HOLLYWOOD - Thundering son of a sea gherkin!Steven Spielberg and frequent collaborator Kathleen Kennedy will produce a live-action feature based on the comic book series Tintin for Universal Pictures and DreamWorks Pictures with the intent to create a series of adventure films.
Tintin is a boy reporter who, along with his trusty dog Snowy, has a knack for getting caught up in global adventures. His friends include the politically incorrect and usually liquored-up Captain Haddock, famed for his drunken curses, police officers and bumbling twins Thomson and Thompson and scientific genius Professor Cuthbert Calculus.
The series was created by late cartoonist George Remi, who wrote under the pseudonym Herge, and was first published in French in 1929 in the Belgian newspaper Le Petit Vingtième. Since then, 22 books have sold more than 200 million copies worldwide and have been translated into more than 50 languages. Titles include Destination Moon, Prisoners of the Sun, The Secret of the Unicorn and Tintin in America.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Spielberg acquired the rights to the comic strip in 1983 through his Universal-based Amblin Entertainment, which Kennedy was a part of at the time. Spielberg since went on to form DreamWorks but the desire to bring Tintin to the big screen never left him. He re-acquired the rights with Kennedy, who is now partnered with Frank Marshall in the Universal-based Kennedy/Marshall Co.
Spielberg and Kennedy are currently looking for a screenwriter to adapt the project. The two have produced more than 30 films together, including A.I. Artificial Intelligence.
Spielberg's next film Catch Me If You Can is scheduled for release Dec. 25.