Spielberg, Jackson Co-Directing?
Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson May Collaborate on Tintin Movie
May 20, 2008
Anyone wonder what a movie co-directed by Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson would look like? You'll get your chance with the third flick in a proposed Tintin trilogy the two über-directors are currently developing for DreamWorks Animation.
Initially, the duo were going to pass the third motion-captured movie to an as-yet unnamed director (Interweb pundits were breathlessly calling for Titanic maven James Cameron). But Spielberg, who is currently promoting his current film Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in Cannes, essentially said that he and Jackson would likely collaborate on the third flick.
"We are going to make three Tintin movies back-to-back," Spielberg said to BBC News (via Coming Soon). "I'll direct the first one, Peter will direct the second one. We'll probably co-direct the third one."
What's a Tintin?
The Adventures of Tintin comprise a series of classic comic books by the late Belgian artist Hergé (real name Georges Remi). The books follow the adventures of the titular character, a Belgian investigative reporter who travels the world with his loyal dog Milou (bizarrely rechristened Snowy in English) and his best friend, the whiskey-swilling Captain Haddock. The Adventures of Tintin have been translated into 50 different languages and sold over 200 million copies worldwide.
Spielberg has been trying to get a Tintin movie off the ground since 1983, when he bought an option from Hergé himself. However, the dying artist had refused to sign a full contract with Spielberg since the director couldn't guarantee that he would direct a Tintin movie. DreamWorks Animation managed to snag the movie rights in 2002 and Spielberg, who co-founded the company, immediately called dibs on the project.
Spielberg asked Jackson to help with the Tintin trilogy, which will be produced using motion-capture, through Jackson's WETA special effects house in New Zealand. WETA had plenty of experience working with motion-capture for Jackson's acclaimed Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Stephen Moffat (Dr. Who) has signed on to write the scripts for all three Tintin movies. Andy Serkis (Lord of the Rings, King Kong) will provide the voice and movement for Captain Haddock while Thomas Sangster (Love, Actually) is widely considered to have landed the part of Tintin.
Fun Fact: With Tintin, Hergé developed the 'ligne claire' style of drawing, which used round, clear strokes. The style has become extremely influential in 20th Century art, especially among Pop artists such as Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein. Lichtenstein rendered paintings based on fragments from Tintin comics, whilst Warhol directly copied the 'ligne claire' style and even made a series of paintings with Hergé as his subject.
"Hergé has influenced my work in the same way as Walt Disney," Warhol once said. "For me, Hergé was more than a comic strip artist."
 |
