Tintin Forums

I even read somewhere that Gwyneth Paltrow was being considered for Tintin.

I'm not totally sure I want to see a Tintin film being made. I sort of do, but after the excellent From Hell and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen comic strips were made into terrible fims, you can become rather wary of adaptations.

Perhaps this is one area where Moulinsart's attitude to their intellectual property will be a good thing, as it will dictate the film must stay true to Hergé's vision.

We're talking about Steven Spielberg here, he should be able to do it right. It would be similar to an Indiana Jones story, minus the hero's love interest, bit of language and medium violence.

Personally, I don't think that there should be a Tintin movie altogether. I've seen a dozen comic book movies made and they're all rather...mediocre. (I haven't seen any of the Asterix films myself, but I heard that most of them were a bit awkward). I enjoyed the Indiana Jones movies too, and recognize Spielberg's interest in the project, but he should just concentrate on doing the fourth movie like he said he would and leave Tintin just the way it is, lest he ruins the greatness of it on film and puts a black mark on it.

P.S. I always thought that John-Rhys Davies' character (Sallah) sort of resembled Oliviera da Figuiera, but who am I kidding?

I liked Speilberg's first three Tintin movies, back when they were called "Indiana Jones."

All jokes aside, this is fantastic news! I grew up with Tintin. When I was younger I had hoped that one day they'd make a live-action Tintin movie that lived up to his name. Looks like those hopes are finally becoming a reality. And Tom Hanks as the Captain....I couldn't have asked for a better actor for the part!!!

Recently I dug up all of my Tintin books from their resting place in my basement and began reading them again--which is what prompted me to check him out on the 'net. The last time I visited this site was when it was still simply "The Cult of Tintin" about seven years ago (give or take). I'm pleased to see that it's still up and running.

As far as the movies go, I'm sure Spielberg will render Tintin's adventures well. I liked the 'Indiana Jones' series, and I felt that they mirrored the characteristics of many Tintin adventures--obviously because Spielberg was a big fan..we all knew that. Though, I'm sure Tintin will be much less promiscuous than Indiana Jones (at least, I HOPE so!!!)

Thank you all for letting me chime in. It's nice to see the site again!

-Mark

I saw a brief bit of Stephen Fry on the BAFTA (British (Academy?) of Film & Television Awards) thing the other night, and have to admit that I could see a glint of potential for him as Haddock... a false nose would be in order!

I'm not very good at being an internet news hound... does anyone actually know how definite a Tintin movie is? You're always hearing about films getting advances, going into some kind of pre-production and all that, often for years, and then disappearing off the face of the earth, quite often only kept alive by fans who help to perpetuate the rumours. I'd imagine a Tintin movie would be fairly likely, but I'm just wondering what kind of 'official status' it has...

Thanks! - Garen.

UPDATE: Well I did have a quick look around, and while rumours abound, I can't see anything definite, and Spielberg seems pretty busy with lots of other projects over the next few years - so a Tintin Movie will be a long time coming.

The most definite statement, from Nov 2003, seems to be:

"The TINTIN film will be a joint release between Universal and DreamWorks who are currently in final negotiations for rights to the franchise."

So.. no actual rights, as yet?

Personally, I think that a live action Tintin movie would be a HORRIBLE idea. I'm used to Tintin looking one way: the Hergé way. I don't want some random actor have his hair made up to look like Tintin's and then put on some Golf Pants. It just wouldn't be the same.

Here's a recent message on the aintitcool.com site, about the movie.

I have no reason to doubt that a film will be made - it isn't the length of the journey that matters to me; it's the quality of the finished product.
If they have used those twenty years to haggle out the do's and don'ts (to say if he is allowed to Americanize things or not etc., what books if any, he is allowed to adapt, or if it has to be original, so on and so forth), then hopefully it will be great.

I remember an animated Tintin doing an "interview" on Janet Street-Porter's unwieldy "yoof" programme Network 7 (so early 1980s), from Calculus's rocket in orbit (allegedly), saying that the film was to be called (something like) Tintin and the Lost City of Ivory - so maybe the question has been over whether to adapt or do something new.

Also, in the nineties, Moulinsart was allegdly cold on a live-action movie preferring the idea of CGI 3d animation, so again that may have delayed Spielberg too.

It took twenty years for the Spider-Man movie to get made (I used to have a nice trade advert from Screen International of Spidey web-slinging his way over a city with something along the lines of "Coming Next Summer!", which I cut out in about 1984).
It also took Jack Nicholson twenty years to get The Two Jakes made.

And as for Mary Poppins II... P.L. Travers managed to go to her grave in 1996, having held Disney at bay for around three decades over script/ casting approval, although they tried almost constantly over the decades since the original film's release to get it off the ground (should be a joke about flying umbrellas in there somewhere) - and they still haven't made it yet!

Good news, everyone - according to Objectif Tintin, Nick and Fanny Rodwell have approved the script / scenario presented to them, and the film has therefore gone into the stage of post production.

This is culled from site Objectif Tintin 22 June 2004:

"The first Tintin film will be produced by Steven Spielberg only when the script of the second film is approved by Dreamworks Pictures (Steven Spielberg's production company), by us and by Universal studios. However, the two young scenario writers chosen by Steven Spielberg only have just begun writing the script of the second film", explains Nick Rodwell, owner of the Hergé Foundation and Moulinsart company. It was in November 2002 that an agreement was signed between the rights manager of Tintin and Steven Spielberg's production company. "We have already approved the script of the first film. If the first film is sucessful they will produce the second and, if the second goes well, they will produce a third" says Nick Rodwell.

On the subject of the albums chosen by Steven Spielberg, Nick Rodwell maintains secrecy. "We have a clause of confidentiality on the script and the subject of films. If the topic of film were revealed prematurely, all the other Hollywood studios would try to copy Spielberg" explains Nick Rodwell.

Too early for the casting: Steven Spielberg himself had quoted Tom Hanks for the role the Haddock captain. "But it's still too early for the distribution of the roles. It's only after having fixed a date for the production that they will make the casting. And we will need the same actors for the first and second film. It will be necessary to see at this time which actors are available. In any event we will have our say on the choice of the actors" Nick Rodwell declared.

He has been to Los Angeles eight times during last ten months to negotiate the contracts and to supervise the scenarios. "In Hollywood, only 10% of the options lead to a film. But I'm not anxious about the result of this project, which would be fantastic for Hergé, Tintin and Belgium. It's all going very well. Steven Spielberg spent 10 years making "Schlinder List". He let's his projects mature. It's rather a good sign that the preparation of the Tintin trilogy takes time" adds Nick Rodwell. The New Gazette - Tuesday June 22, 2004

I've moved this over from the "Absence of women in the Tintin series" thread for relevance.

Martine said:
Hey, c'mon, it's not like everything Spielberg has done is the likes of Indiana Jones, either! (don't get me wrong, I LOVE Indiana Jones); but he also did movies like The Empire of the Sun, and Schindler's List. The man can too be serious.

I agree wholeheartedly: in fact I consider Spielberg to be one of the all-time greats and he is one of my favourite directors. My point is that he is often accused of overdoing the sentimentality, including the use of children as a rather obvious way of gaining audience empathy. Tintin is more vulnerable to this than most because the nature of the stories appeals most obviously to children (though that's another argument entirely!).

Spielberg's serious films are among the best you'll ever see, though I would think that the proposed Tintin series would have more in common with Indiana Jones than, say, Schindler's List or Saving Private Ryan.

Ed