Peter Jackson ‘still planning’ Tintin sequel

Captain Haddock (Andy Serkis), Tintin (Jamie Bell) and faithful sidekick Snowy in the first Tintin film. Picture: Contributed

PETER Jackson has insisted he still has plans to work on a planned sequel to The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, admitting that his work with The Hobbit has held the project back.

Speaking at the premiere of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Jackson said: “As soon as I’m free of The Hobbit I’ll be going back into doing Tintin.

“It was held up by The Hobbit, but we have every intention of doing another Tintin movie and it’s just waiting on me to be done with these Hobbit movies.”

The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn was directed by Steven Spielberg, with Jackson working as producer, but The Hobbit chief is taking on director duties for the sequel.

Spielberg revealed in March of this year that Jackson would be commencing his performance capture work with the cast of the sequel this year, ahead of a release slated for sometime in 2015, but Jackson’s decision to split the two-part adaptation of The Hobbit into a trilogy put plans on hold.

Featuring a star-studded cast including Scottish actor Jamie Bell as the eponymous hero, Andy Serkis as seadog Captain Haddock, and Simon Pegg and Nick Frost portraying Thomson and Thompson, the initial Tintin film was released in 2011.

The first of The Hobbit films - An Unexpected Journey - was released to great acclaim at the end of 2012, going on to gross over $1 billion at the global box office.

The Desolation of Smaug is due to hit screens tomorrow, with final instalment There and Back Again being released this time next year.