While it didnât necessarily break box office records here in the US, The Adventures of Tintin was a massive success across the globe. This wasnât exactly a shock, as international audiences are incredibly familiar with Hergeâs source material whereas many in the US were befuddled by this âTintinâ character. Given the filmâs box office haul, a sequel is now actively in the works. The plan is for Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson to swap roles this time around, with Jackson directing and Spielberg producing. Spielberg recently provided a brief status update on the sequel, confirming that the plan is for Jackson to shoot the follow-up this summer after he finishes photography on The Hobbit. Hit the jump for more.Steve sat down with producer Kathleen Kennedy back in December, and at the time she stated that they were looking at possibly shooting the motion-capture performances of Tintin 2 this summer right after Jackson finishes principal photography on The Hobbit. Speaking with Total Film (via The Playlist), Spielberg confirmed Kennedyâs earlier comments:
âPeter [Jackson]âs doing it. I wanted to do it, but Peter has to because we made a deal. I said, âIâll direct the first one, you direct the second one.â And Peter, of course, is going to do it right after he finishes photography on The Hobbit. Heâll go right into the 31, 21 days of performance capture."
Itâs important to note that this doesnât mean Jackson is abandoning The Hobbit this close to An Unexpected Journeyâs release date. Theyâve broken the year-long Hobbit shooting schedule into blocks with extended breaks in between, during which Jackson has been working on combing through footage theyâve already shot and readying effects shots. After they wrap principal photography this summer, heâll do a quick month on Tintin before jumping back into post-production on The Hobbit. The post-production process on Tintin is incredibly long, so heâll have plenty of time to finish up the two Hobbit films.
As to what books theyâll be drawing from story-wise for the sequel, everyone involved has been tight-lipped. When asked about Kennedyâs recent comments alluding to The Calculus Affair, Spielberg responded:
âWe havenât decided that yet. Sheâs throwing a monkey wrench into your story! It could be that. I like The Calculus Affair. So it could be. We have completed a story outline now. We have a writer on it. Iâm just not declaring what it is. It will be more than one book, but no more than two.â
We learned last April that Anthony Horowitz was working on the script for the sequel, but whether he's still on the project is unknown. I was pleasantly surprised by Spielbergâs Tintin and I look forward to seeing what Jackson does with the material.