Economic Downturn Takes Toll on Tintin Men Spielberg, Jackson

Filmmakers' dream project in jeopardy after Universal balks at financing big-budget flick

Maybe the Fed will step in to help bail out Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson.

The Oscar winners are scrambling to find a new backer for their dream franchise Tintin after Universal balked at the filmmakers' $130 million budget for an ambitious trilogy of films based on the Belgian boy wonder.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the studio unexpectedly pulled out after deciding that a cofinancing partnership with Paramount Pictures wasn't worth the risk to its bottom line in today's difficult economic environment.

Specifically, Universal suits were concerned that the company wouldn't get paid until Tintin earned $425 million in global ticket sales.

Universal was especially concerned with Spielberg and Jackson's lucrative pacts, giving them 30 percent of all gross revenue from the box office, DVD, TV and ancillary sales. In other words, the filmmakers would earn north of $100 million before either Universal or Paramount saw a dime.

Perhaps most worrisome is that while Tintin is beloved in Europe, the comic strip is virtually unknown to U.S. audiences and could be a hard sell.

Jackson's digital workshop, WETA, has already spent $30 million developing performance-capture technology to make the boy detective, his dog, Snowy, and the rest of his motley crew come alive. The bulk of that seed money came from Paramount, which was hoping to find a partner to help reduce its risk in the endeavor.

Universal's decision now puts Spielberg and Jackson in a tough position—especially since Spielberg was planning to make his installment his next directing effort, with cameras rolling as early as next month. (Jackson is slated to helm the second film; the two haven't decided who will take the reins for the third entry.)

Spielberg, who's been wanting to adapt Tintin since 1983, is either going to have to find a new backer or ask Paramount to shoulder the entire cost of the movies—this as word came today that his own company, DreamWorks, has severed its ties from Paramount after a bumpy two-and-a-half-year partnership.

(DreamWorks just signed a new financing deal with India's Reliance Entertainment, a deal the Wall Street Journal has valued at $1.2 billion. DreamWorks will produce a half-dozen films a year under the terms of the pact announced today.)

Spielberg rep Martin Levy did not immediately return calls seeking comment.