Bumpy Tintin Road
Universal has said no to Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson's Tintin project -- a 3D animated feature based on the Belgian comic strip -- because they don't want to spend $130 million to make it. And, as L.A. Times reporter Claudia Eller noted yesterday, "the decision has left the two powerful filmmakers scrambling to find another financial partner."
Update: Viacom has reportedly stepped into the breach, so I guess we're stuck with the damn thing.
I was going to say that anything that takes Spielberg and Jackson down a peg is a good thing in my book. I'm intrigued as the next person about what a first-rate 3D animated film might be like, even one from the two most over-praised and spiritually bloated rich guys in the film business.
Before reading about Viacom I was going to spin my wheels and dream about Spielberg dropping Tintin and finally -- finally! -- getting around to making his Abraham Lincoln movie instead, but the evidence is pretty strong that he's been afraid of it all along.
"When even Spielberg and The Lord of the Rings director Jackson, who have made some of the biggest blockbusters in history, can't get their movie made, you know something is up in Hollywood," Eller wrote. "Universal's refusal to finance Tintin underscores how in today's tough economic climate, bottom-line concerns trump once-inviolable relationships between studios and talent.
"Until now, however, filmmakers of Spielberg's and Jackson's stature were thought to be immune to the brass-knuckles tactics of the studios. Squeezed by a business trapped between rising costs and leveling revenues, the two filmmakers are Hollywood's latest -- and most prominent -- victims of cost containment."
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on September 20, 2008 at 11:04 AM
comment #1
lehigh
says ...
I bet Wes Anderson could make a great Tintin for cheap.
Posted by lehigh
at September 20, 2008 11:25 AM
comment #2
Daviddb
says ...
Nikki Finke reported that Viacom is going to finance TinTin 100%. Here's the link:
http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/toldja-press-suddenly-discovers-tintin-story/
Posted by Daviddb
at September 20, 2008 11:41 AM
comment #3
D.Z.
says ...
I just don't see any reason for Tintin, other than as a cheap [in sensibility, anyway] cash-in of Scooby Doo. And those films were shot for *under* $100 million! Being attached to a childhood franchise doesn't automatically make it a hit, as Spielberg should know well by now from his experiences on Casper and Hook.
Posted by D.Z.
at September 20, 2008 11:48 AM
comment #4
D.Z.
says ...
David: If it does, then it's committing the type of career suicide not seen since "Ant Bully".
Posted by D.Z.
at September 20, 2008 11:50 AM
comment #5
erniesouchak
says ...
Let's face it, Spielberg's gross-points deal is indefensible in this day and age, and Jackson probably has something similar by now. The movie's expense is considerable -- given that motion-capture is actors standing around on a bluescreen/greenscreen stage covered in bits of tape -- and Paramount should be entitled to cover its expenses before either filmmaker pockets a dime. Wells, if you want to see what a great 3-D animated film looks like, you should probably set your sights on "Coraline."
Posted by erniesouchak
at September 20, 2008 12:55 PM
comment #6
Richard_Stone
says ...
Does anyone in the US care all that much about Tintin? I always thought it was more of a phenomenon in french-speaking countries (I'm French myself). Will people in France and Belgium be super-eager to see their own icon dubbed in French after it's inevitably adapted for American interest?
Posted by Richard_Stone
at September 20, 2008 3:34 PM
comment #7
Markj74
says ...
I wouldn't write off Tintin yet. They have a great writer on board for starters, Steven Moffat. A summer movie with a great screenplay would be a nice change.
Posted by Markj74
at September 20, 2008 4:34 PM
comment #8
D.Z.
says ...
ernie: Coraline is in stop-motion, and a remake of Spirited Away.
Posted by D.Z.
at September 20, 2008 4:54 PM
comment #9
Dellos
says ...
they made two tin tin movies in 1960's and bunch of cartoons why don't they spend some cash on getting out to people. And why don't they spend their money and time on a new story instead of Americanizing someone else's culture.
Hey Hollywood I know a lot of people who like a Casa movie.
Posted by Dellos
at September 21, 2008 12:00 PM
comment #10
hcat
says ...
Terrible move from Paramount, this will put them on the line again to market a movie to a huge international gross so they can almost break even. Universal realized there are better investments for their money and their efforts.
This can be a huge worldwide hit, so why not let canal+ or luc Besson pony up the dough.
I know this is a bad idea but DZ...Casper was hit.
Posted by hcat
at September 22, 2008 7:10 AM
comment #11
D.Z.
says ...
hcat: It did decently here, but probably did better internationally. Actually, you could argue that "Hook" was a hit, in that regard, too.
Posted by D.Z.
at September 22, 2008 8:12 PM
comment #12
bluefugue
says ...
The Tintin books are wonderful adolescent entertainment and very much cut from the same mold as Indiana Jones, though with a less interesting protagonist. (Tintin himself is basically a blank, but he's surrounded by such colorful and eccentric supporting characters, that it's not a critical flaw.)
I don't know if American audiences could get interested in this, but simply writing off a Tintin movie as cheap popcorn a la Scooby Doo seems to me to betray an ignorance of the original comics. Books like Explorers on the Moon, or Prisoners of the Sun, or Tintin in Tibet, are grand adventure, and more worthy than many properties of being brought to the big screen.
Posted by bluefugue
at September 22, 2008 8:34 PM
comment #13
janee
says ...
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Best regards,Jane, CEO of cluster high availability
Posted by janee
at May 18, 2011 3:31 AM
comment #14
Michel
says ...
I did not see a lot of movies of Spielberg in the Netherlands on dvd or blue ray
but kids and parents like this kind of movies.
Last week I visited with my youngest son the last 3D movie of Spielberg Tin Tin in Holland calles as Kuifje en het geheim van de Eenhoorn a fabulous movie
I would say Steven,keep on producing movies in the overseas and in the rest of the world I know there are a lot of budget problems in this business because of the crisis but just in this cases the moviemakers become more inventive.
I am waiting for the next Tin Tin movie
Michel
Posted by Michel
at November 8, 2011 1:08 PM