Screen Rant » tintin

Steven Spielberg Unveils Microsoft’s Project Natal

Ross Miller — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 23:47:53 +0000

Ever heard of something called Project Natal? If not, you will probably start being swarmed with news and updates about this invention for a while to come, if you’re at all into the world of gaming or technology. Recently at Microsoft’s E3 Expo, Legendary Hollywood mega-director/producer Steven Spielberg helped unveil a new motion-capture gaming technology known as Project Natal (pronounced “nuh-tall”).

Project Natal, created and developed by Microsoft, allows X-Box 360 gamers to control what is happening on-screen by using just their bodies, relieving the need for any sort of controller as the Nintendo Wii currently employs.

The Project Natal technology is basically a box that sits beneath your TV and is effectively a camera combined with an advanced motion detector and depth sensor, plus a microphone. Amongst other things, Project Natal recognizes full body movements (including individual fingers), and is able to detect who is standing in front of it. That means there will be no need to even log in to separate profiles, as it will do that for you by simply letting it see you.

Even though Project Natal sounds a bit like a more advanced version of Sony’s EyeToy for the Playstation 2, it certainly sounds very cool. Technology really has come far in just a few decades – the next thing you know, machines will be ruling the earth. I wonder if Microsoft is part of a larger company known as Cyberdyne…

Spielberg was one of the people helping unveil Project Natal at the E3 Expo, the reason being that he is (unknown to a lot of people) a bit of a gaming geek. We can only speculate as to why Spielberg helped introduce one of the latest examples of what Microsoft is doing, but I would guess it’s because he wanted to get involved in some way with a technology that brings the movie and gaming world even more close together.

Just in case you want to see Project Natal in action, you can check out the following video of it:

For more technical/description information on Microsoft’s Project Natal, you can head over to Yahoo News as well as the official Xbox website.

This Project Natal motion-capture technology is along the same vein as what Spielberg is doing with Tintin at the moment, as well as what fellow blockbuster filmmaker James Cameron is doing with the upcoming Avatar. Spielberg’s experience with big-budget, special effects blockbusters like War of the Worlds, Jurassic Park, and the aforementioned Tintin, certainly makes him a good candidate to get involved with Project Natal. The world of the movies, as far as technology goes, is improving on a day-to-day basis, and it looks like the gaming world is catching up fast with the likes of Project Natal.

The technology of Project Natal may also be beneficial as a direct tie-in to the world of movies. As you may know, Spielberg is currently working alongside Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson on Tintin (Spielberg is directing the first movie, with Jackson producing – vice versa for the sequel). And back in 2006, Jackson signed a deal with Xbox to create what was described at the time as, “a new form of interactive entertainment.”

As fellow Screen Rant writer Rob Keyes asks, is the fact that both Spielberg and Jackson are involved together with motion capture in the world of movies, as well as new forms of interactive gaming entertainment (specifically with Microsoft’s X-Box and innovative tech for it) just some sort of coincidence? It seems like more than just a coincidence to me, and it sounds like there’s a plan set for somewhere down the line that ties this Project Natal technology (and the currently unknown project(s) that Jackson signed a deal with Xbox for – could they be one and the same?) with the world of movies.

Just imagine the possibilities…

What do you think about this new Project Natal motion-capture technology that Spielberg helped unveil? Do you think both Spielberg and Jackson being involved with this type of technology is just a coincidence or is there something more to it that could benefit the world of movies?

Sources: Yahoo, Empire, BBC and Xbox

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Tintin To Be Released Internationally First, U.S. Later

Ross Miller — Fri, 29 May 2009 16:11:18 +0000

The last time we reported on Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson’s 3D motion-capture project The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn back in March, Spielberg had just finished wrapping a 32 day shoot of motion-capture lensing. The project was then handed to Jackson who will be working with the film for the next 15 months or so with his New Zealand-based special effects company, Weta.

However, with Tintin looking to be a major release for combined backers Sony and Paramount, the studios have already set a release date. But there’s an interesting thing to note: Tintin will be released internationally over a month before it hits U.S. theaters!

The reason for this delay is because the U.S. is one of the few places in the world that isn’t all that familiar with Tintin. That lower level of popularity in the States – compared to Europe in particular – most likely means that Sony and Paramount want to test the waters, so to speak, before they release it over the pond.

An international release before a U.S. premiere will give the studios the critical reaction and box office results to judge how to handle promoting Tintin in the States. With the kind of revolutionary special effects and motion capture that is being employed, I’m guessing that at the very least American audiences will be lured by the eye-candy the movie offers. Most movies usually get a U.S. release before they go international – so I guess us Brits, French, Germans, Spaniards and so forth (you get the idea…), can bask in the luxury of getting this big movie on our screens first .

Considering Tintin’s popularity in most of the world’s markets (it’s been translated into over 50 languages), and low-profile in the U.S., it’s entirely possible that the film will do well internationally but tank in the States. If that turns out to be the case, would it mean the planned Tintin sequels won’t happen?

With the team that’s behind this project – particularly Spielberg and Jackson – that would be a damn shame. This movie has the potential to be something really great, especially with them combining the classic character with this state-of-the-art motion capture technology. I’m really looking forward to what we will get with this one.

The first Tintin movie is to be directed by Steven Spielberg, with Peter Jackson on-board to produce. It will star Jamie Bell (as the title character), Andy Serkis, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Daniel Craig. The second movie is planned to be directed by Jackson (with Spielberg presumably producing), and a third is planned but no director has been set yet.

What do you make of the studios planning to release Tintin internationally over a month before a U.S. release? Are you a fan of Tintin and are you looking forward to the movie?

The Adventures of Tintin: The Secrets of the Unicorn is to be released internationally in late October/early November 2011, and in the U.S. on December 23rd, 2011.

Source: /Film

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Update On Spielberg And Jackson’s ‘Tintin’

Ross Miller — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 17:37:52 +0000

The production of Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson’s $120 million 3D motion capture project The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn has been fairly secretive. Although you’d think they’d be releasing everything they can about it since most American audiences have very little knowledge of the original character.

Well thanks to Variety we have an update on the project:

This week Spielberg will quietly wrap 32 days of performance capture lensing on the film, then he will hand the project over to Jackson who will spend the next 18 months focusing on the special effects.

Spielberg and Jackson have done everything they can to keep a tight lid on most of the details about the project, except of course touting the revolutionary, one-of-a-kind aspects of the motion capture technology created by Jackson’s New Zealand based effects company Weta.

Martin Levy, a longtime spokesman for Spielberg, described the technology: “You have to see it to understand. It really can’t be described.” But squashed the idea of a set visit: “That wouldn’t be feasible.”

Kathleen Kennedy, another producer on the film, was happy to talk about the project but she said the world Spielberg and Jackson are creating is hard to describe:

“It’s extremely difficult to explain to someone unless they are standing here next to me,” Kennedy says from the Los Angeles set. “And usually then their reaction is, ‘Oh my god.’ “

An interesting thing to note is that Spielberg has only put in just over a month’s on-set work for the film, whereas Jackson will be spending the next year and a half of his life working on the special effects with Weta (although I’m sure Spielberg will still be very much involved in that aspect). But even so, Spielberg will get the directing credit for the first film, with Jackson only getting that when he helms the sequel.

Speaking of which, a sequel has not yet been greenlit:

“Paramount and Sony, the first film’s co-financiers, have yet to greenlight a followup to the $120 million project and are waiting for a script before making a decision.”

It’s interesting to bring up the contrast between the filmmaking styles of Spielberg and Jackson: both have dabbled in their fare share of big-budget fair before but Spielberg has always been more about characters and his films are not usually all that long, whereas Jackson is more about spectacle and, evident by most of his previous work, long runtimes.

Despite Jackson not getting a directing credit on the first film, he seems to have just as much influence over it as Mr Spielberg does. Aside from the fact that he has Lord of the Rings and King Kong mo-cap actor extraordinaire Andy Serkis on-board, he also was the one to make a personal call to get Jamie Bell on-board as the lead.

Co-fiancier Paramount will have the biggest challenge on their hands – to introduce this whole thing to parts of the world not really famliar with it (including one of the biggest movie markets – the US). Although an executive for company has downplayed this problem:

“It’s not like there was any awareness on ‘Kung Fu Panda’ either,” the exec says. “We had to go out and introduce this property to the world.”

But out with non-English speaking countries (outside of Asia, that is, which Paramount is handling), co-financiers Sony should have an easy time selling the film because the original comic-book, which has been translated into over 50 languages, remains extremely popular in most of Europe and in India.

It’s hard to say whether or not Tintin will be a successful film entity, with one of the world’s biggest movie markets (the US) being one of the few places on earth most unfamiliar with the character. However with the amount of languages the original works have been translated in, and the subsequent popularity, it seems like it could do very well indeed.

I’m sure with the combined brainpower of Spielberg and Jackson, along with the time and effort they’re putting into it, that they’re confident in it’s potential. But only time will tell if the first film does well and a sequel gets greenlit.

Tintin has a planned release of sometime in 2011 but no official date has been set as of yet.

Sources: FirstShowing and Variety

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Tintin Has Its Tintin!

Rob Keyes — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 01:04:34 +0000

It was just over two weeks ago when it was announced that the infamous pairing of Nick Frost and Simon Pegg were cast as Thomson and Thompson in the upcoming Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg produced movie, The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn.

To round off the principal cast, it was officially announced today that Jamie Bell would be playing the title role of Tintin and joining him would be Daniel Craig who will play Red Rackham.

Jamie Bell worked with Daniel Craig on the very recent Defiance movie and played a large role in Peter Jackson’s King Kong alongside Andy Serkis who’s also part of the Tintin cast playing Captain Haddock.

Here is the opening of the official Press Release (via Coming Soon):

Paramount Pictures and Sony Pictures Entertainment have announced the start of principal production in Los Angeles on the 3D Motion Capture Film “The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn,” directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Jamie Bell (”Billy Elliot,” “Defiance”) as Tintin, the intrepid young reporter whose relentless pursuit of a good story thrusts him into a world of high adventure, and Daniel Craig (”Quantum of Solace,” “Defiance“) as the nefarious Red Rackham.

Bell and Craig are joined by an international cast that includes Andy Serkis, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Gad Elmaleh, Toby Jones and Mackenzie Crook.

I must say, it’s good to hear some positive news for this movie after some early fear of trouble with this project when there were rumblings of this movie not moving forward and Paramount possibly opting out of co-producing the movie. I had earlier said I wasn’t sure this movie would work on the big screen but now I can say my feelings have changed and I’m interested in seeing how it will be look.

What do you think of who’s playing Tintin?

The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn is expected to release in 2011 and is planned as a trilogy.

Source: Coming Soon

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Simon Pegg & Nick Frost Cast In ‘Tintin’

Ross Miller — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 16:00:30 +0000

Although rumours have been abounding on the net about the upcoming Steven Spielberg directed and Peter Jackson produced Tintin, the guys over at AICN have managed to confirm via a “trusted source not at all involved in production” that one of those rumours is indeed true. That is that Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are set to star as the characters Thomson and Thompson respectively. They will join already announced cast member Andy Serkis (who’s playing Tintin’s friend Captain Haddock).

There was news at one point of young Thomas Sangster playing the title role but he dropped out due to “scheduling conflicts” – although I can’t see what other movie he would rather do than one directed by Steven Spielberg, one of the most famous and most loved directors out there, and produced by Peter Jackson, the man behind Lord of the Rings, one of the most successful fantasy franchises of all time.

No word as of yet who will play the lead character instead.

The film will be done with 3D-performance capture (presumably the same kind used for Jackson’s King Kong, Lord of the Rings, etc.), and will be financed cooperatively by Sony and Paramount who will split the $135 million cost. This just reaffirms the current financial crisis when two huge production companies don’t want to to take the financial risk alone on a Spielberg/Jackson helmed film. Even with the current state of financial affairs you’d think that would be sure bet to make trucksloads of cash.

The first film will be directed by Spielberg, with Jackson taking the reins for the second. The first film, due out next year, will be based on two of the Tintin books, “The Secret of the Unicorn,” and, “Red Rackham’s Treasure.”

I have to be honest in saying I’m not all that familiar with the original Tintin stories. Obviously I’ve heard of him and know his stories come in various different mediums (cartoons, books etc) but other than the look of the character and some basic details I’m just not “in the know”, as they say.

But nonetheless, I do think this is an interesting idea for a feature film, one that I think absolutely needed to be animated or digitally done in some way other than live-action (in this day and age a live-action version would look ridiculous, in my opinion). From the look of the character of Captain Haddock (shown above) Andy Serkis seems very suited for the role, but as far as the Thomson and Thompson characters go I just can’t see Pegg and Frost playing them, even if it is through performance capture. Simply going by the look of the characters from the original stories/cartoons (also shown here) they don’t even remotely resemble them. In saying that we’ve pretty much gotten to the stage where they can make anybody look like anybody and I’m sure, with this duo of director and producer, they’ll make sure it works.

What do you make of this news; think Pegg and Frost will make a good fit?

The first Tintin movie is allegedly to start production in about a month’s time.

Sources: AICN and ComingSoon.net

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Tintin In Trouble

Jamie Williams — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 19:30:07 +0000

I never thought I’d live to see the day when Steven Spielberg, without question the most powerful and influential film director in showbiz, is told, “No thanks!”

According to the folks over at Radar Online, Paramount Pictures has opted out of co-producing Tintin, the mega-budget 3-D motion-capture adaptation of the popular European comics.

This despite the fact that Spielberg (along with The Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson who was to direct the second installment) had already hired their cast (including LOTR allumi Andy Serkis and Thomas Sangster as the title character) and spent big-bucks on writers and motion-capture work.

In fact, Spielberg was supposed to have started filming right about now.

At the moment, Spielberg and his company DreamWorks are currently shopping the property around to other studios.

Source: Radar Online

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Tintin Movie Still Moving Foward

Kofi Outlaw — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:15:51 +0000

Ever since I was a kid Tintin has been one of my favorite graphic novels. I was lucky enough to make it over to the Animation Museum in Belgium last year, where Tintin and his creator, Hergé, are both considered to be national treasures.

Well, apparently I’m a man of good tastes, because if you haven’t heard, two Hollywood heavyweights are bringing my favorite cartoon reporter and his pals to the big screen. That’s right: Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson are already working to bring Tintin fans the movie they’ve been waiting for, despite the WGA strike.

Hergé studios, who own the rights to Tintin, reported this week that Jackson would be warming the director’s chair for the first of a planned trilogy of Tintin films to be released by Dreamworks. However, according to the guys over at Latino Review, both Peter Jackson and Spielberg’s camps are stating that it will in fact be ol’ Stevie boy who helms the first film, with Jackson producing. Petey J. will likely helm the sequel. No word yet on who would handle the third film, though thumb-war will likely be a deciding factor. (Kidding!)

The first installment will cover plot lines from the classic Tintin graphic novels “The Secret of the Unicorn” and “Red Rackham’s Treasure,” which were written between 1942 and 1944. A script from Stephen Moffat (Doctor Who) is already done, and the movie will use motion-capture animation to bring Tintin and co. to life.

Eighteen year-old Thomas Sangster (Love Actually) is starring as Tintin, with Andy Serkis (the guy who played Gollum in LOTR) playing Tintin’s loyal booze-hound buddy, Captain Haddock.

No word yet on exactly when Tintin will hit theaters, but we’ll keep you posted.

Source: Latino Review

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Spielberg, Jackson Find Their Tintin

Heath McKnight — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 02:39:20 +0000

Looks like directors Stephen Spielberg and Peter Jackson have found their Tintin in young actor Thomas Sangster. He joins fan favorite Andy Serkis (Gollum, King Kong) as Captain Haddock. Now all they need is a Snowy the dog; I vote my dog, Peanut.

Of course, it won’t matter WHO plays the dog, since the movie will be CGI-motion capture, and will have a semi-realistic look. Spielberg and Jackson aren’t letting the writers strike, or the threatened actors strike stop them from their planned trilogy. (Though a September 2008 start date could get pushed back in an actors strike happens in July and it lasts a long time.)

Spielberg and Jackson will each direct a movie, and it isn’t yet known who will tackle the third film. Rumors pointed to the two co-directing, though I don’t know if that will happen. It makes sense, given that both are legendary directors with similar extravagant films (well, Jackson DID make some awesome splatter films years ago, like the gruesome and hilarious Dead Alive), but they’re both legendary directors with singular visions. Maybe George Lucas?

This sounds like fun; if all goes according to plan, the first film will be released in 2010, in time for the Jackson-produced The Hobbit film adaptation.

Source: Guardian

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Tintin Movie: Spielberg, Jackson Directing And More Details!

Heath McKnight — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 17:10:05 +0000

The news of a photorealistic, CGI Tintin movie trilogy, to be directed by Stephen Spielberg, Peter Jackson and a third director to be named later (my guess, along with others, is Robert Zemeckis), isn’t new. But it’s still incredibly cool!

A writer has been named, who will likely end up writing all three films. Steven Moffat has the honor of putting pen to paper, so to speak, on this groundbreaking idea (c’mon, Spielberg and Jackson? Throw in Zemeckis, or even Lucas, and you have the granddaddy of all film trilogies!). Moffat has worked on Dr. Who, and has other credits in England.

Over the years Spielberg has been hesitant to move into digital cinematography for his films, though he once stated that if George Lucas (his long-time friend and producer on the Indiana Jones movies) asked him to shoot digital, he might consider it. So it came as a surprise to me that Spielberg would embrace the idea of motion capture technology (aka, performance capture or mo-cap), and that the movie would be done with digital, photorealistic effects via Jackson’s Weta.

The plan is to retain the look of creator Herge’s original Tintin designs. Jackson commented in a press release earlier this year:

“[W]e’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!”

The films will be released in 3D, much like James Cameron’s Avatar and Zemeckis’ upcoming Beowulf (though the latter will be a limited 3D release).

A few things spring to mind… Jackson is working on The Lovely Bones right now, and Spielberg is in post-production on Indiana Jones 4, and is gearing up for his President Lincoln biopic with Liam Neeson as ol’ Honest Abe. According to reports, the Lincoln film will shoot very soon. With the potential Hollywood strikes to hit next July, both directors would have to shoot their respective films at least three months prior, at the same time.

Mo-cap movies take anywhere from 60-90 days to shoot, so we’ll see what happens. Spielberg regularly shoots three movies in a row (like The Lost World, Amistad and Saving Private Ryan), though he usually does it over a two year period. This would be about a year, including Indy 4, Lincoln and Tintin.

Suffice it to say, I’m pumped about this! I wasn’t the biggest Tintin fan as a kid (I was more into comic books and Transformers as a young lad), but I still dug the books!

Source: Ain’t It Cool News

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