The Adventures of Tintin

The Adventures of Tintin (also known as The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn) is a 2011 animated action-adventure film based on Hergé's comic book series of the same name. It was directed by Steven Spielberg, produced by Spielberg, Peter Jackson and Kathleen Kennedy, and written by Steven Moffat, Edgar Wright, and Joe Cornish. The film stars Jamie Bell as Tintin, alongside Andy Serkis, and Daniel Craig. In the film, Tintin, Snowy, and Captain Haddock (Serkis) search for the treasure of the Unicorn, a ship once captained by Haddock's ancestor Sir Francis Haddock, but face dangerous pursuit by Ivan Ivanovitch Sakharine (Craig), the descendant of Sir Francis's nemesis, Red Rackham. Spielberg and Hergé admired each other's work; the director acquired the film rights to The Adventures of Tintin after the author's death in 1983, and re-optioned them in 2002. Filming was due to begin in October 2008 for a 2010 release, but the release was delayed to 2011 after Universal Pictures backed out of producing the film with Paramount Pictures, which had provided $30 million in pre-production; Columbia Pictures replaced Universal as co-financer. The delay resulted in Thomas Brodie-Sangster, who was originally cast as Tintin, departing and being replaced by Bell. The film draws inspiration from the Tintin volumes The Crab with the Golden Claws (1941), The Secret of the Unicorn (1943), and Red Rackham's Treasure (1944). Principal photography began in January 2009 and finished that July, with a combination of voice acting, motion capture, and traditional computer-animation being used. The Adventures of Tintin premiered in Brussels, Hergé's home region, on 22 October 2011, and was theatrically released in Europe by Sony Pictures Releasing International on 26 October and in the United States by Paramount Pictures on 21 December, in Digital 3D and IMAX 3D formats. The film received positive reviews from critics, who praised the stylized motion capture animation (particularly the faithful character designs to Hergé's works), visual effects, action sequences, cast performances, and musical score, with the film positively compared to Spielberg's Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981).