Home Entertainment Steven Spielberg (doesn't) talk(s) about the Tintin sequels, Lincoln, Robopocalypse and Jurassic Park 4

Steven Spielberg (doesn't) talk(s) about the Tintin sequels, Lincoln, Robopocalypse and Jurassic Park 4

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Collider is reporting that while promoting his current war-time epic War Horse in France, director extraordinaire Steven Spielberg uncharacteristically spoke about – and frustratingly also remained mum on – some of his upcoming projects.

When questioned on which of Herge’s stories will be adapted for the Peter Jackson directed followup to Tintin – which Spielberg is still producing – he gave the following:

“I’m not going to say which stories have been chosen for Peter Jackson’s sequel because Peter and I agreed that we weren’t going to let that information out yet. The script is now being written. It’s more than one book, but it’s not three books, so that means it’s two books. It’s two and a half books that we’re combining with The Secret of the Unicorn. And Peter will start working on the film this year. When he’s done shooting The Hobbit, he’ll begin his performance capture work with the actors later in 2012, which I’m very excited about. And of course, I’m hoping I’ll be able to direct the third one. I’d love to do the third one because I had so much fun on the first one.”

On Lincoln, his biopic of the great American president, starring (in my opnion, the world’s greatest living actor) Daniel Day-Lewis in the title role, he was very reticent to spill any info:

“I just finished shooting a movie about Abraham Lincoln staring Daniel Day-Lewis which I am so deeply proud of. But because I am right in the middle of the editing of Lincoln, I’m not really going to speak and talk very much about that until the time is right to talk about it.”

Spielberg has a pretty good track record when it comes to historical drama (Amistad, Schindler’s List, Empire of the Sun etc) and Day-Lewis is the acting equivalent of a locust plague (but in a good way!), just chewing up the scenery of every film he is in, so I simply cannot wait for this, despite the lack of info.

However, he was a bit more gabby (and tongue in cheek) on his recently announced sci fi adaptation, Robopocalypse:

“And I’m making a science fiction movie probably in September called Robopocalypse, based on Daniel Wilson’s book. It’s a cautionary tale about war between human beings and robots. It’s a big crowd pleaser, I think, a big action popcorn movie with a message. The message is actually in the popcorn! You have to get the popcorn, dig down deep in the bottom and they’ll be a message about what Robopocalypse is really about! And I have a couple of other plans which I don’t want to go into because they’re too far out of the horizon. But there’s a lot of work ahead, a lot of television my company is producing for some of the networks and some of the cable outlets. So I’m busy!”

For fans of the Jurassic Park series (“Ooh ooh, pick me! Pick me!”), Spielberg unfortunately didn’t have much in the way of good news.

“I don’t want to talk about Jurassic Park 4 yet – it’s too early – but I can tell you that I’m not directing it. I’m producing it though.”

I’m not afraid to admit that I’m downright bummed that the legendary director won’t be behind the camera on the much anticipated dino-sequel. The Jurassic Park films have always been a perfect thematic fit for Spielberg’s directorial style, as it’s allowed that youthful sense of wonder that he brings to be coupled with the knife-edged tension he also does so well.

Lincoln is scheduled for release in December this year, while Robopocalypse is set for July 2013. No official dates have been set for the Tintin and Jurassic Park sequels. 

 

Last Updated: January 13, 2012

11 Comments

  1. Christo Kruger

    January 13, 2012 at 11:45

    The last time Spielberg said he wasn’t going to direct but produce a JP movie we got JP3. Which almost ruined the rest of the trilogy. Better to just leave it be.

    Reply

    • Kervyn Cloete

      January 13, 2012 at 13:26

      Actually, JP2 was by far the weakest of the lot, for me. JP3 – directed by Joe Johnston (the same guy behind The Rocketeer and Captain America) – righted the ship I think.

      Reply

      • Christo Kruger

        January 16, 2012 at 07:03

        I’m not even sure how to respond to this. Except maybe to say that everyone is entitled to their WRONG opinion 😛

        But no, I absolutely abhor Johnson for what he did to JP3. Captain America lowered some hate for him though. But not a lot. 

        Reply

        • Kervyn Cloete

          January 16, 2012 at 09:06

          LOL. But I don’t get it. JP3 returned to the formula of JP1, whereas JP2 broke away from it. So how can you say Johnston ruined JP3, when he was pretty much just copying Spielberg’s first, which is universally recognized as the best of the lot?

          Reply

          • Christo Kruger

            January 16, 2012 at 11:37

            Maybe the same formula but a totally different atmosphere. It felt dumber, the CGI was worse (if you can, which I don’t recommend, check out the part where the Spinosaur attacks the plane, it’s pretty bad) and the whole thing just felt like a kids movie.

            And I’m not even going to mention that they killed the T-Rex. You can’t kill off the T-Rex, God dammit!

            Lastly, it was nominated for a Razzie, it’s that bad.

            Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

          • Justin Hess

            January 16, 2012 at 13:54

            That wasn’t CGI though. Stan Winston’s guys built a full sized head for the Spinosaurus and the sfx for that creature (and many others) was a mix of animatronics and cgi.

            And in terms of quality, for these films I don’t think it’s a case of which is better so much as which is preferred. Dinosaurs attacking each other and unlucky people is b-grade level at best no matter who’s in charge

      • Justin Hess

        January 16, 2012 at 13:50

        IMO, the first Jurassic Park was the weakest of series. It builds up, blows it’s wad at the midsection with the fantastic T-Rex attack sequence, after which the nothing following that can top that piece. 

        JP2 was my fave of the series, followed by pt 3. That said, it suffers from the same liability that the Transformers films suffer from in that there’s only so much you can do with giant sized sfx attacking people before you’re just watching the same thing on rinse, cycle repeat

        Reply

        • Christo Kruger

          January 17, 2012 at 09:04

          No, you can definitely tell the crappy CG apart from Stan Winston’s creatures (After Spielberg, Winston was my greatest hero, such a pity). This probably happened because of a reduced budget. 

          But I couldn’t disagree more about JP being the weakest of the 3, I loved it when I was 7. Still one of the best movies ever.

          Reply

          • Justin Hess

            January 17, 2012 at 13:36

            To each his own, I guess. I loved JP when it came out in 93. Greatest movie ever. But now, I watch it and its flaws are woefully apparent. Clunky dialogue delivered with cardboard cutout acting,  pacing that builds brilliantly and then squanders everything midway through, never to recover afterward, and a clumsy tone that sees wonder and awe often cheesily delivered.

            And I know, JP is meant to be one of those films where you sit back and are helplessly won over by it, but that really doesn’t work on me anymore. I suppose I’m a bit too cynical for that. And yeah, JP 2 and 3 share many of the same flaws but it really doesn’t feel as painfully obvious as it does in the first installment.

            Whatever the case, even today, the sfx still hold up, which is mightily impressive and cinema as we know it today would be nowhere near where it is without Jurassic Park, which puts it in the same league as Star Wars in terms of influence

  2. Justin Hess

    January 13, 2012 at 13:41

    According to Sir Steve of Spielberg in the above article: “It’s more than one book, but it’s not three books, so that means it’s two books. It’s two and a half books.” 

    Just so there’s no confusion

    Reply

  3. Justin Hess

    January 13, 2012 at 13:44

    But as far as Robopocalypse goes, there’s something fantastically exciting about a Spielberg popcorner on the horizon. And no, I don’t feel that Tintin counts as Spielberg is most in his element shooting live action

    Reply

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