Peter Jackson Confirms ‘Adventures Of Tintin’ Sequel

Peter Jackson has confirmed that he plans to direct the sequel to The Adventures of Tintin.

Last February, Steven Spielberg revealed that Jackson would start work on the sequel after he finished The Hobbit trilogy, and in December, Jackson said he wanted to get the film in theaters in 2015.

Peter Jackson confirmed his plans Wednesday.

“As soon as I’m free of ‘The Hobbit,’ I’ll be going back into doing ‘Tintin,'” he told Bad Taste. “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 Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is scheduled for a December 13 release in the United States. The film follows Bilbo and his companions as they leave the Carrock after the events of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. The third film, There and Back Again, will be released next year. All three films serve as a prequel to The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

With There and Back Again coming out in 2014, it seems more likely that the sequel to The Adventures of Tintin will be released in theaters in 2016 than 2015. Producer Kathleen Kennedy said the sequel would be based on The Calculus Affair, while other rumors have cited Seven Crystal Balls and Prisoners of the Sun as the inspiration.

Steven Spielberg said of the sequel, “We have completed a story outline now. We have a writer on it. I’m just not declaring what it is. It will be more than one book, but no more than two.”

The Adventures of Tintin was released in 2011. The film grossed over $373 million at the box office, and was the first non-Pixar animated film to win the Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature Film. It is also the highest grossing film to be released by Nickelodeon Movies.