The Adventures of Tintin was meant to kick off a new franchise from some of the most acclaimed filmmakers in the business, but a Tintin sequel is taking a lot longer than expected. Released in theaters back in 2011, Spielberg’s Tintin movie was the latest in a long line of film and television adaptations of the famous Belgian comic strip character, but it was also one of the most promising because two more sequels were expected to arrive after The Adventures of Tintin. Fans are left wondering why a Tintin sequel is taking so long.
The Adventures of Tintin movie based on the beloved comics from Hergé (real name: Georges Remi), brought young reporter Tintin (Bell), his trusty dog Snowy, and a colorful coterie of characters, including Captain Haddock (Andy Serkis), the villainous Red Rackham (Daniel Craig), and detectives Thomson (Nick Frost) and Thompson (Simon Pegg) to the big screen. With the help of motion capture, The Adventures of Tintin movie followed Tintin on a globetrotting adventure as he tries to figure out the mystery of a hidden treasure. The movie opened to a somewhat underwhelming box office considering Steven Spielberg was the director and Peter Jackson was on board to produce. Now, more than a decade later, the wait for a Tintin sequel continues.
What Ever Happened to The Adventures of Tintin 2?
Animated films take longer to make because of the work required to record voice performances, animate, do motion capture, put on the finishing touches, and so forth, but the production delays on Tintin 2 have been aberrant. Case in point: back in 2013, Spielberg was sharing in interviews the hope was for Tintin 2 to be released in December 2015. Yet, there has still been no news about when production will begin meaningfully moving forward on the film. An official reason for what is causing the delays on another The Adventures of Tintin movie has never been given.
Tintin 2 Is Still Happening & Could Release In A Few Years
Despite all the tiptoeing around giving a concrete for the better part of the last decade, Spielberg has maintained Tintin 2 is forthcoming – it’s just going to be a few years until it actually does come out. While promoting Ready Player One in early 2018, Steven Spielberg offered this optimistic Tintin 2 update (roughly translated from French): “Peter Jackson has to do the second part. Normally, if all goes well, he will soon start working on the script. As it takes two years of animation work on the film, for you, I would not expect to see it for about three years. But Peter will stick to it. Tintin is not dead!“
Peter Jackson Will Take Over As Director On Tintin 2
Spielberg will be working as a producer on a Tintin sequel (as well as the planned third film in the modern The Adventures of Tintin movie trilogy) while Peter Jackson, who knows his way around a rollicking adventure story, is now at the helm of the sequel. Jackson’s been mostly mum on the topic of Tintin 2 which makes sense in part because he was still neck-deep in filming on The Hobbit trilogy when Peter Jackson added the Tintin trilogy to his schedule and then switched focus to Mortal Engines..
It’s expected Jackson will not only direct but take over writing duties after Jackson implied screenwriter Andy Horowitz’s script was scrapped while speaking with Polygon back in 2018. At this point, Jackson is all about getting underway on Tintin 2, but it’s still slow going.
Jamie Bell Wants To Make The Sequel
While Peter Jackson is essential for finally getting the Tintin sequel off the ground, another key member of the movie is ready to return. Jamie Bell shared (via Forbes) that he hasn’t heard anything new about a new Tintin movie but gave his confidence in Peter Jackson for working on it. He also expressed admiration for Jackson and the willingness to reteam with him again, saying “He’s always doing something, so if they said let’s get the band back together, we’d go do it.” He also admitted that it would be strange to return to the role of the young hero Tintin when Bell himself is in his late 30s now, but he acknowledged that actors in motion-capture roles can get away with such things.
Tintin’s Live-Action Movie Adaptation Explained
If the odds weren’t stacked enough against a sequel to Spielberg’s The Adventures of Tintin movie, it seems the hypothetical Tintin 2 may also have to compete with the possibility of a live-action adaptation fo the character. Although French director Patrice Leconte has yet to acquire rights to Tintin, he’s eager to make his own live-action take on the comics and is apparently already underway with the development process. Leconte has even settled on an original comic storyline to use: “The Castafiore Emerald.”
Unlike Spielberg’s Indiana Jones-esque Adventures of Tintin movie, Leconte’s would be more of a shut-in mystery, which could also be very interesting. Despite Leconte’s own delays, then, it’s well past time for Spielberg and Jackson to at least begin work on Tintin 2, if they want to avoid becoming obsolete.
