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Speaking with Empire Magazine, Peter Jackson revealed some details on the upcoming Tintin motion capture project, noting his involvement in both the first and the second film.

He is producing the first, with Spielberg directing. However, a week of reshoots will be done in June in his Wellington studios to fix any issues that need to be fixed from the original month-long shoot earlier this year.

Jackson said: “We’re kind of co-directing. I mean, we are co-doing it. Steven’s been on set with the actors for the last six weeks, and I was only there for a week. So he’s definitely directing the first in a way that I’m not" says Jackson.”

He admitted that while the base story for the first film will be based on The Secret of the Unicorn, it will also use elements from Herge’s other books to flesh things out.

The first is due out next year, with the sequel expected out in 2011.

Spielberg is on the set of  The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn with fellow actors Jamie Bell and Andy Serkis. You can see the whole picture by going to Empire.  When the Empire Magazine hits the newsstands you can read the article about what’s happening with Spielberg’s new motion-capture spectacular movie.

The picture to the right shows Spielberg talking with Tintin (Bell) and Captain Haddock (Serkis). The picture gets bigger at Empire, so you can see the actors with their CGI outfits and dots on their faces. It’s a pretty cool shot.

Steven Spielberg’s The Adventure of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn has been concealed in secrecy during pre-production. Principal production has begun in Los Angeles, which is set for release in 2011 as the first installment of 3-D motion capture trilogy.

Daniel Craig and Jamie Bell recently signed on to star in Tintin.  Bell is playing the titular character, a brave young reporter who relentlessly pursues a good story that places him in sphere of high adventure.  Craig plays the despicable Red Rackham.

Other cast members include Andy Serkis, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Gad Elmaleh, Toby Jones and Mackenzie Crook.

After months of rumors, AICN now carries confirmation that British stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost have been cast as the detective duo Thomson and Thomson in Tintin.

The pair join Andy Serkis as Captain Haddock, though the main character himself remains to be cast. Steven Spielberg is directing the 3D, $135 million CG motion-capture film that will be based on the two-part “The Secret of the Unicorn” and “Red Rackham’s Treasure” books by Herge.

The Thomson twins are the comic relief in the series. They have a subplot in the above books, dealing with a kleptomaniac who has been lifting wallets from all around town.

The first installment is due out 2010.

The Hollywood Reporter notes that the comment by Brussels’ Herge Studios that Peter Jackson was taking over directing duty on the first Tintin movie has been denied. Representatives of both Jackson and Spielberg insist that Jackson remains attached to direct the sequel, though he will be a producer on the first.

Steven Spielberg will be directing the first film, which the studio confirmed will be based on the two-part books “The Secret of the Unicorn” and “Red Rackham’s Treasure”.

The film will be animated with motion-capture technology, starring Thomas Sangster as Tintin and Andy Serkis as Captain Haddock. It is being planned for release late next year or in the summer of 2010.

 

While on tour promoting “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” Steven Spielberg told German magazine FOCUS, he plans to put his attention on a huge project about President Lincoln and the Civil War. Filming could start early next year.

However, Spielberg plans to shoot “Tintin” in early fall first. It looks like back-to-back projects.

Keep in mind that the director has another project in the wings as well. He been prepping the Aaron Sorkin-scripted “The Trial of the Chicago Seven,” but, according to Variety, that became sketchy after he could not get rewrites during the writer’s strike. Spielberg had enlisted Sacha Baron Cohen and talked to other high profile actors about starring in a drama about the trial of anti-Vietnam war protesters at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. That film will have to wait.

The Lincoln project looks like a sure thing after “Tintin” and could be ready for an early 2009 shoot because of several variables: Spielberg has proved adept at shooting back-to-back films, which he did most memorably when he made “Jurassic Park” and the Oscar-winning “Schindler’s List” in 1993. Also, his Lincoln project — informed by the biography by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin’s “The Uniter: The Genius of Abraham Lincoln” — has a strong script by “Angels in America” playwright Tony Kushner (who rewrote “Munich” for Spielberg).

Spielberg also has Liam Neeson –who played Oskar Schindler — ready to play Lincoln. Neeson agreed more than three years ago to play the role for Spielberg, and has been waiting for a start date.