Was Universal Smart to Say No to Tintin?

Steven Spielberg has been wanting to make a Tintin feature film since the early 80's, and yet has somehow never found the opportunity to do so. A few years ago, it seemed he found a partner for the project in fellow uber-director Peter Jackson. The deal seemed sealed, with Universal and Paramount co-financing a Tintin trilogy that would use motion-capture technology (much like The Polar Expess and Beowulf).

However, Universal has now balked at the estimated $130 million cost of each film, and is subsequently backing out of its deal with Spielberg and Jackson, leaving both in an odd predicament for the first time: Two very powerful directors with nobody to make their films. While this may come as surprising to many, check after the jump to see why Universal may have made a smart move that wasn't just based on the dwindling U.S. economy.




According to the report, Universal is blaming the economy for dropping out of the deal with Jackson and Spielberg. However, I have a feeling that several other factors may have contributed to the deal-breaker. here's just a few:

1. Lack of Box-Office Pedigree: Spielberg is the only proven box-office draw attached to the projects. While star Thomas Sangster has appeared in films such as Love Actually, he's hardly known at all. His costar, Andy Serkis, may have been in some of the biggest films of the past decade (Gollum in the Lord of the Rings trilogy), but his appearances are always in supporting roles, and never as a leading draw for ticket sales. At least Beowulf had Angelina Jolie, and Polar Express had Tom Hanks. Beyond LOTR, Jackson isn't even a proven draw, as his King Kong remake disappointed commercially in 2005. To sink over almost $400 million into the production of a trilogy without a star brighter than its director seems like a big gamble.

2. How Strong is That Tintin Name?: The last completed Tintin story was published over 30 years ago, with the prime of the series dating back to the early 1950's. How strong and relevent is the Tintin name in today's society? While Spielberg may have found the idea appealing when he was younger, the fact of the matter is that trying to get an 80 year old franchise to appeal to kids and teenagers today is a lot harder than it would have been in 1983, when Spielberg first wanted to film the adaptation. In addition, since their publication, many critics have derided the Tintin franchise for being overly dated, stereotypical, racist, sexist, and homophobic. In fact, I even was forced to read Tintin in university to analyze its racist cultural undertones. While these certainly would not be implied in an actual film, the idea of developing a major film franchise around something that could cause such controversy may have gotten Univseral squirming.

3. Dead-eye Syndrome: While cutting-edge, it has been well-documented that people are weirded out by the uncanny valley shown through motion-capture technology. To put it simple: many viewers who saw Beowulf and Polar Express find the dead-eyed characters downright creepo. While Express eventually became a word-of-mouth Christmas hit, Beowulf and Monster House both disappointed commercially. Furthermore, the cost of these films are incredibly expensive. Combining the cost of producing a motion-capture Tintin trilogy, along with the cost of marketing a Spielberg/Jackson event-sized tentpole film, Universal may have simply seen the film as too risky.

Who knows though, maybe it really is the economy that cause Universal to pull the plug. Regardless of their decision though, as much as a Spielberg-Jackson double whammy sounds tempting, maybe the pair should take the hint, and then collaborate on another dream project, or just abandon the idea altogether for now and focus on their other pet projects. After all, that Lincoln biopic of Spielberg's with Liam Neeson has already been gestating for way too long, and I think I speak for the universe in saying that we want The Hobbit before we have Tintin. Judging from Universal's actions, it looks like Hollywood might feel the same way.