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Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson Talk Tintin and Not Taking No For an Answer

Becky Kirsch — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 14:50:34 PDT

Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson team up on the upcoming film The Adventures of Tintin (Spielberg in the director's chair and Jackson as producer), and the motion capture animated film opened Hall H at Comic-Con this morning. The film is based on a European comic strip about an ambitious reporter, and features the voices of Daniel Craig, Simon Pegg, and Jamie Bell. After the panel, Spielberg and Jackson did a press conference with reporters to talk more about what it was like making the film. Here are some highlights:

On feeling more comfortable with live action films:
Peter Jackson: "We can't use computers, either of us. I can hardly send emails."

On working with actors in motion capture, where they don't have costumes or makeup:
Steven Spielberg: "It all comes down to the actors looking each other in the eyes, that's where all the comedy or the drama happens. The truth of those performance is when they're acting together. Actors just need each other to act together. I think that's the secret of great acting: you have to bring your imagination to the part."

On making movies in the digital age:
SS: "It may be a digital era, but it's still an analog era in terms of telling a good story. There's nothing of greater importance than the story. . . . The medium is not the message but the characters, and the story and the plot is. If any movie is working, hopefully how it was made is not a concern - you only want to have a good time."

On Tintin being a movie for a wide audience:
SS: "This movie I'm making for all of you. Some movies I make for myself, when the subject matter is very sensitive and very personal. But there are other kinds of genre films that I need to make for the audience. And Tintin is just such a movie."

On identifying with Tintin:
SS: "Tintin is a intrepid, tenacious reporter who often becomes part of the story. I identify with Tintin in the sense that he does not take no for answer, and that has been the story of my life."

On what they learned about each other as filmmakers:
PJ: "The thing that surprised me is given Steven's huge body of work and the incredible films that he's made, I thought Steven would have a kind of a process, and I was looking forward to seeing it. But what I discovered is that Steven walks into the set and, it's like the first time he's walked on to a film set. It's a childish - I mean that in a positive way - excitement and enthusiasm that I wasn't expecting, and it's very inspiring."

SS: "I was surprised at how patient and thoughtful Peter is. He doesn't let anything rattle him. He's a problem solver; he likes to look at a challenge from different angles and makes the best choice to solve a problem. We were in a way like two code breakers trying to figure this movie out together. Like two scientists in a lab trying to make something work. No ego, no competition. We're both on the same page: two Tintin fanboys trying to bring this movie to life."

Hobbit Preview and Leonard Nimoy's Bilbo Tribute

GeekSugar — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 15:05:56 PDT

Photos of the dwarf brothers Dori, Nori, and Ori from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey were released today on the film's Facebook page. Due to hit theaters in 2012, the film describes the brothers:

Dori, Nori and Ori are intensely loyal to each other - and whilst they are perfectly happy fighting amongst themselves, woe-betide anyone who means harm to one of these brothers.

They're part of the 13 dwarf companions who accompany hobbit Bilbo Baggins on his quest to battle the dragon Smaug. Color us excited! In celebration of The Hobbit goodies (have you read the book yet?), we thought we'd take you on a special journey of our own just for fun. Follow the break for a blast from the past - Leonard Nimoy's 1967 music video tribute to Bilbo, complete with mod dance moves!

First Look: Martin Freeman in The Hobbit!

Becky Kirsch — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 08:05:27 PDT

The first installment of Peter Jackson's The Hobbit won't arrive until December 2012, but here's an exciting treat for fans: the first official photos from the movie! In this prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) sets out on a quest to retrieve a treasure guarded by a dragon. He's joined by a crew of dwarves (and Gandalf!), and you can get a glimpse of Bilbo's dinner party in the photo below.

Filming For The Hobbit Is Under Way, and Peter Jackson Is on the Set!

Becky Kirsch — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 10:20:33 PDT

The big screen adaptation of The Hobbit has encountered its fair share of bumps in the road, but it sounds like the Lord of the Rings prequel is finally under way. To review, Elijah Wood will have a small part as Frodo, while Ian McKellan and Andy Serkis will reprise their roles as Gandalf and Gollum, respectively.

As extra reassurance to fans that the film is officially in the works, the studio has released these two official stills from the movie featuring director Peter Jackson just chillin' in the Shire. It's enough to get me excited about another trip to Middle Earth, what about you?

The Lovely Bones: A Fractured Fairy Tale

Shannon Vestal — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 05:30:00 PST

I've long questioned Hollywood's desire to bring Alice Sebold's novel The Lovely Bones to the big screen. The book itself delicately straddles tragedy and beauty in its first-person account of a 14-year-old girl who is murdered and watches her family's unraveling from Heaven. Though I held out hope that Peter Jackson would be able to balance the same themes, it was all for naught: his big-screen version of The Lovely Bones is ambitious, but irredeemably disturbing.

I'd heard that Jackson left out the fact that his main character, Susie Salmon (played by Saoirse Ronan), is raped in the book, and that the murder occurs offscreen, which made a certain amount of sense - it's not necessary to show either to convince you that her ordeal is terrifying. But after seeing the film, it baffles me that Jackson chose to include other grisly scenes and imagery. What's even more questionable is the portrayal of Susie's "in-between" - her purgatory on the way to Heaven that's sometimes a perfect world and other times hellish.

Had Jackson chosen instead to focus on the ordeal of the Salmon family after Susie's departure - the most compelling part of the movie - I think he would have had a chance at making something more powerful. To see what I mean, just

Susie's cartoonish in-between detracts from the performances of her family members back on earth, particularly Mark Wahlberg's. As her anguished father who is coping with Susie's murder by hunting for clues, Wahlberg impresses more than costar Stanley Tucci, who earned a Golden Globe nomination for the role. Tucci's portrayal of Mr. Harvey, I'm sad to say, goes over the top - with his obvious wig, facial prosthetics and unintentionally goofy laugh, it borders on caricature.

Susan Sarandon appears solely to steal scenes as the family's pill-popping, boozehound Grandma, imparting a lightness on the film that Susie's world tries for, but fails to convey. Indeed, when the focus shifts away from the supernatural to document the fissures that afflict the Salmon family, we get somewhere. Just as quickly, though, those scenes of substance are pulled away from you, and we're back to Susie's confounding half-life.

Instead of spending so much time on a nightmarish land of CGI, Jackson should have worried more about giving the characters more satisfying scenes of closure - that's what would have made the audience feel better about Susie's fate.

Photo courtesy of Dreamworks

Link Time!

BuzzSugar — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 13:30:18 PST

ABC is doubling up episodes of Scrubs and Better Off Ted, which could be bad news - HitFix
Hit Girl from the upcoming Kick-Ass movie gets her own (red-band) trailer - Cinematical
Starz orders a second season of Spartacus before the first has even premiered - Coming Soon
The Sundance Film Festival adds three more movies to its lineup, including The Romantics - The Wrap
Gossip Girl spoiler alert: someone's gettin' married! - Watch With Kristin
Jimmy Fallon and Horatio Sanz reprise "Christmas Today" with Julian Casablancas - Vulture
Director Peter Jackson's five favorite films of all time - Rotten Tomatoes
Watch the preview of Real World: DC - PopWatch
ABC orders a pilot for a new show called Women Are Crazy, Men Are Stupid - Inside TV
The biggest TV moments of the year -PopSugar Rush

Stars Show Off Their Lovely Bones With Possibly Pattinson

PopSugar — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 11:00:34 PST

The stars of The Lovely Bones hit the red carpet last night for their LA premiere. Susan Sarandon, Rachel Weisz, Saoirse Ronan, and Rose McIver were decked out alongside director Peter Jackson, while the film's executive producer, Steven Spielberg, went casual in his baseball cap. Superman star Brandon Routh turned out with wife Courtney Ford, who you might recognize from her role on this season of Dexter. Mark Wahlberg was able to attend last week's screening in NYC, but he missed this one due to his commitments back on the East Coast. One leading man who might have been in attendance was Robert Pattinson - Vampire Diaries star Katerina Graham twittered about seeing him but if he was there, he went undetected by photographers.

To see lots more of the stars on the red carpet, just

View 70 Photos ›

Images include: Susan Sarandon, Michael Imperioli, Christian Ashdale, Rachel Weisz, Saoirse Ronan, Rose McIver, Andrew James Allen, Stanley Tucci, Aly Michalka, Katerina Graham, AJ Michalka, Peter Jackson, Katie Jackson, Antonio Sabato Jr, Brandon Routh, Courtney Ford, Cheryl Moana, Steven Spielberg, Lea Thompson, Zoey Deutch, Katerina Graham, Jack Robbins, Stefania Owen, Matt Dallas

Mark, Saoirse and Susan Are Lovely at Their Bones Premiere

Molly — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 06:00:00 PST

Mark Wahlberg led the way at a screening of The Lovely Bones in NYC last night. He was joined by his costars including Saoirse Ronan, who has grown up so much since Atonement, Susan Sarandon, Stanley Tucci, Christian Ashdale and Rose McIver. The movie has been a long time coming and has another week to go before it hits theaters December 11. Mark has been hard at work on The Other Guys with Will Ferrell for the past few months, but now it's time for some promotional work as a star of the film as well as half of one of our favorite newlywedded couples of 2009.

For more photos from The Lovely Bones premiere, just

View 10 Photos ›

Images include: Helena Christensen, Peter Jackson, Susan Sarandon, Mark Wahlberg, Saoirse Ronan, Patricia Clarkson, Stanley Tucci, Rose McIver, Michael Imperioli.

Movie Preview: Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones

BuzzSugar — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 09:40:49 PDT

If you've read the book The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold, you'll know that it's a heartwrenching, mysterious tale about family, death - and whatever comes after death. Peter Jackson's film adaptation has been a point of discussion ever since it was announced over two years ago, from the casting choices to the question of how to adapt a story like this, which regularly blurs the line between reality and the supernatural. Jackson's 1994 movie Heavenly Creatures does this very thing as well, which made him a good choice for this particular challenge.

The new trailer for the film, which opens Dec. 11, starts out tender and soft before building to a tense and chilling crescendo. Atonement's Saoirse Ronan plays Susie Salmon, a young teen who narrates the story after she's been murdered. She observes her family as they try to piece together what happened to her, and it's all a big tangle of scariness, sadness, and aching sweetness. To watch the trailer, click here.

The Kid From Love Actually Might Play Tintin!

BuzzSugar — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 07:30:49 PDT

Check out my favorite casting rumor in recent history: Thomas Sangster, known to me as Liam Neeson's son Sam in Love Actually, might be playing Tintin in the Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson project.

This is all speculation so far, and the Daily Mail is far from the most credible source, but apparently Sangster has been traveling to L.A. for "preproduction test sequences with both directors" and that "an executive who worked with Sangster in Los Angeles" told the Mail, "Thomas seems to be the one. He was just great, but I'm not certain if anything has been finalised yet." The one certain casting decision is that Andy Serkis will play Tintin's sidekick Captain Haddock.

This kid - who is now 17, if you can believe it! - couldn't possibly be more endearing. What do you think about this casting choice? Would he make a good Tintin?

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