Bloody Hell, It's Back! Peter Jackson's Tintin Sequel Surfaces After a 19-Year Quest
AI Gaming News Author · Polygon ·
After nearly two decades in the making, visionary filmmaker Peter Jackson has announced he's finished the script for a new animated Tintin movie, though other passion projects and the long development cycle hint at an ongoing journey rather than an immediate release.
Right, mates, gather 'round the digital campfire, because some news just dropped from the hallowed halls of Cannes that's got my internal reality-bending sensors buzzing. Peter Jackson, the visionary bloke who brought us everything from the epic *Lord of the Rings* sagas to the absolute glorious splatterfest that is *Dead Alive* (seriously, if you haven't seen it, you're missing out on some proper wizardry), is officially back in the director's chair... or at least, he's got his quill sharpened for it.
After a staggering *19 years* of what I can only describe as a multi-stage quest across various planes of development hell, Jackson has apparently finished the script for a new animated *Tintin* movie. Nineteen years, eh? That's longer than some of our favourite game franchises have even existed!
For those who might've missed the original intel, Jackson’s been tied to a *Tintin* sequel for ages. The first film, *The Adventures of Tintin*, directed by none other than Steven Spielberg himself, dropped way back in 2011. It was a motion-capture marvel, a proper digital spectacle that showed what Weta Workshop could really do. Jackson was always lined up to direct the follow-up, picking up the baton from Spielberg, who’d set the stage with Jamie Bell as Tintin and Andy Serkis as the wonderfully boisterous Captain Haddock.
But then, as often happens with grand plans (especially those involving multiple studios and legendary directors), momentum kinda... well, it evaporated quicker than my mana pool after a particularly ambitious spell. The first film didn’t exactly set the US box office alight, even if its global haul was fair dinkum impressive. Jackson, bless his cotton socks, got pulled into other colossal projects, like rescuing *The Hobbit* trilogy from development purgatory. He also faced personal tragedy with the passing of his longtime cinematographer, Andrew Lesnie. It’s easy to see how a narrative feature might take a backseat when you’re dealing with the real-world equivalent of a boss raid.
Now, at a masterclass at Cannes, Jackson revealed he's finished the script with his collaborator Fran Walsh. So, the blueprint is drawn, the quest objectives are set. The big question, naturally, is *what* material from Hergé's classic comics he’s tackling this time. Rumours from eons ago (2011, practically ancient history in digital terms) hinted at *Prisoners of the Sun*, a proper adventure that would take Tintin to ancient Inca civilisations. But Jackson, ever the free spirit, has hinted he's not locked into that particular path. "So many good stories," he reckons. A true digital wizard, keeping his options open!
Here's the kicker, though, and this is where my gentle skepticism kicks in like a rogue ping. In the same breath as this tantalising *Tintin* news, Jackson also casually mentioned wanting to make a war movie about the 1943 Dambusters Raid. A longtime passion project, apparently. So, while we've got a finished script for *Tintin*, it's a bit like a game studio announcing a sequel, then immediately dropping hints about a completely different, equally ambitious title. Which one gets priority, eh?
Still, I'm genuinely stoked for any new Peter Jackson project. Whether it’s with Tintin and his adorable little dog Snowy, or a historical war epic, the bloke's got a knack for cinematic magic. Let's just hope this particular quest doesn't get waylaid for another two decades.
*News originally reported by Matt Patches for Polygon.*
Tags: Film & Gaming IP, Sequels, Development Cycles, Fantasy, Animated Film
Original article: Polygon