May 29 2009 See You Guys at 'Tintin' Around Christmas 2011
Something for your kitten calendar: Steven Spielberg's The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn will be released internationally in late October/early November 2011 before arriving in US theaters December 23. Try to mark it down, but in case you forget, I'll try to remind you sometime that calendar year.
On a somewhat related note, I finally started reading the Tintin comics, and they are nuts. Every page introduces a new conflict that is serendipitously resolved by the next page. For example: "Ut oh, Tintin has been tied to a massive dumbbell and thrown into Lake Michigan! Oh, phew, it turns out they accidentally tied him to a circus strongman's fake, wooden dumbbells that float. Tintin is safe!" Something like that happens every page. It's madness. Who knew the series would be so amazingly ridiculous, besides the millions worldwide who read it decades ago?
Apr 17 2009 From the Set of 'Tintin': Actors in Motion Capture Suits
Empire has been on location on the set of Steven Spielberg's chapter of the Tintin trilogy, The Secret of the Unicorn, where the magazine took the above shot of actors Jamie Bell and Andy Serkis motion-capturing their respective parts as Tintin and Captain Haddock. The shot obviously reveals nothing about the look of the film, but I have to say, Serkis is doing a pretty good job masking his resentment that he has to wear one of these futuristic American Gladiator suits every fucking time Peter Jackson gets near a camera. Well done, Gollum.
Jan 27 2009 Jamie Bell, Daniel Craig, Good Writers Making 'Tintin'
Paramount and Sony Pictures have put out a full press release for Steven Spielberg's The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn, revealing that Daniel Craig will play the antagonist and Jamie Bell will play the lead. Sounds like someone (Steven Spielberg) saw Defiance!
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.
Edgar Wright, Steven Moffat, and Joe Cornish wrote the screenplay, too? I might have to watch this in a theater. You know?
Jamie Bell and Daniel Craig Join Tintin! [Coming Soon]
Nov 3 2008 Someone Might Pay for 'Tintin' After All
You may recall, back in September, Universal told Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson, "Look, buds, you've made some great films, and we plan to re-buy them on Blu-Ray, but we're not going to give you $130 million dollars and 30% gross revenue to make a few films about some Belgian comic that isn't all that popular here." Now it looks like Sony and Paramount have stepped in, and might co-finance the films despite losing the prospective star:
Sony Pictures Entertainment and Paramount Pictures are in talks to co-finance "Tintin," Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson’s digital 3-D pic based on the Belgian "Tintin" comics.While neither Sony nor Paramount would comment, both confirmed talks are under way for one film.
Spielberg had hoped to be in production by fall. However, when financing fell apart at U on the eve of the DreamWorks/Par divorce, he lost the participation of his lead actor, Thomas Sangster.
Well, guys, if this doesn't work out, there's always being selected as a contestant 130 times and playing all perfect games on Howie Mandel's Pick a Box. That's what I always consider my greatest possibility of making enough money to get haircuts.
Sony, Paramount financing 'Tintin' [Variety]
Sep 22 2008 Universal Will Not Pay For Your 'Tintin' Movie, Steven Spielberg
Universal has rescinded financing on Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson's CGI motion-capture Tintin project after learning they would never make any money on this whole Tintin scheme:
The two legendary directors submitted to Universal a 130 million dollar budget to produce a trilogy of films based on the beloved Belgian comic-strip boy reporter.But Universal refused to green light the project, and production, scheduled to begin in October, is on hold until Spielberg and Jackson find other financing, the Times said.
Universal officials winced when they saw the two Hollywood luminaries demanding about 30 percent of the movie's total gross revenues, meaning that "Tintin" would have to rake in some 425 million dollars globally before the studios could break even, according to the newspaper.
In my understanding, the main problem is the price of digitizing the actors, which involves hiring a programmer to write an evil program and then waiting for a computer to get hit by lightning while the actors make a quiet wish that they could live in the video game, thus sucking them inside the screen for use in computer-animated films. We need to get that cost down somehow. Any ideas?
Mar 24 2008 'Love, Actually' Drummer Kid Might Be Tintin
Thomas Sangster, the drumming, now awkwardly-aging kid from Love, Actually, has reportedly taken the role of douchebag-haired protagonist Tintin in the Steven Spielberg/Peter Jackson adaptations of the comic. Wikipedia describes the eponymous hero as a young reporter somewhere between 16 and 18, so 17-year-old Sangster certainly fits the bill age-wise. And since the films will use motion-capture technology á la Beowulf, there's still a chance to digitally edit out the sinister, elf-like qualities of the actor that make me fear for my soul every time I stare into his large, empty eyes.
Spielberg, Jackson may have a Tintin [Hollywood Reporter]
Oct 2 2007 Some Other Crap That Happened...
- The nation breaths a collective sigh of relief as Comedy Central renews Mind of Mencia. Carlos Mencia then steals that sigh to use for a joke about "beaners." [Hollywood Reporter]
- Rome's Marc Antony, James Purefoy, has been cast as puritan swordsman Solomon Kane in a movie to be made from the stories of Conan the Barbarian creator Robert E. Howard. This is relevant if you have tons of Magic cards or your favorite band is Rush. [Reuters]
- Steven Moffat will write Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg's collaborative Tintin trilogy, adapting Herge's comic strip. However, the headline 'Tintin Goes to DinDin!' will still be written by US Weekly, referring to whatever actor that plays Tintin eating out with a hot young starlet. [Hollywood Reporter]
- The Wall-E trailer I posted yesterday is now available in higher quality video and in English, the highest quality language. [Yahoo!]
- Javier Bardem is set to play Pablo Escobar with Christian Bale as a Delta Force commander sent out to kill him in the biopic Killing Pablo. Hate to ruin the ending for you, but the film's title is in no way ironic. [Variety]
May 15 2007 Spielberg and Jackson Team Up for Tintin
Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson have announced they will develop a trilogy of computer animated 3D Tintin films. Based on Georges Remi's (under the pen name of Herge) popular Belgian comic strip, each director will helm at least one of the pictures, though it's still unclear who will do the third.
Jackson explained that the characters will retain Remi's original designs, but alter the cartoon look to a photorealistic level, making them look "like real people — but real Herge people!" Or, in other words, they're going to look really f***ing creepy. Looking like Tintin works in an illustrated world, but can you imagine it as reality? Imagine those beady little eyes, glassy and real, staring out of his perfectly ovular head, straight into your soul. Absolutely terrifying.
