Sad news for Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson, Universal Pictures has decided to pull out of the three picture deal for the CGI adaptation of Tintin.  The biggest reason for the break in the deal wasn’t Spielberg trying to break DreamWorks away from Paramount, but the $130 million budget.  In a day an age where $130 million seems like a drop in the bucket for a franchise that could literally net Universal ten times that in world wide distribution, something certainly seems fishy. Perhaps it was the 30% of gross Spielberg and Jackson wanted - meaning Tintin would have to gross $425 million before it broke even and Universal started seeing a profit.

But fear not Herge fans, the duo have taken their proposal to Paramount… oh, yeah, that whole split thing might be a hang up.  Paramount has had the proposal for several weeks now, so it Tintin is simply awaiting a yay or nay from the suits.

via Empire Online

Nothing says, “We don’t trust you” than the announcement from Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro that the only people who can really write the Hobbit movie adaptation (and the unnamed sequel to follow) is none other than Guillermo del Toro and Peter Jackson.

The news caps off an eight-month search for a scribe to tackle the coveted task of bringing the literary classic to the big screen. When Jackson and New Line resolved their differences over profit participation in the “Rings” films, Jackson said he would not be writing the “Hobbit” movies because of other commitments, though he does have approval over creative elements in his role as exec producer.

Later, when del Toro came aboard, the deal was that the two would oversee the search for scribes and the writing. In the interim, three factors came into play: 1) The filmmakers saw their schedules open up, 2) During the general discussions about the films, they realized how much affection they had for the material, and 3) They also realized that in order to make the release dates, the process required people intimate with Tolkien’s world of Middle Earth. All led to the decision that they would do the honors themselves along with Walsh and Boyens.

Hobbit is scheduled to arrive in theaters in 2011, with the sequel scheduled the year after.

via THR

Variety is reporting Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson are teaming up to bring Tintin to the big screen. Speculation on the success of the first film is so high, DreamWorks, Spielberg, and Jackson will be directing and producing three back to back features.

Spielberg and Jackson will each direct one of the movies, but no word on who the third director would be. Could it be long time Spielberg friend George Lucas?

With WETA Digital behind the character creations, these films will be 3D animated features instead of trying to cast actors in the roles.

Jackson said WETA will stay true to Remi’s original designs in bringing the cast of Tintin to life, but that the characters won’t look cartoonish.

“Instead,” Jackson said, “we’re making them look photorealistic; the fibers of their clothing, the pores of their skin and each individual hair. They look exactly like real people — but real Herge people!”

Photorealistc 3D Tintin? Sounds like an interesting take. There is no word on when the first film will be released, but since Spielberg and Jackson will be wrapping their current productions by the end of this year.

via Variety