Anthony Horowitz May Not Be Writing 'Tintin 2' Anymore

Anthony Horowitz, who has been writing the sequel to Steven Spielberg's The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn since 2011 is apparently not working on the movie anymore. He recently commented on twitter, answering a question, that he may have been fired. More below.

The Tintin Sequel Could Start Shooting in 2016 Says Jamie Bell

Currently promoting the new Fantastic Four movie, where he plays the Thing, Jamie Bell teased the sequel to Steven Spielberg's The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn. The English actor who played the titular character in the 2011 movie says shooting for the film could begin in 2016. More below.

Field Report: Tintin and Hergé in Brussels

Introduction
As a huge Tintin fan, I felt it was my duty to go back to Brussels, visit some of the places featured in the books and see the Hergé Museum. Why go back? Well, I already went to Brussels, but not as a Tintin fan. I always liked it, but was not a Tintinophile forever. Interestingly enough, I believe I became a Tintinophile on the way back from my first Brussels trip, as a teenager. That's when I read the unfinished book Tintin and Alph-Art for the first time, and became interested in the Belgian reporter again.
Therefore, this trip was a first for me. It was the first time I went to Brussels as a Tintinophile. As I'm sure there are other Tintinophiles out there who can't go to Belgium, I'll share what kind of experience it is to be there, as a fan of Tintin. So, get ready to go on an adventure, as I guide you through the streets of Brussels!

UPDATED: Damien Presents A Full and Comprehensive List of Tintin Easter Eggs in The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn

By Damien.

Also known as 'The Big One'

Introduction

Before we start, I'll explain my intentions here. My objective is to deliver the ultimate list of nods to the Tintin books in The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn. As the movie is based on The Crab with the Golden Claws, The Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham's Treasure, these three albums won't be used as reference for the search of Tintin easter eggs, except for very specific ones - otherwise, I would have to make screenshots of almost the whole film.

Written in blue, you will also find book to film comparisons of characters. Just the opposite of the nods list, these comparisons will focus exclusively on characters from The Crab with the Golden Claws, The Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham's Treasure books. Not everyone will be treated. Only the characters I find the most interesting.

Warning: you shouldn't read this article if you've not seen the movie, as there will be massive spoilers ahead. Pretty much the same thing can be said about the books.

All right, shall we begin?

Guest Editorial: How Spielberg is Saving Tintin

By Damien

Let's begin with a little history.

It all started in 1981. Raiders of the Lost Ark had just been released in France and Steven Spielberg wanted to know how well his movie was doing among French critics.
Amazingly well would be my guess. But something in a number of reviews captured his eye. A word kept coming back. Tintin. What is Tintin? wondered the filmmaker. He soon learned what it was, and became a fan.

Tintin 2: "You can expect to meet Cuthbert Calculus."

The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, Steven Spielberg's long gestating big screen version of Hergé's famed boy journalist stories, arrived in cinemas last year, and its success (my review here) is evident by the great news we've heard thus far from its upcoming sequel.

The original film, penned by the talented trio of Edgar Wright, Steven Moffat and Joe Cornish, was based on three Tintin books: The Crab with the Golden Claws, The Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham's Treasure, but Tintin 2 is taking a slightly different direction. This time around the film, directed now by Peter Jackson, will be written by Stormbreaker author, Anthony Horowitz, and he today shed some light on what we can expect from the second Tintin film.

It was long rumoured that the second film would be based on the Seven Crystal Balls/Prisoners of the Sun stories, but this has since been denied (shame), and no other suggestions have been really confirmed. However, today, Horowitz told this blog on Twitter, that in Tintin 2 we "can expect to meet Cuthbert Calculus". The first film introduced us to Tintin (Jamie Bell), Snowy and Captain Haddock (Andy Serkis), so Professor Calculus, the hard-of-hearing genius, is the last main big character we've still be introduced to.


So, given that we can now rule out Seven Crystal Balls and Prisoners of the Sun, and given that it's also very unlikely to pick up immediately where Secret of the Unicorn left off (effectively ruling out a continuation of Red Rackham's Treasure), the last obvious choice is The Calculus Affair. The Calculus Affair, one of the later Tintin stories, sees Tintin, Haddock and Snowy travelling across the globe to rescue an abducted Professor Cuthbert Calculus; with some fiddling with the story and continuity, this could act as a very effective introduction for the beloved character.

We've heard rumours of this in the past, but it's nice to have some more solid confirmation.

Oh, and yes, I am now a huge Tintin fan.

Tintin Wins Producers Guild Award

Yesterday, The Adventures of Tintin took home the animation award at the 23rd Annual Producers Guild Awards. Producers Peter Jackson, Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy were awarded the honour, beating out other top contenders Cars 2, Kung Fu Panda 2, Puss in Boots and Rango.

Following on from the film's success at the 69th Annual Golden Globes last week, this certainly bodes well for Tintin's Oscar chances (nominations to be revealed tomorrow). The film, which won our very own 2nd Annual A113Animation Award for Best Animated Film, seems to be getting the recognition it deserves this awards season, and it look as if its main competition for the Oscar will be Nickelodeon's Rango.

2012 BAFTA Nominations Revealed

The nominations for the 65th annual Orange British Academy Film Awards were revealed this morning. Silent film and Oscar front-runner The Artist leads nominations with 12, whereas British spy thriller Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy follows with 11. In terms of animation though, the nominees for the BAFTA for Animated Film are:

• The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn
• Arthur Christmas
• Rango

It's unsurprising to see Arthur Christmas - from British giants Aardman - Globes winner, Tintin and awards favourite this year, Rango favoured by the BAFTAs; but it's a shame DreamWorks' Kung Fu Panda 2 couldn't snag a nomination. We'll find out the results on 12 February on BBC One - hosted by Stephen Fry, the awards emenate from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London. For a full list of nominations, click here.

Tintin Winwins at the Globes

If you can excuse my shameful pun one moment: yes, The Adventures of Tintin took home the Best Animated Feature Film award at the 69th Annual Golden Globes last night.

The high-octane, globe trotting film, based on the acclaimed books by Hergé, scooped the top A113Animation Award here a few weeks ago, and the HFPA clearly loved it too. Director Steven Spielberg (top) was on hand to collect the award.

This year's Globes marks the first time since the category's inception in 2006, that a non-Pixar film has won the award. Tintin is a very deserving film to unthrone Pixar, and it deserves all the praise it's getting.

Tintin 2 Details

Although US viewers are still waiting for the release of Steven Spielberg's phenomenal first animated film, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (I believe it hits theatres in the US tomorrow actually) plans are already underway for the long foretold sequel.

The sequel is to see Spielberg and Lord of the Rings helmer, Peter Jackson, swap places, as Spielberg switches to producing and Jackson assumes the director's chair. Spielberg tells us that "we have the story and we have the book we're adapting from Hergé", and many a report (see this one from Screen Rant) are claiming that the sequel will be based on the Calculus Affair story. Spielberg also tells us that the bumbling Thompson detectives will "have a much bigger role."

The film, to be written by Alex Rider author, Anthony Horrowitz, will begin to take shape once Jackson has finished his directorial duties with the Lord of the Rings prequel, The Hobbit. It will likely be hitting cinemas late 2014 or early 2015, as co-producer, Kathleen Kennedy, says that the script will be finished in the first quarter of the new year.

Via CBC News.

Read my review of the first The Adventures of Tintin film here.

Cars 2 For Your Consideration Campaign Begins

As awards season rapidly approaches, Disney and Pixar begin the promoting of the Emeryville studio's latest feature with the above For Your Consideration Oscar adverts. Cars 2 is being promoted for consideration in the categories of Best Animated Feature, Best Song and Best Score.

However, due to the outpouring of negative and mixed reviews for Cars 2, Pixar face an uphill battle for the first time ever, just to get nominated; especially against such firm competition this year as Kung Fu Panda 2, Tintin, Rio and more. Personally, I thought Cars 2 was very, very good and was reviewed very unjustly, however, it is hard from Pixar's strongest and the studio that have won the prestigious Best Animated Feature Oscar consecutively for the past 4 years, will struggle to win, if, of course, they get the nomination.

ParaNorman Teaser

I generally just cover the main animation outlets here at A113Animation: Disney, Pixar, DreamWorks, Blue Sky Studios, Aardman, Sony Pictures Animation, Illumination Entertainment etc... and the mainstream films beyond that, like The Adventures of Tintin (on a side note, I came up with a good pun for that: Tintin was Greatgreat). However, whilst perusing Cartoon Brew, I saw the teaser (above) for Laika's next film. The studio behind Coraline are bringing us another eery, dark film in August of next year, ParaNorman.

Now, the film doesn't look that fantastic, although we may see a lot more to sell me on it; but it is very creepy and the trailer for the stop-motion film will set the mood well since it's almost Halloween.

The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn Review - Steven Spielberg Delivers a Perfect Performance (Capture)

This latest review is of a film that, although widely anticipated by oh so many, I hadn't heard about until very recently, despite it being the incredibly high profile first voyage into the animated realm by renowned director, Steven Spielberg, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn. Arguably the world's most famous director sets foot into the ever competitive field of animation for the first time, flanked by an all-star team, including: co-producer Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings), writers Steven Moffat (Doctor Who, Sherlock), Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World) and Joe Cornish (Attack the Block), and an all-star cast, lending their physical performances as well as their voice talent; this hugely influential, talented and insightful crew provide a brilliant, animated adventure film with real heart and comedy.