British comedic actors Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, who appeared together in the cult hits Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, have reportedly signed onto the cast of Steven Spielberg’s and Peter Jackson’s epic performance-capture adaptation of Georges Remi’s classic Belgian Tintin comic series. Aint It Cool News cites a reliable source who says the actors will play Thompson and Thompson (also known as the Thompson Twins or Dupont & Dupont in the original French version of the comic) in the big-budget action-adventure trilogy being co-financed by Paramount and Sony.
The films are based on three stories from The Adventures of Tintin, a series of 23 books Remi published under the nom de plume ‘Herg’ between 1929 and 1976. The first movie is being directed by Spielberg and is slated for release in 2010. Budgeted at around $15 million, it will reportedly follow the plotline of two original Herg’ books, The Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham’s Treasure. Jackson will helm the second installment.
Teen actor Thomas Sangster (Love, Actually) was originally slated to play the title role, but had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts when the project was put on hold due to Universal’s withdrawal of support and the DreamWorks/Paramount split. Andy Serkis, a workhorse in Peter Jackson’s stable of actors, is still aboard to play Captain Haddock. More names are sure come up in the next couple of weeks as Spielberg and Jackson plan to head into production next month.
You can learn more about the amazing world of Herg’ and his most famous creation at www.tintin.com.
