Spielberg and Jackson Have Their “Tintin”

Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson have found the actor they want to play Tintin in the trilogy of films they are making together. 17-year old Thomas Sangster (Love Actually, Nanny McPhee, The Last Legion) will be taking on the title role in the big budget films for the heavyweight filmmakers.

Sangster has already had a relatively successful start to his young career, but this role is likely to launch him into superstardom. Georges Remi’s Belgian comic-strip hero Tintin might not be widely known in the States, but the series is one of the most popular European comics of the 20th century, with translations published in over 50 languages and more than 200 million copies of the books sold to date. Spielberg spent 25 years trying to get the rights to make the comic into a film.

Spielberg and Jackson teamed up early last year to produce and direct a trilogy of films based on the comic series. The duo selected three stories from “The Adventures of Tintin” series, which includes 23 books published between 1929 and 1976. It was recently announced that Spielberg will direct the first film which will begin in the fall and Jackson will direct the second film in the series. There is no word on who will direct the third film.

I know absolutely nothing about the actual adventures of Tintin as I’ve never seen the comics. Considering all the buzz surrounding the project, Spielberg and Jackson’s involvement, and the excitement from our overseas friends, however, it must be a pretty big deal.

Sangster will be joining a cast that already includes Andy Serkis who plays Tintin’s sidekick Captain Haddock.