DreamWorks will film the adventures of the iconic Belgian
comic-strip hero Tintin, the project's developers said
Thursday.
DreamWorks principal Steven Spielberg, a lifelong fan of the
fictional journalist and adventurer, will serve as a producer; he
is not expected to direct. The rights are held by Brussels-based
Herge Studios.
Spielberg first bought an option to film the character just
before Tintin creator Georges Remi -- known as Herge -- died in
1983. At one point, an agreement was in the cards, but Remi then
read in the contract that Spielberg might not direct the films
personally and refused to sign on the dotted line.
Herge Studios chief Nick Rodwell said he did not know if the
film would be live-action, traditional animation or CGI, nor was it
clear which of the 23 Tintin books would be chosen for a first
movie.
"With Harry Potter, everyone knows that there will be seven
films. We have 23 scripts. If the first one works, we'll make
another," said Rodwell, the husband of Herge's widow Fanny, the
holder of the universal rights for the Tintin estate.
"There will be a worldwide promotion, and we will emerge from
the Belgian, French and Swiss ghetto to reach for China and the
US," Rodwell said. "It will be a big Hollywood production, nearer
the $100 million mark than the $20 million, but that's not my
business."
Two live-action Tintin movies were filmed in the 1960s, and
three animations, but all were low-key releases. Two animated
television series have been made, both of which were adaptations of
the comic strips rather than original stories. Last year, London's
Young Vic theater company ran a musical version of Tintin in
Tibet.
The decision by DreamWorks comes during a year of Tintin
festivities in Europe to celebrate what would have been Herge's
centenary. Traveling the world fighting crime and venturing to the
moon a full decade before Neil Armstrong, the comic-strip boy
hero's books involve masterly plots, subtle themes and depth of
characterization.
?
(Agencies via CRI.cn March 10, 2007)