The Adventures of Tintin (Steven Spielberg, 2011)

[LQ]

Jackson and Spielberg want Simon Pegg and Nick Frost to be Thomson and Thompson.

[Mr Sausage]

I was thinking more along the lines of Heavenly Creatures. The bloom went off that rose pdq. Next he'll be making the Wii Tennis movie.

That movie was the odd one out in Jackson's career well before LOTR, so I don't know what you were expecting. I suspect he made it merely because after Dead/Alive and Meet the Feebles, he found there wasn't any place extreme left to go aside from the complete opposite direction.

[miless]

well, he could have always gone the route of John Waters, mellowing with age and eventually having his films turned into successful Broadway productions that make way for kind/gentle remakes.

[luridedith]

a Harry Kümel Tintin would be extraordinary but probably undistributable

Oh wow, I can't think of anything more amazing. What a beautiful idea, Kümel would be perfect.

Glad the Spielberg/Jackson CGI mess has been canned. Ugh, I've had enough of Hollywood raping my childhood.

[Antoine Doinel]

It looks like financing is coming back into place.

[knives]

Rape away. These guys should go back to intentional horror.

[Gregory]

It figures: capital is disappearing all over the place yet there's still plenty to bankroll this thing.

[Antoine Doinel]

The film is back on with Paramount and Sony splitting the bill. The first bit of casting news is out: Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as Thomson and Thompson.

The first film is due in 2010.

[zedz]

well, he could have always gone the route of John Waters, mellowing with age and eventually having his films turned into successful Broadway productions that make way for kind/gentle remakes.

Well, he'd already been that route as well, with the stage musical that was made from Braindead (which was better than I expected). Not Broadway and probably not successful, but been there done that nevertheless.

[FerdinandGriffon]

The film is back on with Paramount and Sony splitting the bill. The first bit of casting news is out: Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as Thomson and Thompson.

Spielberg, not content with ruining American popular culture, sets about bringing down a classic of Belgian literature.
Is it so hard to understand the Thompson Twins are just that, twins? Though not explicitly related they are identical in every aspect except for their moustaches. So why, in a CG movie where doubling would be relatively hassle free, do you cast two different men who only have a few films and a fair amount of pudge in common?

And, as has been pointed out previously, Tintin is not a child, he is a man, with youthful good looks and a cowlick to die for, a professional reporter and crack shot with an elephant gun. Which makes the casting of a distinctly pre-pubescent teenager inexcusable.

Not to mention the fact that trading Herge's gorgeous, hugely influential ligne-clair drawing style for the hideous uncanny valley of motion-capture CGI is a crime and an insult to one of the greatest popular artists of the twentieth century.

[Jeff]

Is it so hard to understand the Thompson Twins are just that, twins?...Tintin is not a child, he is a man...trading Herge's gorgeous, hugely influential ligne-clair drawing style for the hideous uncanny valley of motion-capture CGI is a crime

I don't want to be in the position of defending this film, but since it is performance-capture, will it really matter what the actors look like? It's really just their voices and movements that Spielberg will be capturing. I suspect that this will have a look similar to The Polar Express or Beowulf, but hopefully not as creepy. The animation itself is supposedly designed to replicate Hergé's drawings.

A pertinent quote from earlier in the thread:

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 Hergé created.

"The idea is that the films will look neither like cartoons nor like computer-generated animation. We're making them look photo-realistic, the fibres of their clothing, the pores of their skin and each individual hair. They look exactly like real people - but real Hergé people.

[Matango]

Simon Pegg actually looks more like Tintin than any other actor (or human being for that matter) I can think of, although Daniel Craig would make a good middle-aged Tintin if they do any flash-forward type stuff.

[Gregory]

That Spielberg quote makes it sound as if he'd never seen a Tintin book. It's quite a large contradiction to say you're going to show every single hair, blackhead, and speck of food between people's teeth and yet claim it's going to look like Hergé's world. An adaptation that stayed more or less true to the original style was already done, in the 1990s. If Spielberg wants to do something that looks extremely different, he should have the courage to admit it rather than trying to have it both ways.

[Jeff]

The full title, The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn won't fit on the subject line. The film began principal photography today, and Sony and Paramount issued a press release. Looks like Jaime Bell is now Tintin, and Daniel Craig is Red Rackham. Release is now apparently scheduled for 2011.

HOLLYWOOD, California, January 26 /PRNewswire/ --
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.

[Antoine Doinel]

Jesus Christ, and I thought Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull was a ridiculous title. If their target market is exclusively seven year old girls, they've done a great job.

[domino harvey]

I'm sure Armond White has already begun drawing hearts around this title in his Lisa Frank Trapper Keeper

[Gregory]

Secret of the Unicorn is the title of one of the original Tintin books that they're "adapting." It's probably one of the few things about this project that will be true to the author. Still, "Red Rackham's Treasure" might have been a better choice.

[Matango]

"Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson will bring Herge's stories to life "

I'd have thought quite the opposite. Jeez, as if they haven't been brought to life for millions, simply by being read on the page, already.

[Svevan]

At least Jaime Bell is the appropriate age for the character, contrary to complaints above. I hope these guys can pull it off, honestly (if done right this movie could be candy); I'm awaiting first caps with cautious optimism.

[FerdinandGriffon]

Is it so hard to understand the Thompson Twins are just that, twins?...Tintin is not a child, he is a man...trading Herge's gorgeous, hugely influential ligne-clair drawing style for the hideous uncanny valley of motion-capture CGI is a crime

I don't want to be in the position of defending this film, but since it is performance-capture, will it really matter what the actors look like? It's really just their voices and movements that Spielberg will be capturing.

But, as anyone who loves the comics knows, the Thompson Twins don't just look the same, they also have exactly the same physicality, facial expressions, posture, build. They even fall together as if they've been been practicing for a synchronized plummeting contest for months. And personally I find it very difficult to imagine them not having identical voices as well. So it doesn't work to have them played by two different actors, especially when digital duplication would be so easy.
As someone else pointed out, Herge's ligne-clair style is completely at odds with any attempts at photo-realism. I think I can guess what Spielberg is aiming for, Polar Express with Cell-shading, and it's not going to work.

As for Jamie Bell's casting, he may be the right age, but he's going to need one hell of a nosejob.

[thirtyframesasecond]

I can't understand how Cornish and Moffat have managed to pen a Spielberg screenplay. The former is a little known comic writer last seen on TV the best part of 5 years ago; the latter is the new lead writer of Dr Who and writer/creator of Coupling. How would they have come to Spielberg's attention I wonder?

[Dr Amicus]

Steven Moffat has won the Hugo for 3 years in a row for his work on Dr Who - his episodes have been some of the very best of the new series.

[Nothing]

Jesus Christ, and I thought Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull was a ridiculous title. If their target market is exclusively seven year old girls, they've done a great job.

There's nothing wrong with the title, The Secret of the Unicorn is a classic, the problem is the film / 'talent'. Presumably they will adapt both this and Red Rackham's Treasure.

[Antoine Doinel]

Spielberg has wrapped the performance-capture filming and Jackson will now begin 18 months of visual effects work.

[Banana #3]

Just wondering here, but whatever happened to The Lovely Bones?