Bad news for Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson. The powerhouse directorial duo has just been informed that neither Paramount nor Universal are no longer interested in financing their back-to-back big screen adaptations of “The Adventures of Tintin.” Spielberg and Jackson, who would have each directed one of the two films, had already fronted $30 million to secure rights, set up pre-production, and even produce a 10-minute preview.

Universal had reviewed the financials and determined that “Tintin” would have to earn over $400 million before they’d even break even on the investment. Considering the rumored film budget of $260 million, $130 million per installment, that’s a lot of cash!

Spielberg and Jackson will likely continue to shop this project around in search of a financier, but with both Paramount’s & Universal’s stamp of denial on the film it won’t be easy for them.

Personally, I found the Tintin comics incredibly boring and would never consider going to see this in the theater or even as a rental. The news that this would have been a capture-animation (think “Polar Bear Express”) made the idea even less interesting to me. I know Tintin was huge in Europe (so is David Hasselhoff’s music), but I think both Universal and Paramount were right in their assumption that this wasn’t a good idea.

Source: Radar Online and JoBlo

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