Spielberg and Jackson Team Up

From Variety:

Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson are teaming to direct and produce three back-to-back features based on Georges Remi's beloved Belgian comic-strip hero Tintin for DreamWorks. Pics will be produced in full digital 3-D using WETA Digital’s groundbreaking performance capture technology.

The two filmmakers will each direct at least one of the movies; studio wouldn't say which director would helm the third. Kathleen Kennedy joins Spielberg and Jackson as a producer on the three films, which might be released through DreamWorks Animation.

Tintin has long been a passion project for Spielberg; he and Kennedy have held various film rights to the comedic adventure book series off and on for more than 25 years. With the rights in place, Spielberg, Jackson and DreamWorks began quietly developing the project. Jackson has also long been a fan of the comic books.

Jackson's New Zealand-based WETA Digital, the f/x house behind "The Lord of the Rings" franchise, produced a 20-minute test reel bringing to life the characters created by Remi, who wrote under the pen name of Herge.

"Herge's characters have been reborn as living beings, expressing emotion and a soul which goes far beyond anything we've seen to date with computer animated characters," Spielberg said. "We want Tintin's adventures to have the reality of a live-action film, and yet Peter and I felt that shooting them in a traditional live-action format would simply not honor the distinctive look of the characters and world that Herge created," Spielberg continued.

Official word of the three-pic pact comes just weeks after Jackson inked a deal with DreamWorks to direct "Lovely Bones," based on Alice Sebold's haunting tome about a 14-year-old girl who watches over her family — and attacker — from heaven after she is raped and killed.

Click here to read the full story.

Well this is certainly an interesting move. Each will direct at least one of the three films, no word as of yet on who will direct the third. It seems like an odd project for either director to choose, especially committing to three films. This is either going to be a huge success or a disaster of epic proportions. But with Spielberg and Jackson behind the wheel, it will definitely be worth watching.