MUMBAI: Filmmakers Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson have joined forces to create a series of motion picture films based on the adventures of Tintin, the iconic character created by Georges Remi, better known to the world by his pen name “Hergé”.
Spielberg, Jackson, and DreamWorks Studios Co-Chairman and CEO Stacey Snider announced on 16 May 2007 that Spielberg and Jackson have selected three stories from the Tintin book series to develop into theatrical feature films, which they intend to direct back to back, employing state of the art performance capture technology.
Kathleen Kennedy will serve as producer with Spielberg and Jackson on each of the films, says a release.
75 years ago, Hergé introduced the world to a unique cast of characters who have been loved by readers of all ages, from all over the globe ever since. The Adventures of Tintin – a series of 23 books which became Hergé’s life’s work, were published between 1929 and 1976 and have sold over 200 million copies worldwide. The popular series has been translated into seventy languages and still attracts over two million new fans each year, the release adds.
Spielberg and Jackson will use new technology to bring Tintin to the screen. “We want Tintin’s adventures to have the reality of a live action film,” said Steven Spielberg. “And yet Peter and I felt that shooting them in a traditional live action format would simply not honor the distinctive look of the characters and world that Hergé created.”
The movies will be firmly anchored in the time period in which the books are set. Both Spielberg and Jackson want to be authentic to the look of the world Hergé created, which is familiar and beloved by millions of Tintin readers. Hergé himself was convinced of the importance of a soundly built storyline, and he did meticulous research. Despite sending his hero on adventures in every corner of the world, he himself didn’t travel outside Europe until a trip to the United States in 1971.
The filmmakers are currently making an evaluation of presenting the film through DreamWorks Animation which is distributed by Paramount Pictures.
