When it comes to the next big Steven Spielberg project, right now, everyone is looking towards the skies for his new UFO movie Disclosure Day. Premiering in theaters in exactly one month on June 12, the star-studded blockbuster, led by an ensemble featuring Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Eve Hewson, Colin Firth, and Colman Domingo, marks the beloved director’s long-awaited return to sci-fi for a story that feels quite prescient. It’s also a reunion with Jurassic Park writer David Koepp, though, unlike that dinosaur classic, this large-scale production is not based on any pre-existing material, and its secrets are being kept close to the vest. However, as the countdown to its arrival continues, one of the director’s more underrated films is getting some exciting attention.
2011’s The Adventures of Tintin is the only animated film in Spielberg‘s Oscar-winning catalog, and despite being overshadowed by his towering work on Schindler’s List, Jaws, Saving Private Ryan, and the aforementioned Jurassic Park, among other classics, it remains a cult favorite. Based on the Belgian comics by Hergé, the epic feature follows the titular young reporter, his dog, Snowy, and the seafaring Captain Haddock on a journey to find the legendary Unicorn and its treasure. Jamie Bell and Andy Serkis led the expedition, which struck gold with a $374 million box office haul and strong reviews from critics, yet it hasn’t seen a sequel despite a wealth of material to draw from and an ending that teased the adventure wasn’t over yet. A deal had been struck for producer and Lord of the Rings helmer Peter Jackson to follow up with his own sequel, but for one reason or another, that hasn’t gained any steam until now.
Jackson is currently at the Cannes Film Festival to receive an honorary Palme d’Or during the event’s opening night. However, he also appeared at a Rendezvous session this morning, attended by Collider’s Therese Lacson, for a wide-ranging discussion on his career, where the subject of Tintin came up. After all this time, he confirmed that writing is underway on the next film right now, and that he’s working with longtime partner Fran Walsh to make it happen.
“We’re actually writing the next Tintin film now. The deal was Steven directs one, and I direct another. So Stephen did his film, and then for 15 years, I haven’t made my own. And I feel very, very awkward about it. Stephen’s gracious enough not to sort of push me, but I know that I want to make it right, and so I’ve been working with Fran on another TinTin script, and just recently, I was writing it in the hotel room here. A couple of days ago, I was doing some outlines for Tintin and friends, and they got back home. So, it’s an active real thing, and I’m getting back into the Tintin world, and I actually love it.”
Why Has ‘The Adventures of Tintin 2’ Taken So Long?
The lengthy wait for more from The Adventures of Tintin isn’t due to a lack of love by anyone involved. Serkis told Collider‘s Steve Weintraub while promoting his Animal Farm adaptation earlier this year that not only is he hopeful for more, but he knows it’s a project Jackson has been dying to nail down. “I love that Tintin film,” he said. “I loved the process of making that film with such great filmmakers. I think Peter really, really wants to make it, so hopefully down the line.”
Other creative efforts have kept the director quite busy in the years since Tintin was released, though. His ambitious archival miniseries, The Beatles: Get Back, was one such painstaking effort that allowed Jackson to stretch his creative muscles. He’s also returned to The Lord of the Rings of late, helping pen the screenplay to Serkis‘ The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, due out in theaters next year. Now, however, might be as good a time as any to go on another adventure with Tintin, Snowy, and Haddock, with the inspiration striking Jackson and calm seas ahead after what’s been a busy decade.
The Adventures of Tintin is currently streaming on Paramount+.
via Collider