“As soon as I read my first of the books, Tintin never strayed far from my thoughts and heart. I knew Tintin and I were destined for some kind of collaboration . . . and a journey of discovery.”
-- Steven Spielberg, Director
From Oscar® winning director Steven Spielberg and Oscar® winning producer Peter Jackson, two of today’s most visionary storytellers, comes a 3D motion picture event: an epic, globe-hopping quest that spans hidden mysteries, menacing criminals and ancient secrets -- and brings to dazzling, life the classic escapades that have enthralled generation after generation with their one-of-a-kind mix of action, humor and scintillating tale-spinning in The Adventures of Tintin, The Secret of the Unicorn.
Based on the internationally beloved and irrepressible characters created by Hergé, the story follows the unquenchably curious young reporter Tintin (Jamie Bell) and his fiercely loyal dog Snowy as they discover a model ship carrying an explosive secret. Drawn into a centuries-old mystery, Tintin finds himself in the sightlines of Ivan Ivanovitch Sakharine (Daniel Craig), a diabolical villain who believes Tintin has stolen a priceless treasure tied to dastardly pirate named Red Rackham. But with the help of his dog Snowy, the salty, cantankerous Captain Haddock (Andy Serkis) and the bumbling detectives Thompson & Thomson (Simon Pegg and Nick Frost), Tintin will travel half the world, outwitting and outrunning his enemies in a breathless chase to find the final resting place of The Unicorn, a shipwreck that may hold the key to vast fortune . . . and a ancient curse.
From the high seas to the sands of North African deserts, every new twist and turn sweeps Tintin and his friends to escalating levels of thrills and peril, proving that when you dare to risk everything, there’s no limit to what you can do.
Columbia Pictures and Paramount Pictures Present in association with Hemisphere Media Capital and Amblin Entertainment, Wingnut Films, and Kennedy/Marshall Production of A Steven Spielberg Film, The Adventures of Tintin, The Secret of the Unicorn. The film is directed by Academy Award® winner Steven Spielberg from a screenplay by Steven Moffat and Edgar Wright & Joe Cornish based on “The Adventures of Tintin, The Secret of the Unicorn” by Hergé. Produced by Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson and Kathleen Kennedy, with Ken Kamins, Hergé Estate’s Nick Rodwell and Stephane Sperry as executive producers. The co-producers are Carolynne Cunningham and Jason McGatlin. Spielberg is joined by his Oscar®-winning collaborators, editor Michael Kahn, A.C.E. and legendary composer John Williams.
The film’s acclaimed international ensemble is led by Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot) as Tintin, Andy Serkis (The Lord of the Rings Trilogy) as Captain Haddock, Daniel Craig (Quantum of Solace) as Sakharine, Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead) and Simon Pegg (Star Trek) as Thomson & Thompson, Toby Jones (the Harry Potter films) as Silk, Mackenzie Crook (Pirates of the Caribbean Trilogy) and Daniel Mays (The Bank Job) as Tom and Allan, and Gad Elmaleh (The Valet) as Ben Salaad.
Weta Digital’s Oscar® winning visual effects team includes senior visual effects supervisor Joe Letteri, visual effects supervisor Scott E. Anderson and animation supervisor Jamie Beard, along with art directors Andrew Jones and Jeff Wisniewski.
The Adventures of Tintin, The Secret of the Unicorn will be released worldwide in RealD 3D and IMAX 3D, from Sony Pictures Entertainment and Paramount Pictures.
A Timeless Adventure Meets Two Contemporary Masters
Hergé, Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson
In a series of heart-stopping adventures around the globe, the graphic novel character Tintin became a planetary sensation. The intrepid reporter with the funny coif and the courage to always do the right thing in the most suspenseful situations has ever since been a worldwide hero to young readers and a vivid inspiration to artists. The Tintin graphic novels, written and drawn by Georges Remi under the pen name Hergé, have crossed diverse cultures, multiple generations and even war-torn borders. A pop cultural phenomenon of lasting magnitude, they have been translated into more than 80 languages; and have sold more than 350 million copies . . . and counting.
Yet for all the far-flung places Tintin has traveled -- from Peru to Tibet to the moon –the one place he has yet to venture is the modern movie screen. That changes with The Adventures of Tintin, The Secret of the Unicorn, which not only brings the series to worldwide movie audiences for the first time but does so in an inventive new way that pushes the creative envelope of 21st Century storytelling while staying true to Hergé’s inimitable and timeless visual style.
The source of the series’ sustained power has always been the ways its scruffy, lovable characters and its passport to exotic lands and courageous battles against wrongdoers have tied together people who experienced his adventures with a common bond.
That’s what happened with Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson, who are brought together for the first time as collaborators by their passion for Hergé’s tantalizing tales. Each came across Tintin at entirely different times and in divergent ways. Yet their passion for the characters’ wide-open cinematic possibilities is the same. Neither could resist the excitement of trying to fuse the unbridled fun of Hergé’s drawings with state-of-the-art movie technology and inspired, emotion-rich performances to create an original motion picture experience befitting of Tintin’s vast legacy.
“Tintin is an eager reporter who chases fragments of clues that suddenly blow up into these amazing, globe-trotting adventures,” Spielberg describes. “What makes him so intriguing is his relentless pursuit of the truth, although that always leads him down some treacherous paths. It often seems he’s gotten himself into terrible trouble, but somehow, he finds a way out. From the first reading, I knew that Tintin and I were destined for some kind of collaboration.”
Peter Jackson grew up with Tintin and had been influenced by his adventures. As a boy in New Zealand, long before he began a filmmaking career that includes the most lauded fantasy trilogy in movie history: The Lord of the Rings series, Jackson devoured each Tintin book he could get his hands on, even struggling through the French editions.
“When you’re young, you can easily imagine yourself going on these adventures that Tintin gets himself into,” Jackson notes. “They tap into that fundamental sense of adventure we all have.”
Both men saw the cinematic potential of Tintin embedded in its DNA. “We were all struck by the fact that Hergé was telling stories through what were, in a sense, these beautiful storyboards that were simple, clear and forceful in their narrative power,” says Spielberg’s long-time partner, Kathleen Kennedy, who would ultimately pair up with Jackson to produce.
Spielberg first reached out to Hergé as early as 1983 – and found the Belgian artist deeply enthusiastic about placing his clever character in the filmmaker’s hands. But tragically, Hergé passed away before the two could meet. Later, his widow, Fanny Rodwell, fulfilled his wishes, granting the rights to Spielberg.
“Hergé picked Steven as the only director he thought could do a film based on his work,” says executive producer Stephane Sperry, who has been involved with the Tintin property for decades and a fan for even longer. “And Steven has always been respectful of that.”
The filmmakers worked closely with Nick and Fanny Rodwell, consulting with the two careful custodians of Hergé’s legacy and experts on all things Tintin. “The most important thing was to honor Hergé and get as close to his very unique sense of palette and portraiture as possible. Every single panel of his told a story in cinematic terms,” observes the director. “There was kinetic energy in every pose and action, and it was almost as if he was trying to squeeze 24 frames into a single frame, and succeeding. That was, I think, the genius of Hergé. Each of his stories had the essence of a movie – and now we could be true to that.”
Spielberg was convinced right away that Jackson was the ideal partner. “Peter told me, ‘If you were here right now, you would see over my shoulder the entire series of Hergé’s books, and I would love to be a part of this,’” Spielberg recalls. “And thus began our process of finding a way to capture that artistic style that so defines Hergé and Tintin, and bring it to the screen.”
Jackson couldn’t wait to tackle the task. “I was thrilled that Steven invited me onboard,” he says. “Steven really is quite similar to the Tintin character,” Jackson comments. “He’s young at heart. He’s very curious. He has a great love of adventure, and his sense of humor pretty much matches what Hergé brought to Tintin. It’s a perfect match.”
In addition to serving as producer for the first film, Spielberg asked Jackson if he would direct the second film in the series. Jackson agreed, and with the blessing and cooperation of Fanny and Nick Rodwell, and the estate of Hergé, the adventure began. Fanny, who is now the President of the Hergé Studios in Brussels, explains, “It was a special honor for us to be associated with these exceptional, creative filmmakers who had our full confidence to bring Tintin to his biggest adventures on the biggest screens. Hergé himself once said, ‘I consider my stories as movies.’ How prophetic!”
In close consultation with the Hergé Estate, the filmmakers enlisted screenwriters Steven Moffat and the team of Edgar Wright & Joe Cornish to craft the adaptation. To introduce audiences to the maximum breadth of Tintin and his various allies and enemies, the filmmakers decided to combine three favorite Tintin books -- The Crab with the Golden Claws, The Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham’s Treasure – into a singular plot that would keep modern moviegoers exhilarated.
The books were the screenwriters’ lodestar. “Hergé’s stories pull you in with vibrant colors and adventures, but they are so much more – they’re filled with moral concepts, a sense of travel and exoticism, while always introducing you to the grandness of the world and to scientific ideas. I think that’s one of the reasons they’re so central to millions of children’s imaginations – and we wanted to bring all that scope to the screenplay,” sums up Cornish.
They were also guided by the conceptual approach of Spielberg and Jackson who saw elements of film noir, Hitchcockian suspense and special-effects thrillers deep inside Hergé’s playful line drawings – and brought them to fore.
The result, Spielberg says is “part-mystery, part-detective story, as well as a pure unapologetic adventure, all built around a tremendous story of friendship, loyalty and belief between Captain Haddock and Tintin.”
DESIGNING THE WORLD OF TINTIN
The first Steps In Moving from Page to Screen
Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson share not only fertile imaginations but also a drive to venture into frontier realms. From extra-terrestrials to Middle Earth, they have forged unforgettable characters and worlds so breathtakingly original they could never have been experienced outside a movie theatre. And yet, neither had ever applied their skills and artistry to a 3D animated motion picture.
Spielberg and Jackson’s fealty was first and foremost to the Tintin legacy – and their shared passion for Hergé’s transporting drawing style inspired the visual design into a fully animated CG film from day one.
Early on, while the script was still being written, the art department and animation team were set up, and collaborators on both sides of the Pacific began brainstorming ideas for the quirk-filled characters and spicy settings for Tintin. One of the first big decisions they made, one that would inform everything that followed, was to keep the period and texture of the story unmoored in time – set in a kind of eternal noir universe, with dark shadows lurking around every corner.
“These stories could take place in the ‘30s, the ‘50s, the ‘80s or now,” notes Spielberg, “and that’s part of their beauty that we wanted to preserve. What we didn’t want in our movie were cell phones, television sets or modern automobiles. Our design cues came first from Hergé, and not from any presumed period or setting.”
Adds Jackson: “We wanted the film to have the retro, edgy feel of a crime drama. That’s not Tintin himself, but the world that Tintin lives in. There’s so much suspense in the story that we felt we could incorporate people with trench coats, hats down in the rain, street lights casting shadows on the wet pavement -- that’s the world we’ve created for our Tintin to live in.”
Next, the artists, designers and animators started envisioning what Hergé’s art would look like if it existed in three-dimensional space. Despite having been drawn decades ago, the artwork lent itself organically to this, says Richard Taylor, Weta Workshop’s co-owner and the film’s design and effects supervisor. “When you look at Herge’s black pen drawings with watercolor washed in flat on the page, all you have to do is close your eyes and begin to imagine the world of Tintin. You can't help but see it in 3D,” he muses.
It worked so well in part because Hergé had left behind the rules of pure reality when drawing Tintin’s escapades in the first place. “The lines of what Hergé drew were not necessarily accurate,” says senior visual effects supervisor Joe Letteri. “He wasn’t trying to draft exactly what he saw – and we wanted to maintain those exaggerated qualities in the same way that he did. A big part of the design study was to look at what he did, but then to imagine it from different points of view. And that allowed us to start building up a vocabulary of how you would construct his worlds in a wholly 3D animated realm.”