Tintin 3-D movie may be funded by Sony, Paramount

Sun, 02 Nov 2008 12:50:30 +0000

Directors Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson’s three-series 3-D adaptation of The Adventures of Tintin may take off the ground, finally. The buzz is that Sony Pictures may collaborate with arch rival Paramount Pictures to co-finance the movie.

If the deal comes through, Paramount will release the 3-D Tintin trilogy in North America, which Sony will distribute the movies in Europe and Latin America.

We had initially reported on the stalled Tintin 3D movie in September

Steven Spielberg has been planning to make the Tintin movies for a long time now, 25 years to be precise but has not found any concrete backers.

Tintin

In September 2008, Universal Pictures backed out of a deal with Paramount Pictures to fund the $130 million project. Reportedly, Universal backpedaled when Spielberg and Jackson demanded 30% of the movie’s total gross receipts, including DVD, TV and ancillary sales. The studio was not willing to take a risk on Tintin, since its bottom line would be under threat unless the 3-D Tintin movies grossed $425 million in global ticket sales.

Subsequently, Spielberg and Jackson put the 3-D Tintin project on hold till they found financiers for the 3-D flick, even though Spielberg had directed parts of the movie. Peter Jackson has also been developing performance-capture technology for the Tintin movie, at a cost of $30 million funded by Paramount.

The first part of the 3-D Tintin series, to be directed by Spielberg, was to go into production in October 2008, with Spielberg being very keen to get started on the project. Peter Jackson will direct the second part of the Tintin trilogy. The third director has yet to be decided.

The 3-D Tintin trilogy will used motion-capture technology that combines animation with real characters.

The first part of the 3-D Tintin trilogy will be released in 2010.

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Tintin 3-D movie may be funded by Sony, Paramount