Spielberg and Jackson to direct Tintin films

STEVEN SPIELBERG and Peter Jackson are to join forces to direct and produce three films based on the beloved Belgian comic-strip hero, Tintin.

Entertainment journal Daily Variety reported the legendary film-makers would direct at least one of the films each, and serve as producers on all three.

The report said Tintin had been a long-time pet project for Spielberg, who finally secured the film rights to the comic series in the past 12 months.

Jackson, the Oscar-winning director of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, had already developed a test film which had brought the characters created by George Remi, better known by his pen name Hergé, to life.

Spielberg said the computer animation technology used for the films would be unlike anything ever seen.

“Hergé’s characters have been reborn as living beings, expressing emotion and a soul which goes far beyond anything we’ve seen to date with computer animated characters,” said Spielberg.

“We want Tintin’s adventures to have the reality of a live-action film, and yet Peter and I felt shooting them in a traditional live-action format would simply not honour the distinctive look of the characters and world that Hergé created.”

Jackson said although the movies would be computer generated, the characters would not look cartoonish.

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

Spielberg and Jackson have chosen three stories from the 23 Tintin books published between 1929 and 1976.