had a long-standing option to co-finance the picture, the studio decided that the deal made no financial sense. According to several people close to the project, "Tintin" would have to rake in $425 million worldwide in ticket sales before the studios could break even.

The reason: Spielberg and Jackson, who would also produce both movies, would together grab about 30% of the studio's total gross revenue from box-office, DVD, television and other sales. Under that scenario, the pair would walk away with more than $100 million before Universal and DreamWorks could make a profit.

To add embarrassment to injury, Universal's decision to pull out of "Tintin" thrusts Spielberg into a highly awkward situation. The director, along with his partner David Geffen, is getting ready to extricate himself from Paramount after a stormy 2 1/2 -year association.

As a result, Spielberg is having to go hat in hand to ask Paramount to finance all of "Tintin" at the same time he faces delicate negotiations regarding his and Geffen's split from the studio. Those talks, among other things, are likely to involve scores of projects that the director wants to take with him to his new home as well those he could produce at Paramount.

Universal, as it turns out, is also the leading contender to distribute DreamWorks' new movies once it breaks free from Paramount. But as solely a distributor, Universal would not have any investment in the movies and would have no money at risk.

In deciding not to back "Tintin," Universal may have been swayed by the spotty box-office track record for motion- or performance-capture movies. "Tintin" would be produced in digital 3-D animation using performance capture technology, in which actors wear body sensors that record their movement. That information is then fed into a computer and digitally manipulated.

Such motion-capture films as "The Polar Express," "Beowulf" and "Monster House" have performed considerably below the $425-million box-office gross benchmark that "Tintin" would need to reach to break even.

Late last month, Spielberg and Jackson showed a group of 10 Paramount executives, including Chairman Brad Grey and Vice Chairman Rob Moore, a 10-minute sample of what the movie would look like that was produced at Jackson's New Zealand visual effects company, Weta Digital.

Paramount executives are analyzing the economics of "Tintin" and are expected to decide shortly whether to bankroll the entire movie. If they do, Spielberg hopes to begin shooting next month.

[Just Jeans]

Until now, however, filmmakers of Spielberg's and Jackson's stature were thought to be immune to the brass-knuckles tactics of the studios.

Until now, eh?

I guess the author of the article missed the incident where Fox/Paramount told Jackson "No" when he submitted his insane budget requirements for Halo a couple of years ago.

[Cody]

Paramount's parent Viacom is now offering (http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/toldja-press-suddenly-discovers-tintin-story/) to finance 100%.

[Deathscythe]

Until now, eh?

I guess the author of the article missed the incident where Fox/Paramount told Jackson "No" when he submitted his insane budget requirements for Halo a couple of years ago.

Well, theres always Spielberg being turned down. :eek:

[Scarecrow]

The media ALWAYS loves to make a story out of nothing...


- Scarecrow

[Notti]

I remember watching the cartoon every now & then back when I was a kid. I never got into it but I thought it was a pretty decent show overall.

[Cody]

Cast update (http://www.aintitcool.com/node/39665)

According to a reliable source not at all involved in the production, those rumblings we heard last fall about Simon Pegg and Nick Frost being cast as the Thomson and Thompson were right on the money. They're in.

Along with Andy Serkis, who's set to play Captain Haddock, this runs the number of confirmed flesh-and-blood performers up to three!

With production allegedly a month away, expect these numbers to grow rapidly. At the top of the to-cast list for director Steven Spielberg (and producer Peter Jackson): a new Tintin to replace Thomas Sangster, who got knocked out due to scheduling conflicts when the project was delayed.

Paramount and Sony are splitting the cost on the $135 million 3D performance-capture opus.

[jasonlives13]

Captain Haddock is a legend, Andy will be at home playing the part, since he's a bit on the wild side, he'll just have to grow a beard =D

[Cody]

Principal photography starts on the first film today.

Press release (http://commanderbond.net/article/5982) with cast and writer news:

Paramount Pictures and Sony Pictures Entertainment have announced the start of principal production in Los Angeles on the 3D Motion Capture Film The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn, directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot, Defiance) as Tintin, the intrepid young reporter whose relentless pursuit of a good story thrusts him into a world of high adventure, and Daniel Craig (Quantum of Solace, Defiance) as the nefarious Red Rackham.

Bell and Craig are joined by an international cast that includes Andy Serkis, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Gad Elmaleh, Toby Jones and Mackenzie Crook.

The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn, from a screenplay by Steven Moffat, Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish, is produced by Spielberg, Peter Jackson and Kathleen Kennedy, is the first in the series of 3D motion capture films based on the iconic character created by Georges Remi, better known to the world by his pen name “Herge” and is due for release in 2011. Executive producers are Nick Rodwell, Stephane Sperry and Ken Kamins. Paramount Pictures will release domestically and in all English speaking territories and Asia, excluding India. Sony Pictures Releasing International will distribute the film in Continental Europe, Eastern Europe, Latin America, India and the remainder of the world.

The second feature in the series is scheduled to be directed by Jackson, with a potential for a third film as well.

Eighty years ago, Herge introduced the world to a unique cast of characters who have been embraced by readers of all ages. The Adventures of Tintin - a series of 24 books, the final unfinished adventure was published after Herge’s - death became Herge’s life’s work. The first adventure was published in 1929. Over 200 million copies have been sold worldwide. The popular series has been translated into 70 languages and still attracts thousands of new fans each year.

Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson will bring Herge’s stories to life employing state-of-the-art performance capture technology developed by Jackson’s Weta Digital.

[Alex DeLarge]

Okay: Spielberg, Jackson, Wright and Steven *freaking* Moffat. This quite possibly has the most powerhouse writing/directing/producing team EVER.:D

[Cody]

And clarification for those who may have an aversion to fantastical horned equines - in this case, Unicorn is the name of an old naval ship.

[Cody]

Hits Theaters on Dec. 23, 2011 (http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=55875)

Paramount Pictures and Sony Pictures Entertainment today announced their release plans for the long awaited 3-D motion capture feature film The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn directed by Steven Spielberg, produced by Spielberg, Peter Jackson, and Kathleen Kennedy. The highly anticipated film will be released by Paramount in the U.S. on December 23, 2011. The film will launch internationally in late October and early November, 2011 with Sony Pictures Releasing International handling Continental Europe, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and India, and Paramount distributing the film in Asia, Australia, UK and all other English speaking territories.

Starring Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot) as Tintin, the intrepid young reporter whose relentless pursuit of a good story thrusts him into a world of high adventure, and Daniel Craig (Quantum of Solace) as the nefarious Red Rackham, the international cast also includes Andy Serkis, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Gad Elmaleh, Toby Jones and Mackenzie Crook.

The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn is a Paramount Pictures and Columbia Pictures production from a screenplay by Steven Moffat, Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish, and is produced by Spielberg, Peter Jackson and Kathleen Kennedy.

The film, which began production in late January 2009, is the first of a planned series of 3D motion capture films based on the iconic character created by Georges Remi, better known to the world by his pen name "Herge." Executive producers are Nick Rodwell, Stephane Sperry and Ken Kamins.

The second feature in the series is scheduled to be directed by Jackson, with a potential for a third film as well.

Eighty years ago, Herge introduced the world to a unique cast of characters who have been embraced by readers of all ages. "The Adventures of Tintin" - a series of 24 books, the final unfinished adventure was published after Herge's death, became Herge's life's work. The first adventure was published in 1929. Over 200 million copies have been sold worldwide. The popular series has been translated into 70 languages and still attracts thousands of new fans each year.

Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson will bring Herge's stories to life employing state-of-the-art performance capture technology developed by Jackson's Weta Digital.

[Cody]

Trailers at Apple (http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/paramount/theadventuresoftintin/)

TV spot:

DsPQ7ZQzfiM

[Just Jeans]

Spectacular looking CGI. Looking forward to seeing this!

[The Dream Master]

Anybody else see it yet? I liked it a lot (http://www.efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=20592&reviewer=429), and I know nothing about the stuff it's based on, for what it's worth. Looking forward to more in a few years.

[Cody]

I was running on very little sleep when I saw it and it was a bit too leisurely paced to go into that way, I had to fight off the nods several times. But it's a fun movie, gave me flashbacks throughout to the Tintin cartoon I used to watch as a kid.

I saw it as the first movie in a triple feature, here's how that worked for sleepy me - Tintin: noddy. Dragon Tattoo: fully awake and enthralled. Ghost Protocol: running down during Russia, invigorated by Dubai.