Peter Jackson was at the San Diego Comic Convention, talking about a lot of things including Tintin.

Jackson’s work on Tintin is still in early stages but he insists that the films are being made by people who are true Tintin fans. He also said that the design of the film was intended to be as true to creator Herge’s original designs as possible but with added textures. Otherwise, he indicated that they might as well just do a live-action version, which neither he nor Steven Spielberg (who is directing the first film) wanted.

Source: SDCC: Peter Jackson, James Cameron Fight For Cinema’s Future

Different blogs have picked up different comment from the event. Chud is reporting:

Jackson said that he was still trying to figure out which book he wanted to adapt, and that he would probably be rereading the entire Tintin series to make his decision.



That said, Jackson mentioned that he was currently leaning towards either The Seven Crystal Balls or Prisoners of the Sun. It’s likely that he would actually adapt both, as Prisoners of the Sun is the sequel to The Seven Crystal Balls. The story involves an Incan curse brought on by the discovery of a Peruvian mummy.

Source: COMIC CON 09: PETER JACKSON HASN’T STARTED WORK ON HIS TINTIN

As the first film will combine The Crab with the Golden Claws and The Secret of the Unicorn into one story, would Jackson really do anything other than Red Rackham’s Treasure? Failing to do so would miss the opportunity to introduce the character of Professor Calculus whose first appearance is in Red Rackham’s Treasure. It would also beg the question ‘What is the Secret of the Unicorn?’ if it is not a map for Tintin & Haddock to follow? Are they going to skip the whole adventure to the Caribbean and have Tintin solve the puzzle whilst imprisoned in Marlinspike’s cellar?

However, if Jackson is doing Red Rackham’s Treasure he had better get a move on. With multi-part films (Lord of the Rings, for example) the release dates of the films need to be relatively close, no more than a year apart, other audiences will lose interest in the project. With Secret of the Unicorn coming out in late 2011, a release date of summer or late 2012 for the second film is logical. This means the script needs to be written and the cast scheduled for motion capture.

UPDATE: More information and quotes.

As for the second movie, he reveals that production is pencilled in for the second half of 2010, a year before the first one’s release. “I’ve got to get through The Hobbit first, then we’ll move onto that. At the moment we’re keeping our options open, but I am very partial to The Seven Crystal Balls/ Prisoners Of The Sun. I’m going to read them all again before deciding which to have a go at.”



The EW interview quoted above adds some details. The first Tintin film, directed by Steven Spielberg, is currently at the first-cut stage. It will take two years to do all the animation and rendering needed for the final product. (The film has to be edited first because no one wants to pay for expensive rendering on shots that won’t end up in the final cut.) Peter drops the remark that he hasn’t decided which Tintin books to include in the second film, and that he and Spielberg would like to do a longer series if the first films succeed.

Source: Comic-Con news, and why there’s still no casting for The Hobbit

It is inspired by dolphins, not sharks, but apart from that, it is perfect.

More Photos: Dolphin Inspired Personal Submarines

There is a short piece of bad journalism by Oliver Kamm on the Times website entitled: Was Tintin a Nazi? This regurgitates the reoccurring question of Herge’s wartime action but it is clear that Kamm failed to do any research on the subject. He also dismisses Tintin as ‘a dreary hack work’ and as having ‘no jokes, no learning and no real interest’.

Such a lazy piece of writing needs to be challenged and I wrote a long comment putting Herge’s wartime record in context and answering Kamm’s criticisms. However the Times website would not accept the comment for some reason, so I’ve reproduced here.

The obvious point being, Tintin is a fictional character and Nazism did not appear in his fictional world so no, Tintin is not a nazi.

If you mean, was Herge’ a nazi, the answer is still definitely not.

After the invasion of Belgium, Herge’ lost his job with Le Petit Vingtième when it was shutdown by the Nazi. He was also visited by the Gestapo who expressed a dislike for some of his earlier work, notably King Ottokar’s Sceptre.

Herge found work at Le Soir which, like all newspapers, was controlled by the Nazis. During this time he wrote some of the most fantastical Tintin adventures, deliberately avoiding anything political. After the war Herge was arrested several times as a collaborator, as were just about everyone else who worked for Le Soir. Eventually, Raymond Leblanc, a prominent resistant fighter supported Herge and he was able to resume work on Tintin’s adventures.

To accuse a man, who cannot answer back, of being a Nazi when the people at the time, including those who risked their lives fighting the Nazis, cleared his name is just cheap and lazy journalism.

Maybe, he continued to work at Le Soir out of naivety. Belgium had been invaded by the Germans during his childhood and perhaps he thought this occupation would be no different. Maybe he was simply frighten and tried to keep out of trouble. We can never know but the idea he worked for the newspaper because he was a Nazi is ludicrous.

As to your personal preference of Asterix, that is your choice, but only an ignorant person would claim that Tintin has no jokes, learning or interest.

The nature of the jokes in Asterix and Tintin are very different. Rather than clever word play, Tintin relies on visual gags, slapstick and on the simply ludicrous settings.

Learning? How about number of different cultures Herge depicted with reasonable accuracy (given the time of writing and the resources he had available). Or what about the cutting edge science Herge included in the books (submersibles in Red Rackham’s treasure, swingwing aircraft in Flight 714). These seem mundane now but Herge was writing about what was cutting edge technology at the time.

No Interest? What about the author’s mental state and his work, notably Tintin in Tibet. How about his huge personal journey from right wing puppet (Tintin in the Land of the Soviets) to being recognized by the Dali Llama for his work promoting peace and racial harmony? Or even how his work responded to the German occupation?

Humour – Yes, Learning – Yes, Interest – Yes.

Tintin’s 80 year success is because he and Herge have these attributes in buckets.

The are questions about Herge’s wartime service and about his political views but sloppy journalism designed to grab headlines does nothing to answer them.

Source: Was Tintin a Nazi?

Ubisoft, the French video game company, has announced a deal with Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg to produce video game tie-ins for The Secret of the Unicorn (and presumably, Red Rackham’s Treasure).

Despite being one of the top ten game companies in the world, Ubisoft are not known for their film related games. Though they do produce a number of franchise related games such as Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six, Formula 1 racing games and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Probably their biggest, original title of recent years has been Assassin Creed, a free roaming adventure game in a rich graphical environment.

Film tie-ins do not generally make good games through there have been a few exceptions. It all depends on intent. Will the game makers just try cash-in and reproduce the movie or will they use the movie as a starting point but try to create something new? Hopefully they will do better than previous attempts at a Tintin video game.

Ubisoft Press release:

PARAMOUNT DIGITAL ENTERTAINMENT AND UBISOFT® ANNOUNCE DEVELOPMENT OF “TINTIN” MOVIE VIDEO GAME


Ubisoft® Acquires License to Create Video Game for Groundbreaking Film Adaptation of Hergé’s Beloved Hero Tintin


SAN FRANCISCO – June 1, 2009 – Today Paramount Digital Entertainment and Ubisoft announced the development of a video game based on the upcoming film “Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn.” The video game is expected to launch simultaneously with the highly anticipated film adaptation of one of the world’s most well-known and beloved literary series. “Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn” will be released in the U.S. on December 23, 2011 and internationally in late October and early November 2011.


The film, distributed by Paramount Pictures and Sony Pictures Entertainment, utilizes state-of-the-art, next-generation performance capture. Ubisoft’s Montpellier studio will work with director and producer Steven Spielberg, producers Peter Jackson and Kathleen Kennedy, to develop a unique and thrilling game that is closely tied to the upcoming motion picture.

“We look forward to working with Ubisoft and the filmmakers to create exciting new interactive adventures for Tintin,” said Thomas Lesinski, President, Paramount Digital Entertainment. “The upcoming video game will reintroduce Tintin to a whole new generation of gamers.”

“We’re incredibly excited to have the opportunity to work on the Tintin game,” said Christian Salomon, Vice President of Worldwide Licensing at Ubisoft. “We’re honored to bring one of the world’s most iconic comic characters to life in this new title.”

A little while ago we mentioned the shark submersible that the grandson of Jacque Cousteau had created, inspired by the Calculas’ shark submarine from Red Rackham’s Treasure. Over on Inventor’s Spot, they have more information on the shark including some up-close photos: Shark Submarine Allows Divers A Close-Up View Of The Ocean’s Greatest Predator

This comment is from IMDB on the film Captain Applejack.

I’m watching this antique Old Dark House mystery on TCM right now and it quickly became evident to me that the film, its first silent incarnation (”Strangers In The Night”) or the play it was adapted from were the first kernel of inspiration for Belgian comic book artist Hergé (Georges Rémi)’s “Secret of the Unicorn” and its sequel “The Treasure of Racham the Red” (1943-1944). More proof that a large part of the inspiration for Hergé’s melodramatic adventures were from rather second-rate Hollywood movies and plots that were very creaky to begin with. What he did with them of course was sheer genius and entirely original. But the basic idea was this: An ordinary man discovers that he is the descendant and inheritor of a famous pirate’s treasure hidden somewhere in an old house. In the process, he has flashbacks of being the pirate himself, which is just what happens to Captain Haddock in those comic books.

A quick Google finds no further information on this, making this comment nothing but pure speculation. Though it is not impossible Herge saw the film, or the original play, it seems unlikely. English language films and plays where not as dominant as they are nowadays. The central idea, that a character has a pirate ancestor with buried treasure is not new either. It is the basis of Treasure Island and is probably much older than that.

Ultimately, this is all just idle, though fun, speculation.

Source: Movie Review: CAPTAIN APPLEJACK (1931)

It is not as cool looking as Professor Calculus’ shark submarine but it is more functional than this real shark submersible.

The occasionally reliable Daily Mail has some on-set Tintin gossip from Daniel Mays and Mackenzie Crook, who are playing Alan and Ernie – sidekicks to Red Rackham (Daniel Craig). Both are comic actors with Mays having starred in the TV sitcom “Plus One” and Crook is most famous for his part in The Office. The pair of them are the comic relief in Red Rackham’s crew, a role very familiar to Crook after his work in the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy.

‘You’ve got the actors wearing funny tight bodysuits fitted with hundreds of motion-capturing devices and as you act, you can see yourself on a big screen with costumes superimposed on this character that looks like you. . . but isn’t.



‘In front of you there’s a camera that picks up every aspect of your face.



Five people with hand-held cameras are filming you. And Steven Spielberg is sitting there with a camera device manipulating all the images.



‘With all the people on the set and backstage, it’s like a Shuttle launch – just fantastic!’ Mays enthused when we met for drinks at the Chateau Marmont on Sunset Boulevard.



Early on during the production Spielberg, sick with a cold, had to go to see a doctor. ‘We came in and there was Peter Jackson directing us via satellite from New Zealand,’ Mays laughed.

Source: Baz Bamigboye on coffee with Jessica Alba, Tintin’s secrets and school with Keira Knightley

A couple of interesting bits of cast news.

Gad Elmaleh, a Moroccan who has achieved success by doing one man shows and very well received French language films is to play Omar Ben Salaad. Interestingly, Salaad only appears in The Crab with the Golden Claw so it looks like the film is going to weave several stories together.

Before the film title was announced I speculated that The Crab with the Golden Claws would be the first film because it introduces Captain Haddock. The appearance of Salaad suggests that the film will cover Tintin meeting Haddock and then discovering the Unicorn’s treasure. This would form a good story arc but leaves a lot to fit in one film.

The other bit of casting news is that Toby Jones, best known as Dobby the House Elf from the Harry Potter films, will be playing the pickpocket Aristides Silk who appears in The Secret of the Unicorn.

Source: Anchors aweigh for ‘Tintin’

Who is Jamie Bell and why is he playing Tintin?

Bell – A Beautiful Mover

Before being cast as Tintin, Jamie Bell was best known for his staring role in Billy Elliot. Bell was just 14 when he took the title role in this story of a working class boy who wants to be a ballet dancer. The film is set against the backdrop of a grim mining town during the bitter, year long miner’s strike of 1984 and was one of the best British films of the last ten years. It has since been adapted into a book and a smash West End stage play.

Following such as huge hit is difficult for any actor, but for a child actor such success can destroy their career and their life. But between Billy Elliot and getting cast as Tintin, Jamie Bell went back to basics and built his career from the ground up. He played a role in the low budget, World War I horror film Deathwatch with his future Tintin co-star Andy Serkis (Captain Haddock). Bell then had a small role in the 2002 version of Nicholas Nickleby.

Jamie Bell and the Youthful Looks

His next film, Undertow, did much to make it clear that Jamie Bell could make the leap from child actor to adult actor. The 2004 film stars the 18 year Bell as a troubled teenager on the run from a murderous uncle. Through the film split the critics, the performance of Bell and his co-star Devon Alan won them Young Artist Awards from the Young Artist Foundation.

There is no doubt that in winning the part of Tintin, Jamie Bell’s youth was significant. Having played one trouble teenager in Undertow, he played a similar role in Dear Wendy. This idiosyncratic film is about a group of gun-totting pacifist and was written by experimental film maker Lars von Trier. The Chumscrubber was Bell’s next film and once again he was playing a troubled teenager, though as a change of pace, this is a dark comedy. Here the focus is prescription medications, video games and the false ideal of middle class American suburbia.

Serkis & Jackson

His next film brought him back together with Andy Serkis. Bell got the part of Jimmy in Peter Jackson’s King Kong. Though only a minor role, it was no doubt that it was directly responsible for the casting of Jamie Bell as Tintin. Working with Serkis, Jackson, motion capture and a massive budget provided a great learning experience for Bell and a chance to shine before Peter Jackson.

Finally breaking through into more adult roles in his next film (though for Jamie Bell, Tintin may be a step back in this regard) with Hollywood legend Clint Eastwood. Flags of Our Fathers traces the story of the men who raised the flag on Iwo Jima and were captured on film by war photographer Joe Rosenthal.

Then it was back to playing disturbed characters in low budget, UK films as Bell starred in the award winning Hallam Foe (Mr Foe in the US). Playing a part completely unlike the clean cut, asexual Tintin, Jamie Bell is the eponymous Hallam Foe. A voyeur with dark obsessions about his dead mother. The film won various awards and Bell was nominated for Best Actor in the British Independent Film Awards.

Another CGI, high budget film was next for Jamie Bell in Jumper. This was poorly received by the critics and was summed up by one reviewer as “A tightly made film that could have been so much better. “

Jamie Bell – Dirty and Dangerous

Having played numerous troubled teenagers in various dark film, there was one more before Jamie Bell became Tintin, and this was the Mother of all dark subject matters – the holocaust. Just released in the UK, Defiance is the story of Jewish resistance fighters in Eastern Europe. The film placed Bell alongside Daniel Craig who is to play Red Rackham in The Secret of the Unicorn.

Tintin – Once, Twice, Three times?

Jamie Bell as Tintin is a great choice. He is an experienced film actor who can deliver great performances. Of special importance to motion capture films like The Secret of the Unicorn is the ability to move. Billy Elliot showed he has clear control of his body and in action films like Deathwatch, Jumpers and Defiance he has shown the right fighting dynamism to be Tintin. What will be interesting is what human qualities Bell will bring to Tintin. The comic book character is very flat and stereotyped, rarely displaying emotion except when angry at a bully or worried about Snowy. Getting the balance between making Tintin a living breathing character for the audience to empathise with and staying faithful to the books will be a difficult piece of acting.

If Jamie Bell pulls off Tintin, then at least one more film awaits. Peter Jackson is set to direct the second film and there is the possibility of a third. Though not confirmed, it seems likely that production of the second film will proceed soon after the first has finished. Probably adapting Red Rackham’s Treasure, the second part of the adventure started in The Secret of the Unicorn. If studios run to form, this will be released a year after the first. Production of the third film will only start if the first film proves to be a success.

Bell’s Big Chance

As Tintin, Jamie Bell has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Working with Spielberg with a huge budget and an internationally famous character could springboard Bell into Hollywood’s A-List. Becoming an action film hero and a sex symbol along the lines of Harrison Ford and Matt Damon is entirely possible. But that requires the film to be a smash and that is no easy thing to achieve, even when working with Spielberg and Jackson.