And "Tintin" is arguably a very risky project. It is based on the 1929-to-1976 book series written by the late Georges Remi, under the pen name Herge, about the global adventures of a young reporter and his dog, Snowy. The comics have a loyal following in Europe but are mostly obscure to U.S. audiences.
Paramount, which owns DreamWorks, where Spielberg has been developing "Tintin" for many years, had agreed to finance half the film but was hoping to have a financial partner in Universal. Paramount, a Viacom Inc. unit, has shouldered the vast majority of the more than $30 million spent on scripts, character design and initial animation and 3-D tests -- even before the movie had officially been given the green light for production. (Those costs are included in the $130-million budget.)
Spielberg has wanted to make "Tintin" since 1983, when he optioned the movie rights at his Universal-based production company, Amblin Entertainment. He has conceived the project as a trilogy, with the first film to be directed by him, the second by Jackson and no plans yet for the third.
Spielberg hoped that "Tintin" would be the next movie he would direct, with production to begin this month. The first two movies, using so-called motion-capture technology, were to be filmed back to back, similar to how Jackson made the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.
But in a surprising move, when Spielberg and Jackson approached Universal, which has had a long-standing option to co-finance the picture, the studio decided that the deal made no financial sense. According to several people close to the project, "Tintin" would have to rake in $425 million worldwide in ticket sales before the studios could break even.
The reason: Spielberg and Jackson, who would also produce both movies, would together grab about 30% of the studio's total gross revenue from box-office, DVD, television and other sales. Under that scenario, the pair would walk away with more than $100 million before Universal and DreamWorks could make a profit.
To add embarrassment to injury, Universal's decision to pull out of "Tintin" thrusts Spielberg into a highly awkward situation. The director, along with his partner David Geffen, is getting ready to extricate himself from Paramount after a stormy 2 1/2 -year association.
