Amazing story: a 'no' to Spielberg

As a result, Spielberg is having to go hat in hand to ask Paramount to finance all of "Tintin" at the same time he faces delicate negotiations regarding his and Geffen's split from the studio. Those talks, among other things, are likely to involve scores of projects that the director wants to take with him to his new home as well those he could produce at Paramount.

Universal, as it turns out, is also the leading contender to distribute DreamWorks' new movies once it breaks free from Paramount. But as solely a distributor, Universal would not have any investment in the movies and would have no money at risk.

In deciding not to back "Tintin," Universal may have been swayed by the spotty box-office track record for motion- or performance-capture movies. "Tintin" would be produced in digital 3-D animation using performance capture technology, in which actors wear body sensors that record their movement. That information is then fed into a computer and digitally manipulated.

Such motion-capture films as "The Polar Express," "Beowulf" and "Monster House" have performed considerably below the $425-million box-office gross benchmark that "Tintin" would need to reach to break even.

Late last month, Spielberg and Jackson showed a group of 10 Paramount executives, including Chairman Brad Grey and Vice Chairman Rob Moore, a 10-minute sample of what the movie would look like that was produced at Jackson's New Zealand visual effects company, Weta Digital.

Paramount executives are analyzing the economics of "Tintin" and are expected to decide shortly whether to bankroll the entire movie. If they do, Spielberg hopes to begin shooting next month.

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claudia.eller@latimes.com