Source:Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment

May 29, 2009

Paramount Pictures and Sony Pictures Entertainment today announced their release plans for the long awaited 3-D motion capture feature film The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn directed by Steven Spielberg, produced by Spielberg, Peter Jackson, and Kathleen Kennedy. The highly anticipated film will be released by Paramount in the U.S. on December 23, 2011. The film will launch internationally in late October and early November, 2011 with Sony Pictures Releasing International handling Continental Europe, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and India, and Paramount distributing the film in Asia, Australia, UK and all other English speaking territories.

Starring Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot) as Tintin, the intrepid young reporter whose relentless pursuit of a good story thrusts him into a world of high adventure, and Daniel Craig (Quantum of Solace) as the nefarious Red Rackham, the international cast also includes Andy Serkis, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Gad Elmaleh, Toby Jones and Mackenzie Crook.

The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn is a Paramount Pictures and Columbia Pictures production from a screenplay by Steven Moffat, Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish, and is produced by Spielberg, Peter Jackson and Kathleen Kennedy.

The film, which began production in late January 2009, is the first of a planned series of 3D motion capture films based on the iconic character created by Georges Remi, better known to the world by his pen name "Herge." Executive producers are Nick Rodwell, Stephane Sperry and Ken Kamins.

The second feature in the series is scheduled to be directed by Jackson, with a potential for a third film as well.

Eighty years ago, Herge introduced the world to a unique cast of characters who have been embraced by readers of all ages. "The Adventures of Tintin" - a series of 24 books, the final unfinished adventure was published after Herge's death, became Herge's life's work. The first adventure was published in 1929. Over 200 million copies have been sold worldwide. The popular series has been translated into 70 languages and still attracts thousands of new fans each year.

Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson will bring Herge's stories to life employing state-of-the-art performance capture technology developed by Jackson's Weta Digital.