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Universal deems Tintin movie too expensive - report
2008-09-20
LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Universal Pictures has recoiled at the cost of the 3-D animated movie adaptation of the adventures of Tintin by two of Hollywood's top directors, Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday. The two legendary directors submitted to Universal a 130 million dollar budget to produce a trilogy of films based on the beloved Belgian comic-strip boy reporter. But Universal refused to green light the project, and production, scheduled to begin in October, is on hold until Spielberg and Jackson find other financing, the Times said. Paramount -- owner of DreamWorks, where Spielberg has been developing the project -- had agreed to finance half the film and was hoping to partner with Universal, the Times said. Now, Spielberg will have to ask Paramount to foot the entire bill, at a time when the director had been looking to end his association with the studio, the paper said. Universal officials winced when they saw the two Hollywood luminaries demanding about 30 percent of the movie's total gross revenues, meaning that "Tintin" would have to rake in some 425 million dollars globally before the studios could break even, according to the newspaper. Tintin has been a long-time pet project for Spielberg, while Jackson -- the Oscar-winning, New Zealand director of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy -- had already developed a test film which had brought the characters created by Georges Remi, better known by his pen name Herge, to life.
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