I am an unabashed fan of Steven Spielberg but his 2011 adaptation of Herge's Tintin "The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn" didn't fully deliver the goods for me. There were brilliant flashes in the film's close to 110 minute running time, especially a breathless chase scene at its climax which was just astonishing to behold, yet Spielberg, with producer Peter Jackson, tried to fit so much into the film that it ultimately felt too overstuffed an effort. The film, which had Jamie Bell playing the beloved teenage detective, had beautiful motion capture technology and the always brilliant Andy Serkis playing Tintin's sidekick drunkard captain."The Secret of the Unicorn" was supposed to be the first part of a trilogy of films featuring the young Belgian detective, but it wasn't the hit it was expected to be in the U.S. whereas overseas, especially in France, IT did very well. Nevertheless, it whet our appetites with its potential for Indian Jones-style action and, 7 years after its release, a sequel would surely be more than welcome.
Spielberg was in London this week promoting his excellent "Ready Player One," a blockbuster which pays homage to more than 40 years of pop culture, and he took the time to confirm [via Premiere France] that a Tintin sequel is indeed happening. The 71-year-old director has confirmed that Peter Jackson will take the reigns of directing the sequel:
“Peter Jackson has to do the second part. Normally, if all goes well, he will soon start working on the script. As it takes two years of animation work on the film, I wouldn’t expect to see it be released for at least another three years. But Peter will stick with it. Tintin is not dead!”
The sequel would be based on two source materials, “The Adventures of Tintin: Prisoners of the Sun” and “The Seven Crystal Ballsand The Temple of the Sun.” The 2011 movie did the same thing by adapting three books: “The Secret of the Unicorn,” “The Crab with the Golden Claws” and “Red Rackham’s Treasure.”
We haven’t heard from Peter Jackson since he released “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” back in 2014, it must have been an exhausting journey to make that trilogy and I’m sure he needed the time to rest, but it seems like this Tintin sequel will be his next blockbuster movie. In the meantime, Jackson is working on an ambitious project, an epic documentary of the First World War, set to premiere this October at the BFI London Film Festival, which will use never before seen archival footage of the “great war,” all of which will be colorized and restored in 3D format. The next few years will be very busy for the venerable writer-director and we’re sure glad he’s back at it.