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Anyone having any inside info on this Dreamworks project?
"The Adventures of Tintin" is probably my favorite cartoon strip of all time (along with "Asterix and Obelix," but there have already been a couple of French movies on this cartoon hero)! As a kid, I used to thrill to reading the brilliantly plotted, beautifully illustrated, meticulously researched and superbly rendered adventures of the globetrotting teenage reporter and his crew of friends, from seeking buried treasure to beating Armstrong and Aldrin to the moon! And as an adult, I am able to find new appreciation of the depth and intelligence behind these works. I will be the first in line to watch this movie(s) when it/they are released!
And here's hoping that a renewed interest in Tintin sparks a new series of comic books penned by a new author! The creator, Herge, passed away in the '80s with the instruction that no one continue his series after him. Well, if the movies are successful enough, maybe the Herge trustees will change their mind and hire a new cartoonist to create new Tintin adventures! That would truly be awesome!
Belgium's Tintin: Hollywood-Bound?
Steven Spielberg's Tinseltown touch may just what this European comic-book hero needs for a breakout big-screen success
The Belgian comic strip character Tintin is Steven Spielberg's kind of guy. Along with his dog Snowy, the adventurous young reporter with a cowlick treks the world. He's an ideal children's character but has enough intelligence to have a loyal following among middle-age European men. Spielberg has been trying for 20 years to bring Tintin to the big screen, but the family of illustrator George Remi, known by his pen name Hergé, has always shielded the character from big commercial projects.
Until now. It appears Spielberg is close to a final deal that could make Tintin a movie star. "Nothing is signed yet, but it's 95% certain," says Nick Rodwell, head of Moulinsart, the company that has handled the rights to Tintin since Hergé's death in 1983. A spokesperson at Spielberg's Dreamworks SKG studio confirmed reports that the director is in talks to make a Tintin movie but declined to say anything further.
CARTOON CULTURE. Those who own the rights to other European comics hope such collaborations with Hollywood will bring them the kind of success U.S. comic-book icons like Batman and Spider-Man have enjoyed: The special effects-enhanced Spider-Man has taken in more than $600 million worldwide since its May release. "It was time for Tintin to step forward and to give joy to his fans all around the world," says Rodwell.
Europe has a wealth of characters to choose from. Cartoon culture was born in France and Belgium in the 1920s, and Tintin, along with rivals Asterix and Obelix, have a worldwide following. "The material offered by European comics is very rich," says Jean-Marc Thevenet, director of the International Comics Festival of Angouleme, Europe's biggest comics event. "There are crime stories, science fiction, and eroticism. It easily [translates to] film adaptations."
In the characters' home markets, adaptations to the silver screen have been smash hits. This year's Asterix and Obelix: Mission Cleopatra, the follow-up to a 1999 Asterix movie, grossed $120 million, making it the second-most popular French flick ever. Many credit its success to heavy doses of Hollywood-style pizzazz: It stars box-office heavyweights Gerard Depardieu and Monica Bellucci and had a budget of $50 million.
"OUT OF THE GHETTO." Asterix, however, has shown that European productions don't always travel well. It was seen by barely 1 million viewers in Spain and Germany, and didn't make waves on American screens. The characters and their adventures in the Gallic-Roman empire just didn't appeal to non-French viewers. "Asterix and Obelix is a great comic, but it targets a Francophile audience," says Rodwell.
With Spielberg behind him, Tintin likely stands a better chance. The moviemaker is not only internationally renowned but has a strong track record handling children's tales. "We have a worldwide ambition. We want to get out of the ghetto," says Rodwell, referring to the cartoon's traditional aficionados in France and Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. Still, that ambition could be tough to realize. Only about 100,000 copies a year of Tintin comic books find their way into the hands of U.S. readers -- a tiny fraction of the 2 million copies sold worldwide.
Die-hard Tintin fans will have to accept that their favorite comic won't be quite the same when it hits the big screen. The book has no major female character who accompanies Tintin in his adventures, so an on-screen romance might be written in to draw a bigger audience. That may disappoint Tintinophiles, but it's a likely price for playing in the same league as Spider-Man.
By Karim Djemai and Christina W. Passariello in Paris
Edited by Thane Peterson
Steven Spielberg's Tinseltown touch may just what this European comic-book hero needs for a breakout big-screen success
The Belgian comic strip character Tintin is Steven Spielberg's kind of guy. Along with his dog Snowy, the adventurous young reporter with a cowlick treks the world. He's an ideal children's character but has enough intelligence to have a loyal following among middle-age European men. Spielberg has been trying for 20 years to bring Tintin to the big screen, but the family of illustrator George Remi, known by his pen name Hergé, has always shielded the character from big commercial projects.
Until now. It appears Spielberg is close to a final deal that could make Tintin a movie star. "Nothing is signed yet, but it's 95% certain," says Nick Rodwell, head of Moulinsart, the company that has handled the rights to Tintin since Hergé's death in 1983. A spokesperson at Spielberg's Dreamworks SKG studio confirmed reports that the director is in talks to make a Tintin movie but declined to say anything further.
CARTOON CULTURE. Those who own the rights to other European comics hope such collaborations with Hollywood will bring them the kind of success U.S. comic-book icons like Batman and Spider-Man have enjoyed: The special effects-enhanced Spider-Man has taken in more than $600 million worldwide since its May release. "It was time for Tintin to step forward and to give joy to his fans all around the world," says Rodwell.
Europe has a wealth of characters to choose from. Cartoon culture was born in France and Belgium in the 1920s, and Tintin, along with rivals Asterix and Obelix, have a worldwide following. "The material offered by European comics is very rich," says Jean-Marc Thevenet, director of the International Comics Festival of Angouleme, Europe's biggest comics event. "There are crime stories, science fiction, and eroticism. It easily [translates to] film adaptations."
In the characters' home markets, adaptations to the silver screen have been smash hits. This year's Asterix and Obelix: Mission Cleopatra, the follow-up to a 1999 Asterix movie, grossed $120 million, making it the second-most popular French flick ever. Many credit its success to heavy doses of Hollywood-style pizzazz: It stars box-office heavyweights Gerard Depardieu and Monica Bellucci and had a budget of $50 million.
"OUT OF THE GHETTO." Asterix, however, has shown that European productions don't always travel well. It was seen by barely 1 million viewers in Spain and Germany, and didn't make waves on American screens. The characters and their adventures in the Gallic-Roman empire just didn't appeal to non-French viewers. "Asterix and Obelix is a great comic, but it targets a Francophile audience," says Rodwell.
With Spielberg behind him, Tintin likely stands a better chance. The moviemaker is not only internationally renowned but has a strong track record handling children's tales. "We have a worldwide ambition. We want to get out of the ghetto," says Rodwell, referring to the cartoon's traditional aficionados in France and Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. Still, that ambition could be tough to realize. Only about 100,000 copies a year of Tintin comic books find their way into the hands of U.S. readers -- a tiny fraction of the 2 million copies sold worldwide.
Die-hard Tintin fans will have to accept that their favorite comic won't be quite the same when it hits the big screen. The book has no major female character who accompanies Tintin in his adventures, so an on-screen romance might be written in to draw a bigger audience. That may disappoint Tintinophiles, but it's a likely price for playing in the same league as Spider-Man.
By Karim Djemai and Christina W. Passariello in Paris
Edited by Thane Peterson
And here's hoping that a renewed interest in Tintin sparks a new series of comic books penned by a new author! The creator, Herge, passed away in the '80s with the instruction that no one continue his series after him. Well, if the movies are successful enough, maybe the Herge trustees will change their mind and hire a new cartoonist to create new Tintin adventures! That would truly be awesome!
