James Badge Dale, Jon Seda and Joseph Mazzello star in The Pacific, which spotlights the U.S. Marine Corps’ actions in the Pacific. The series, which premiered in the United States on March 14, 2010, is based on memoirs by two U.S. Marines – With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa ( Eugene Sledge) and Helmet for My Pillow ( Robert Leckie).

The miniseries tells the stories of the two authors and Marine John Basilone, during the war against Japan. It also borrows from Eugene Sledge’s China Marine and Red Blood, Black Sand, abd the memoir of Chuck Tatum.

The series features battles involving the 1st Marine Division, such as Guadalcanal, Cape Gloucester, Peleliu, and Okinawa, and John Basilone’s involvement in the Battle of Iwo Jima.

Hugh Ambrose has authored an official tie-in book to the miniseries. The book – the stories of the three men featured in the miniseries and stories of fellow marines – was released in the United States and the United Kingdom in March 2010.

At $200 million, The Pacific is one of HBO’s most expensive mini-series. Shot at actual locations, principal photography took almost 10 months. The series was to be launched in India at the time it was launched in the United States, but was delayed keeping in mind the exam time and IPL mania.

HBO is bringing three other original series to India in 2010. The new series include Bored To Death, Hung and The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency. The network also plans to air the third and seventh seasons of hit series True Blood and Entourage, in India.

Pirate Latitudes book cover

Steven Spielberg and David Koepp have earlier worked together on Michael Crighton’s Jurassic Park and The Lost World.

Pirate Latitudes will be published posthumously by Harper Collins on November 24, 2009.

Set in 1665 in Jamaica, the book revolves around Captain Edward Hunter who, along with a band of ruffians, plans to raid the impregnable Spanish galleon El Trinidad, said to be filled with Spanish Gold.

The second movie, I am Number 4 is an adaption by Al Gough and Miles Millar (Spider-Man2, Shanghai Noon) of the bestselling novel A Million Pieces.

Reports say that Michael Bay (Transformers), who is also the producer, is in talks to direct the flick.

I Am Number 4 is about nine aliens who run away from their planet after its destruction and disguise themselves as teenagers on Earth.

Number 4 realizes that he is still being hunted by the enemy species that destroyed his planet.

Dreamworks’ third film, Harvey, will be directed by Steven Spielberg after he wraps up The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn.

Harvey is based on Mary Chase’s play of the same name, that won her the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1944.

Harvey is about eccentric Elwood P. Dowd who drives his family round the bend with his stories about his imaginary friend, Harvey, a 6′ 3.5”-inch rabbit.

Steven Spielberg is currently working on 3-D movie Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn that will be released in 2011. The 3-D Tintin movie is planned as a trilogy with Steven Spielberg, directing the first one, and Peter Jackson directing the second.

The movie will use performance capture technology to combine animation with real-life characters. Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn is written by Steven Moffat, Edgar Wright, and Joe Cornish.

The movie will star Jamie Bell as Tintin, Andy Serkis as Captain Haddock, Daniel Craig as Red Rackham, and Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as Thomson and Thomson.

The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn is a 3-D movie using performance capture technology that combines animation with real characters.

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.