A rumour that Edgar Wright (co-writer of the Tintin script, director of Shawn of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim) will direct the third Tintin movie has been running around the net of the last few hours. Slashfilm cut to the chase and asked Edgar on the record about. His response was “Not that I know of. But hey, rumors are fun”.

The rumour appears to have started on IMBD and is most certainly rubbish, not least because Edgar doesn’t know about it. Another reason is that a second film has not been confirmed, let alone a third one. The financial backers of Spielberg and Jackson want to see how well the first one does before they commit to any thing else.

The first on-set photos of the Tintin filming have been released by Empire Magazine

The photo shows Jamie Bell and Andy Serkis in motion capture suits talking to Steven Spielberg. In the background can be seen images from the books, particularly Thompson & Thomson, stuck on the the walls.

The picture comes from Empire Magazie’s 20th anniversary issue which has a special guest editor, Steven Spielberg. More photos are promised when the magazine comes out.

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Jamie Bell – Star of Billy Elliot, King Kong, Hallam Foe, Jumper and Defiance – has been cast as Tintin.

Also cast is Daniel Craig – The current James Bond and star of Defiance – who is playing the pirate Red Rackham.

The film will be called: The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn

Also announced were the screen writing credits: Stephen Moffat, writer of Dr Who and so much more. Plus Edgar Wright, co-writer and director of Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead which starred Simon Pegg and Nick Frost who are playing Thompson and Thomson. Joe Cornish, know to Brits as one-half of Adam & Joe, also gets a screenwriting credit.

Production starts today on the 3D motion capture. Release is scheduled for 2011.

Its not clear is the film will only tell the story of the book Secret of the Unicorn or whether it will combine both Unicorn and Red Rackham’s Treasure. The press release say that “The second feature in the series is scheduled to be directed by Jackson, with a potential for a third film as well.”

Other names mentioned in the cast but the parts are not identified are Gad Elmaleh (lots of French language films), Toby Jones (voice of Dobby the House Elf in the Harry Potter films) and Mackenzie Crook (Pirates of the Caribbean and The Office).

Paramount Pictures will release the film in the US 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.

Full press release here.

Credit to Marketsaw who were first to break the news.

Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg’s long-time producer, has confirmed that shooting will start in February and that it will be a trilogy. Spielberg will still direct the first and Jackson the second. The third film will be directed by either Spielberg or Jackson but no time frame has been given for the second or third films.

This is great news after the productions recent financial problems and suggestions that only two films were to be made.

Yes, the locations for the Tintin Movie have been revealed!

But it is not the Spielberg / Jackson CGI movie but the original live action film, Tintin and the Blue Oranages. Dedicated Tintin fan Carsten has found many of the locations in the film and photographed them for a then and now comparison.

(Original Tintinoligist post)

Show Me The Money

After several weeks of uncertainty it seems the Spielberg and Jackson have found financing from a joint venture between Paramount Pictures and Sony Pictures. Paramount will be handling the films in the English speaking world whilst Sony deals with what some American web sites refer to as the “foreign” distribution. Given that Tintin is a Belgium comic, written in French and translated into 30+ languages, I think Sony gets the better part of the deal.

Two’s Company, Three’s a Crowd

The Sony/ Paramount deal has raised some questions. Initial reports from the New York Time suggested that the deal only included two films, not the planned trilogy. There has been no official announcement and the reporter behind the NYT story has a reputation of inaccuracy according to some movie blogs. A two film deal makes sense as the idea that the third film would be jointly directed by Jackson and Spielberg always seemed odd.

However most informed coverage of this story insists it will be three films and three films makes sense. A lot of the cost of these films is in the license and the set up for the special effects. Spreading these costs across three films makes financial sense.

Will The Real Tintin Please Stand Up

Though never officially announced as Tintin, Thomas Sangster appears to have pulled out of the project. It seems that the films new shooting schedule falling back to 2009 / 2010, means that Thomas can no longer fit it in.

Variety Magazine has stated that Thomas Sangster will not be playing Tintin. Sangster was widely rumoured to have been cast but it was never formally announced. The source of the problem seems to be the delays caused by Dreamwork’s split from Paramount and subsequent funding difficulties. This news appears in passing in a report by columnist Anne Thompson but no sources are given and no one else is reporting this.

More positively, Dreamworks has a distribution deal with Universal in place and Paramount are still keen to fund the films if Spielberg and Jackson cut there fees.

Source: Films up in the air after studios split, DreamWorks/Universal Union Disruptive?

Hollywood Reporter has word that the Paramount / Dreamworks split is moving forward amicably with over 200 projects being split or shared between the two companies. However, Tintin is not one of them:

No decisions have been made regarding “Tintin,” which Spielberg is planning to produce and direct. Paramount had put a $130 million offer, including unspecified financial terms, on the table, but that discussion was set aside while the new arrangement was worked out.

Source: Paramount, DreamWorks split with no grief

There is still a lot of rumor flying around about whether the Tintin movies will get made. As we reported earlier (Tintin Movie in Financial Quagmire) Dreamworks is splitting from Paramount. As Tintin was a joint Universal and Paramount production it was assumed that Universal would pick up the film. However it seems that Universal are not keen on the $130 million price tag or the 30% gross Spielberg and Jackson are demanding.

With a reported $30 million already spent on scripts and pre-production costs, and two of the biggest names in the business wanting to direct, it seems likely that the films will get made. This may just be a negation technique from Universal to get the directorial duo to cut their fees.

Source: Universal Pictures pulls plug on ‘Tintin’