Great snakes! Twenty years after his Belgian creator’s death Tintin, the betufted boy reporter of comic-strip fame, is to go to Hollywood to star in a series of action films produced by Steven Spielberg.
A preliminary deal was struck between Spielberg and Moulinsart, the firm that holds the rights to Tintin, at the end of last year and now, according to Belgium’s Le Soir magazine, Spielberg’s set designers and scriptwriters are busy scouring the streets of Brussels for inspiration.
Although details remain vague it is known that the films will be made by Spielberg’s firm Dreamworks in collaboration with Universal. ‘It’s happening,’ Spielberg told website IGN FilmForce. ‘We’ve the right to make as many books as we want into movies.’
In Belgium and France the comic-strip character with a quiff and a white fox terrier called Snowy is cult material but in America the fresh-faced hack is a virtual unknown — though not, it seems, for much longer.
Created by Hergé (real name Georges Remi), Tintin first appeared in print in 1929 and his 23 adventures have sold more than 200m copies around the world, and have been translated into more than 50 languages.
Although the first Tintin film is unlikely to appear on the big screen before 2006, speculation about who will play the main roles is already rife. According to Le Soir, Spielberg may cast convention aside and give Tintin a sex change. The magazine claims Gwyneth Paltrow and Jean-Claude Van Damme are being considered for the role of Tintin, Richard Gere for the role of Captain Haddock and Courtney Love as eccentric Italian diva Bianca Castafiore.
Spielberg has reportedly been thinking about turning Tintin’s adventures into films since the 1980s and even met Hergé just before the cartoonist died.
In Belgium, news of Tintin’s adventures in Hollywood have been well received, though even purists accept that the character will need updating. – Guardian Unlimited Â