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Wednesday, November 25
With his Lovely Bones opening next month, writer-director Peter Jackson spent some time talking with the British press about a few of his upcoming producing projects. One of the most-anticipated is The Hobbit, the sequel to Jackson's Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Jackson told In The News that an initial script has been delivered to the studio.
The Hobbit will be two movies and we've written the first script anddelivered it to the studio who seem to be happy with it. We're now halfway through the second script and Philippa [Boyens],Fran [Walsh], Guillermo [Del Toro] and myself are doing the scripts and having great fun. It was an interesting experience because eight or nine years have passed since we wrote the Lord of the Ringsscreenplays and I was worried it'd be weird or hard or uncomfortable to go back there, but as soon as we started writing the scripts it wasfun, actually, and easy.
Del Toro will be directing The Hobbit, a situation he is "happy" about, stressing that "it's our job to support him and to help him tell the story." Jackson told BBC News that having Del Toro in on the writing process should make the transition easier.
We're writing the screenplays with him, so in terms of the script, there is continuity. We're writing Ian McKellen's dialogue just the same as we did in Lord Of The Rings. But Guillermo, being the director, will obviously take the script and interpret that and shoot his film. So that'll be interesting to see. That's actually the reason I wanted him to do it. I felt like I'd be trying to compete with myself and deliberately do things differently, which is not the way I want to work. I want it tobe natural.
Jackson stated that The Hobbit will be shot "in 35mm, old-fashioned film" because of Del Toro's desire to have the movie "in the same space as the original trilogy." Meanwhile, Jackson's other producing project, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, will be in 3-D. Jackson said that the movie is complete. Mostly.
Tintin is great. It's made. The movie is cut together and now [we] are turning it into a fully-rendered film. So the movie, to some degree, exists in a very rough state.
All that's left is to turn the movie from motion capture into 3-D animation, which will only take a mere two years to complete.
Posted 11/25/2009 by Ryan
Related: Peter Jackson | The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King | Guillermo del Toro | The Hobbit | Tintin
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Monday, November 16
Nick Frost wasn't doing much acting before he met Simon Pegg, who included him in his TV show Spaced and has collaborated with him on Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and the upcoming Paul, a movie about two British comic book geeks (Frost and Pegg) who encounter an alien near Area 51. Unlike their previous collaborations, Paul has Greg Mottola at the helm rather than Edgar Wright, though Frost told Movieline the trio is not breaking up.
It kind of felt like we were cheating on each other, but in a good way — a kind of sexy, duplicitous way. It's good for us all to go off and do other things. Obviously, we'll get back together. People enjoy the stuff that Simon and I do, but I think they get bored of us.
Paul is also the first movie that Frost has co-written with Pegg, though he says it's been planned for years.
Simon and I were really big fans of [Steven] Spielberg, and really big fans of The X-Files, as well. We kind of had the idea for Paul when we were shooting Shaun of the Dead, so it's taken quote a while to actually make it. We were shooting the scene in the garden when we were throwing the record at the zombies, and our producer said, "So what do you want to do after this?" And we just kind of came up with an answer on spec, and lo and behold, we made it a few years later.
Frost and Pegg got to be more than just fans of Spielberg in their other upcoming project, both actors got to work with Spielberg on The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, Spielberg's first animated movie. The process was a scary one for Frost.
It was really terrifying, since I've only been an actor for eight years. I was a waiter before that for quite a long time. Going from someone who didn't really want to be an actor to working with Steven Spielberg was a heck of a leap. I felt like a five-year-old boy going to college, if you know what I mean. I don't really remember going to high school that much, but I remember watching Close Encounters for the first time as an eleven-year-old and thinking, "F**king hell, this is amazing." Being on set with him and he knows your name, and when he's happy with a take he does a little dance ... it's a great way to work.
Spielberg has never used the motion-capture technique used to create Tintin, though Frost says Spielberg learned quickly.
I think he was basically learning as he went along, but his rate of learning and a normal human's rate of learning is a lot different. Most of the time, he shot it like you would any other movie. He would actually operate the camera a lot of the time — he was very hands-on. The way we shot it, it kind of felt like rehearsing a play, because we were doing long takes in a room with four or five other actors in gray suits. It felt a little bit like we were in the Actor's Studio.
Paul is scheduled for release sometime in 2010, while The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn opens December 23, 2011.
Posted 11/16/2009 by Ryan
Related: Nick Frost | Simon Pegg | Steven Spielberg | Greg Mottola | Tintin | Edgar Wright | Paul
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Friday, September 4
It looks like Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson are trying to make a fashion statement promoting The Adventures of Tintin, the 3-D motion-capture trilogy they're both producing. The Spanish site Estrenos de Cine just published this photo, which they received from Sony Pictures.
In the photo, the two directors don antiquated bowler hats, a particularly common article of clothing in the Tintin universe. We agree with the folks at Cinema Blend who say that it's rather bizarre seeing Jackson all lithe and trim. Maybe his former hobbit-esque physique was a very prolonged publicity stunt for Lord of the Rings. Either way, it doesn't stop us from getting excited about Tintin, which unfortunately isn't due in U.S. theaters until December 23, 2011.
The story is based on the Belgian comic strip series that first appeared in the late 1920s. The comic follows Tintin, a Belgian reporter, and his sidekick dog Snowy as they embark on various adventures across the globe. Paramount and Sony, who are producing the movies, decided to release the first movie, Secret of the Unicorn, in international cinemas beginning in late October 2011, ahead of the domestic release. This is due to its familiarity abroad and its lack of exposure in the States. Spielberg will direct that movie, while Jackson will take over for the second.
The current cast includes British star Jamie Bell in the title role and Daniel Craig as his nemesis. Also cast are Andy Serkis (Gollum in Lord of the Rings), Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Gad Elmaleh, Toby Jones, and Mackenzie Crook.
You can check out the official English-language Tintin site for more pictures and videos from the production.
Posted 9/4/2009 by Rich Z
Related: Daniel Craig | Mackenzie Crook | Nick Frost | Simon Pegg | Steven Spielberg | Peter Jackson | Gad Elmaleh | Jamie Bell | Toby Jones | Tintin | Andy Serkis
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Friday, May 29
Steven Spielberg's The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn finally has a release date. Variety and The Hollywood Reporter confirm that the 3-D motion-capture feature, which went into production this past January, will arrive in U.S. theaters on December 23, 2011.
The story is based on the Belgian comic strip series that first appeared in the late 1920s. The comic follows Tintin, a Belgian reporter, and his sidekick dog Snowy as they embark on various adventures across the globe. Paramount and Sony, who are producing the movies, decided to release Secret of the Unicorn in international cinemas beginning in late October 2011, ahead of the domestic release, due to its familiarity abroad and its lack of exposure in the States.
The movie is the first in a series of three adaptations, with the second to be helmed by Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson. Spielberg and Jackson are also producing the series, along with Kathleen Kennedy. The current cast includes British star Jamie Bell in the title role and Daniel Craig as his nemesis. Also cast are Andy Serkis (Gollum in LOTR), Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Gad Elmaleh, Toby Jones, and Mackenzie Crook.
You can check out the official English-language Tintin site, which includes pictures from the production and a video message from Spielberg and Jackson.
Posted 5/29/2009 by Rich Z
Related: Kathleen Kennedy | Mackenzie Crook | Nick Frost | Simon Pegg | Steven Spielberg | Peter Jackson | Gad Elmaleh | Jamie Bell | Toby Jones | Tintin | Andy Serkis
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Tuesday, January 6
Comedy duo Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) have joined the cast of Tintin, the 3-D motion-capture adaptation of George Remi's classic comic. Rather than aging '80s pop icons, these Thompson Twins are a pair of bumbling detectives identical in every way except for the shape of their mustaches.
Andy Serkis (Lord of the Rings, King Kong) will play Tintin's sidekick, Captain Haddock. The lead role of Tintin has not yet been cast.
Tintin is a two picture project being directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson.
Source: Variety
Posted 1/6/2009 by reelz
Related: Nick Frost | Simon Pegg | Steven Spielberg | Peter Jackson | Tintin
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Wednesday, August 27
Rumors have been circulating recently that Steven Spielberg would no longer be directing the first film in the Tintin trilogy for Dreamworks. Although Peter Jackson was slated to direct the sequel, the recent buzz around town was that the Lord of the Rings director would be stepping into the director's chair for the first film in place of Spielberg.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, these reports are false. Spielberg will indeed direct the first Tintin film and Peter Jackson is still slated to direct the sequel.
Tintin is based on the comic strip character created by Belgian artist Georges Remi under the pen name Herge in 1929. The first movie is based on "The Secret of the Unicorn" and "Red Rackham's Treasure." It will be animated with motion capture technology. Thomas Sangster (Love Actually) stars as Tintin and Andy Serkis (King Kong) stars as Captain Haddock.
The trilogy is being produced by Herge Studios.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Posted 8/27/2008 by reelz
Related: Steven Spielberg | Peter Jackson | Tintin