The highly anticipated and long-awaited conclusion to The Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy, also known as the Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy, looks to be getting closer to being realized.

Simon Pegg and Nick Frost both updated on the project last year, first in June and then last month, with Frost’s December update suggesting that shooting could take place this year, and that he’s read a draft of the film already.

Edgar Wright, director of the film two films (Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz), tweeted a great picture of himself and Pegg, entitled ‘Hard at work…’, contemplating the impending end of the world.

Plot details, as expected, are being kept under wraps, but I think it’s a safe bet to assume that when it does come out – and its release is rumoured to be in 2014 – it will be almost beyond description in its awesomeness. And I’m sure fans of the first two films, as well as all of Pegg, Frost, and Wright’s other work, would agree.

The new picture is obviously just a bit of fun, but hopefully there’s not more to it than that. The blank slate in the image is naturally somewhat different to Frost talking about a finished first draft. Keep your fingers crossed that either a) the blankness is just a joke, and/or b) the drawing board is literally that – to start storyboarding. Because that would be so good if things are progressing nicely in that direction already. More as we get it. For now, enjoy a bit of Wright and Pegg comedy, clearly hard at work.

(With thanks to Collider for the heads up.)

This morning, BAFTA HQ was the place to be as the final five were announced for the 2012 Orange BAFTA Rising Star Award. A panel of 13 people including Simon Pegg, Sienna Miller and Harry Potter Director David Yates scoured the globe for those rising stars and came up with  list of 8 including Adam Deacon, Chris Hemsworth, Felicity Jones, Tom Hiddleston, Jennifer Lawrence, Chris O’Dowd, Jessica Chastain and Eddie Redmayne. It was your turn to whittle that list down even further and below are you final 5. The next job you have is to get that list down to the main winner and you can do that by voting here.

The final five are:

Adam Deacon, Chris Hemsworth, Chris O’Dowd, Eddie Redmayne and Tom Hiddleston!

Let us know what you think of that list in the comments section below. Strikes me that no women made the final five and I’m very surprised not to see Jennifer Lawrence make the list. You can now vote for your favourite here.

Ben Mortimer is currently our man on the ground at BAFTA HQ and will hopefully be talking with three of the five who are in attendance launch event today.

When it comes to the BAFTA Awards, as you probably know from last year, we like to go all out and will cover every inch of it if we can. The final winner is announced at the Orange British Academy Film Awards on Sunday 13 February 2012.

NOMINEES ARE UNVEILED FOR

THE ORANGE WEDNESDAYS RISING STAR AWARD IN 2012

• The Orange Wednesdays Rising Star Award is the only award at the Orange British Academy Film Awards to be voted for by the British public
• Orange Wednesdays customers have selected the shortlist of five from a long list of eight determined by the award jurors
• The winner will be announced at the awards on 12 February 2012
• Previous winners include: James McAvoy, Eva Green, Shia LaBeouf, Noel Clarke, Kristen Stewart and Tom Hardy

London 11 January 2012. Today at BAFTA’s headquarters, Pippa Harris, award jury chair, Deputy Chair of BAFTA’s Film Committee and producing partner of Sam Mendes, announced the hotly anticipated nominees for the Orange Wednesdays Rising Star Award 2012 as selected by Orange Wednesdays customers from a long-list of eight. The nominations recognise five international actors and actresses whose talent has captured the imagination of the British public. The nominees are:

• ADAM DEACON – Hackney-born Adam rose to fame in Noel Clarke’s KIDULTHOOD, before reprising the role in the follow-up ADULTHOOD and again working with Clarke in 4321. Adam then went onto make his own mark on the film industry by co-writing, directing and starring in Brit comedy and box office success ANUVAHOOD.
• CHRIS HEMSWORTH – Australian actor Chris became an overnight success after landing the title role in film version of the Marvel comic THOR and he will reprise the role in
• THE AVENGERS next year. Chris is next starring in SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN opposite Kirsten Stewart and Charlize Theron and will play Formula One driver James Hunt in Ron Howard’s RUSH.
• CHRIS O’DOWD – Chris began his career in the cult comedy series THE IT CROWD before breaking into film with roles including THE BOAT THAT ROCKED, GULLIVER’S TRAVELS and hugely successful BRIDESMAIDS. Chris will next be seen in Judd Apatow’s THIS IS 40 alongside Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann.
• EDDIE REDMAYNE – After receiving much critical acclaim on the West End and Broadway stage Eddie burst onto the film scene in MY WEEK WITH MARILYN alongside Michelle Williams, Dame Judy Dench and Kenneth Branagh. He recently finished filming BIRDSONG the BBC adaptation of the acclaimed novel by Sebastian Faulks and will soon be starring in the film version of the musical LES MISÉRABLES.
• TOM HIDDLESTON – RADA graduate Tom broke onto the big screen earlier this year in Kenneth Branagh’s THOR. Tom’s recent projects include Woody Allen’s film MIDNIGHT IN PARIS, Steven Spielberg’s WAR HORSE, and THE DEEP BLUE SEA opposite Rachel Weisz. Tom has recently finished filming THE AVENGERS which is due for release in May 2012.

Orange’s accolade for up and coming talent is the only award at the Orange British Academy Film Awards to be voted for by the public. Voting takes place both at orange.co.uk/bafta and via text*. The winner will be announced at the star-studded Orange British Academy Film Awards on Sunday 12 February 2012.

Now in its seventh year, the award has set a standard for identifying talent destined for super-stardom. Previous winners include James McAvoy in 2006, Eva Green in 2007, Shia LaBeouf in 2008, Noel Clarke in 2009, Kristen Stewart in 2010 and Tom Hardy in 2011.

Potential rising stars were proposed by BAFTA members and leading film industry insiders to create an initial list of contenders who have appeared in one or more feature films, with at least one of those films released in the current awards year, 1 January to 31 December 2011. The jury for the award featured a raft of leading figures from across the film industry, including actors Simon Pegg and Sienna Miller, jury chair Pippa Harris, producing partner of Sam Mendes (Revolutionary Road, Jarhead), four-time Harry Potter director David Yates, producer Allon Reich (28 Weeks Later, The History Boys, The Last King of Scotland), casting director Nina Gold (The King’s Speech) and film publicist Kate Lee. These jurors whittled down the names to a long list of eight. These eight were then voted on by Orange Wednesdays customers, who have determined the final five that will now be voted for by the public.

Pippa Harris, Orange Wednesdays Rising Star award jury chair and Deputy Chair of BAFTA’s Film Committee, said: “It’s great to involve the general public in championing the stars of the future, which is why the Orange Wednesdays Rising Star Award is such a fantastic initiative. The jury had a tough job deciding the long list of eight, as we were spoilt for choice. With such an array of new talent, I can’t wait to see who the public choose as their winner.”

Spencer McHugh, Director of Brand at Orange, said: “With the award now in its seventh year, we continue to be awed by how enthusiastic the British public are when it comes to celebrating future film talent. The fact that figures such as Simon Pegg, Sienna Miller and the rest of our esteemed jury so kindly offer their time shows how the film world has embraced the award.”

The Orange Wednesdays Rising Star Award was created in honour of Mary Selway, the highly respected BAFTA-winning casting director whose career spanned three decades and over ninety films before she died in 2004. She worked with notable directors such as Steven Spielberg, Roman Polanski, Clint Eastwood and Ridley Scott, contributing to the creation of some of the silver screen’s most memorable characters.

For more information on the Orange Wednesdays Rising Star Award go to www.orange.co.uk/bafta

When done well, zombies entertain us cinemagoers and TV viewers alike to no end, and sometimes for very different reasons. In Shaun of the Dead, we got a brilliant horror-comedy from the likes of Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and Edgar Wright, that was by far the best film of its kind I’ve ever seen, before or since. And more recently, the TV adaptation of The Walking Dead has brought us zombies of a very different and entirely more intense nature. Both kinds, it goes without saying, are excellent.

Now, courtesy of Flickr user Yatkuu, via Collider, we’ve been treated to a terrific re-imagining of what Shaun of the Dead and The Walking Dead might look like if they were turned into Lego toys. And the images are really very impressive.

If you’re yet to see either Shaun of the Dead or The Walking Dead, needless to say, you should definitely make sure you play catch-up as soon as humanly possible. Shaun of the Dead kicked off the start of Pegg, Wright, and Frost’s The Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy, followed-up by Hot Fuzz in 2007, and with a bit of luck, the conclusion with the tentatively-titled The World’s End might shoot sometime next year.

The Walking Dead, based on the comic book series of the same name by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie Adlard, was developed for TV by none other than Frank Darabont, and has been getting terrific success, and a slew of award nominations, ever since it premiered at the end of last year. The images of The Walking Dead are from the original comic, rather than the TV show, but are still highly enjoyable if you’ve only seen the show like me.

These are just a handful of Yatkuu’s work, and if you want to take a look at more, then feel free to click on over here. As usual with these great images, click to enlarge. (I think the red beneath Shaun’s pocket is quite a nice touch.)

Star Trek 2 is gearing up for principal shooting to kick off in the new year, which is welcome news. The reboot of the franchise was desperately needed and JJ Abrams’ first instalment was a sensational shot in the arm for a series that had become bogged down since the high water mark of First Contact.

What is not especially welcome news is that Abrams is looking at shooting the sequel on film and then post-converting it into 3D. Obviously the “shooting on film” bit is not of concern, it is the dreaded “post-conversion” which is troubling, given the poor application of the technique up until now.

JJ Abrams is no mug and has certainly proved himself a steady and dependable pair of hands so far, but this does very much feel like a step in the wrong direction. At a time when (at least here in the UK), 3D ticket sales are on the wane, it seems unnecessary to gear up for a post-conversion.

 Having said that, it might yet prove to be an astute move. Prior success or not, Abrams is as susceptible as anyone to studio pressure and may have therefore negotiated a deal to post-convert, hoping that either 3D will have fallen out of favour by then and he won’t need to, or that the technology will have improved, leaving the results more impressive. Either way, that is a massive leap of speculation on my part and in no way grounded in any sort of information or insight.

JJ Abrams also wants to shoot some of the film in IMAX format, which he is thoroughly enthusiastic about, though he remains predictably tight-lipped about story arcs, characters, villains and the like, all of which will no doubt unfold in due course.

MTV have this story, together with a few more quotes from Abrams regarding his aspirations for the sequel.

Absolutely love this poster for Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol that comes courtesy of IGN. It’s designed to look like the tallest building in the world – Burj Khalifa that we’ve become accustomed to seeing Tom Cruise swinging off in all the trailers. In this new poster which looks like it could come from someone like Olly Moss (and as from the comments section we now know it wasn’t him!), we see the building turned into a lit fuse which will no doubt self destruct any second!

The fourth installment is directed by Brad Bird​​ and sees Tom Cruise​ back for more action packed fun in a movie which is expected in the UK on Boxing Day this year, 26th December. The film also includes Simon Pegg​​, Jeremy Renner​, Paula Patton, Léa Seydoux, Michael Nyqvist​​ , Anil Kapoor.

Click the poster below to enlarge.

As far back as 2008 we were hearing that the final film in The Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy (also called the Blood and Ice-Cream trilogy) was moving forward.

Following on from the success of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz the team of Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and director Edgar Wright hinted that the third film, which has had the title of The World’s End hanging around for years, was at one stage gravitating towards a doomsday/sci-fi movie.

If the Red of Shaun of the Dead was the buckets of blood and the Blue of Hot Fuzz was the thin line of the police force then perhaps at one stage the Mint-green (the final flavour in the Cornetto trilogy) was pointing towards Little Green Men. However with Pegg and Frost’s recent sojourn in Nevada with a crude little alien named Paul it may mean that The World’s End we get to see is something a little different.

If we’re lucky then we may get to find out more about the film as early as next year.

Ed Douglas over at Coming Soon spoke to Frost during the junket for Jackson and Spielberg’s The Adventures of Tintin, and he offered the first update for a long time on the status of the much-anticipated third film,

There is a draft out there, which I’ve read, and it’s great, and I think our plan is to crack on and shoot next year. Touch wood. They move and they change but we definitely want to get on with it.

Pegg and Frost’s previous film, Paul, was a lot of fun and like Edgar Wright’s Scott Pilgrim was held up to the previous films of those involved, creating the false impression that they were lesser works in some ways. What is interesting, particularly with the team’s solo projects (Frost’s turn as the oafish one man apocalypse John Self in the BBC’s adaptation of Martin Amis’s Money is a fine example here), is how they are maturing as actors, writers and, in Wright’s case, as a director.

With another Star Trek looming and Wright’s long-awaited Ant-Man movie still lined up there’s no telling when we might sample the minty-green goodness of the final film in the trilogy, but there’s a lot of love for the team and their films so we’re all ears until we hear something more. Until then, everyone out there – touch some wood ok?

The movie hits UK cinemas on Boxing Day but premieres have been taking place all over the world for Tom Cruise’s fourth installment in the Mission Impossible franchise. The premiere in Dubai is currently live streaming for all to see so scroll down and enjoy!

The fourth installment is directed by Brad Bird​ and sees Tom Cruise​ back for more action packed fun in a movie which is expected in the UK on Boxing Day this year, 26th December. The film also includes Simon Pegg​, Jeremy Renner​, Paula Patton, Léa Seydoux, Michael Nyqvist​, Anil Kapoor in it’s cast and I have to admit, I am rather looking forward to it. Have a watch of the first teaser trailer for the movie below and let us know what you think in the comments section.

Paramount have spent most of today releasing new featurettes for their new movie, Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol and one that doesn’t seem to have been picked up is this fabulous one showcasing what we can expect from Benji Dunn aka Simon Pegg in the movie. Turns out that Simon actually sings the theme song to Mission: Impossible whenever doing something hard which I plan to adopt for myself too!

The fourth installment of the movie franchise is directed by Brad Bird​ and sees Tom Cruise​ back for more action packed fun in a movie which is expected in the UK on Boxing Day this year, 26th December. The film also includes Simon Pegg​, Jeremy Renner​, Paula Patton, Léa Seydoux, Michael Nyqvist​, Anil Kapoor in it’s cast and I have to admit, I am rather looking forward to it. Have a watch of the first teaser trailer for the movie below and let us know what you think in the comments section.

You can keep track of all our MI4 coverage right here.

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol is released in the UK December 26th.

Source: The Sun

I rather like this news, so much so that I decided to do a post on it. We’re big fans of all things Simon Pegg here at HeyUGuys and we just got the news through that the man himself will be joining Sienna Miller as jurors on the 2012 BAFTA Awards to judge the Orange Wednesdays Rising Star Award. Previous winners include James McAvoy, Kristen Stewart and Noel Clarke. Last year, the nominees included Gemma Arterton, Andrew Garfield, Aaron Johnson and Emma Stone with the winner being Tom Hardy who still seems to be going from strength to strength in everything he does.

The jury will be chaired by Pippa Harris, and she’ll also be joined by a man who knows a thing or two about directing big movies, David Yates who directed four of the Harry Potter movies, producer Allon Reich, casting director Nina Gold and  film publicist Kate Lee. Also joining them will be journalists Colin Kennedy (Metro), Alex O’Connell (The Times), Hannah Marriott (Grazia), Jonny Pile (Shortlist), Jamie Graham (Total Film) and Charles Gant (Heat).

Read on for the full press release and stay tuned on 11th January when the nominees will be announced. The BAFTA Awards 2012 take place Sunday 13th February and if we’re as lucky as last year, we’ll be right there in the thick of the action. make sure you stay tuned for more!

Simon Pegg and Sienna Miller announced as jurors for the 2012

Orange Wednesdays Rising Star Award

• The Orange Wednesdays Rising Star Award is the only accolade at the Orange British Academy Film Awards voted for by the British public
• Top actors join influential film industry figures on jury to decide the longlist of award nominees
• Nominees to be announced on 11 January 2012

London, UK – November 1, 2011 – Orange today announced that leading British actors Simon Pegg and Sienna Miller (a nominee herself in 2008) have joined the influential jury for the Orange Wednesdays Rising Star Award, which yesterday met to cast the final votes for the longlist of nominees upon which the British public will vote. The winner will be announced at the Orange British Academy Film Awards on Sunday 12 February 2012.

The Orange Wednesdays Rising Star Award honours a young actor or actress of any nationality who has demonstrated exceptional talent and ambition, and has begun to capture the imagination of the British public as a film star in the making. Previous winners have included James McAvoy, Kristen Stewart and Noel Clarke, with 2011’s nominees including Gemma Arterton, Andrew Garfield, Aaron Johnson, Emma Stone and winner Tom Hardy. The award is the only one at the ceremony voted for by members of the public, and is a hotly-contested accolade for up-and-coming film talent.

Simon Pegg commented: “Joining the jury for the award was such an exciting prospect as it means you get to watch so many brilliant films and performances in the name of research. The award has a great track record for celebrating actors that really strike a chord with cinema goers, and with such great up and coming talent out there at the minute I think they’re going to be spoilt for choice.”

Simon and Sienna will join a raft of leading figures from across the film industry, including jury chair Pippa Harris, Deputy Chairman of BAFTA’s Film Committee and producing partner of Sam Mendes (Revolutionary Road, Jarhead), four time Harry Potter director David Yates, producer Allon Reich (28 Weeks Later, The History Boys, The Last King of Scotland), casting director Nina Gold (The King’s Speech), film publicist Kate Lee as well as selected members of the film and arts media. Many of the jury have discovered, worked alongside or supported rising stars throughout their careers.

Joining Simon, Sienna and other jurors are leading film and arts journalists Colin Kennedy (Metro), Alex O’Connell (The Times), Hannah Marriott (Grazia), Jonny Pile (Shortlist), Jamie Graham (Total Film) and Charles Gant (Heat).

The Orange Wednesdays Rising Star Award jury’s role is to select a longlist of eight nominees from the hundreds of submissions made by the BAFTA membership, film industry figures and members of the arts media. This longlist is then voted on by Orange customers, including those who have used Orange Wednesdays and Orange Film To Go, throughout November and December to create a final list of five nominees which are announced in January 2012, when voting opens to the British public.  The final winner is announced at the Orange British Academy Film Awards on Sunday 13 February 2012.

Spencer McHugh, Brand Director at Orange UK added: “Our jury this year represents a stellar array of leading lights and talent from the British film industry. We’re of course particularly thrilled that Simon and Sienna have kindly offered their time and expertise in order to celebrate the film stars of tomorrow.” 

Jury Chair Pippa Harris: “I’m thrilled that so many talented Industry colleagues have made the time to take part in this year’s Orange Wednesdays Rising Star jury. The jury’s wealth of experience is a testament to how highly regarded this award is, and will ensure that the list of nominees represent the real stars of tomorrow.”  

The award was created in honour of Mary Selway, the highly respected BAFTA-winning casting director whose career spanned three decades and over ninety films before she died in 2004. She worked with notable directors such as Steven Spielberg, Roman Polanski, Clint Eastwood and Ridley Scott, contributing to the creation of some of the silver screen’s most memorable characters.

For more info: orange.co.uk/bafta

]]> http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/2011/11/01/simon-pegg-sienna-miller-announced-as-jurors-for-the-2012-rising-star-award/feed/ 0 http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/2011/10/28/new-mission-impossible-ghost-protocol-trailer/ http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/2011/10/28/new-mission-impossible-ghost-protocol-trailer/#comments Thu, 27 Oct 2011 23:27:12 +0000 Jon Lyus http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/?p=113277

We had ourselves a nice new poster for the latest slice of Mission: Impossible a couple of days ago and today a trailer is unleashed on a not unsuspecting world.

Two things make this fourthquel* worth waiting for and those are 1) Brad and 2) Bird.

Certainly it’ll be fun to see Tom Cruise hanging off of another building by a slither of dental floss, and Ethan Hunt is Cruise’s most enduring character for some time, but it’s the man behind the camera who is the draw for me.

One of Pixar’s finest taking on an all out actioner is too good a chance to miss and this trailer does it job well, with the series showing no signs of slowing.

Enough of my yakking, click below and enjoy.

This fourth movie stars Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, Jeremy Renner, Paula Patton, Léa Seydoux, Michael Nyqvist, Anil Kapoor, Ving Rhames, Tom Wilkinson and is released Boxing Day, 26th December.

*Yes – fourthquel…

This Friday, we’re going to get to see 20 minutes of Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol, tomorrow the trailer comes out and today, ahead of both these treats, MSN have released this new featurette from the movie focusing on the stunts that Ethan Hunt himself, Tom Cruise carried out on the tallest building in the world for the movie. It’s a great watch but it’s you’re scared of heights, beware!

The fourth installment is directed by Brad Bird​ and sees Tom Cruise​ back for more action packed fun in a movie which is expected in the UK on Boxing Day this year, 26th December. The film also includes Simon Pegg, Jeremy Renner, Paula Patton, Léa Seydoux, Michael Nyqvist, Anil Kapoor in it’s cast and I have to admit, I am rather looking forward to it. Have a watch of the first teaser trailer for the movie below and let us know what you think in the comments section.

You can keep track of all our MI4 coverage right here.

MIssion Impossible: Ghost Protocol is released in the UK December 26th.

Anil Kapoor, ghost protocol, Jeremy Renner, Lea Seydoux, Michael Nyqvist, mission impossible, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Paula Patton, simon pegg, Steven Spielberg, Tom Cruise, trailer

A few months ago it was announced that A Fantastic Fear of Everything was to be the first film to benefit from the announcement that the Pinewood Studio Group were launching Pinewood Films with a plan to invest in indepenent British projects and today we how our first glimspe of Simon Pegg in the lead role.

Co-directed by Crispian Mills and Chris Hopewell the film stars Amara Khan, Sheridan Smith and Clare Higgins who join Pegg in the story of a writer whose research into serial killers rivets the notion that he will himself be horribly murdered to his mind. Cue breakdown, paranoia and quite possibly genius.

Bloody Disgusting had an image of Pegg as Jack lookin suitably scared. I was on set earlier in the year and my report will be up on the site as soon as the embargo cloud lifts.

It’s a small image and we’ll be on the lookout for a high res version sans watermark, but until then here’s the pic,

It’s another poster for the Brad Bird directed installment of the ongoing Mission: Impossible series and instead of a fiery background to Tom Cruise’s hoodie moment there’s a good look at the cast who join Cruise’s Ethan Hunt for another outing for the IMF team.

Yahoo had this poster first and it lines Simon Pegg up alongside Jeremy Renner and Paul Paton which perhaps hints at a larger role in the series, but the pull of the series has always been the excellent and eclectic casts dancing around Tom Cruise’s maypole (if you’ll pardon a strange bout of imagery here) and the mix of new and old blood gives each new film the opportunity to surprise.

So here’s the poster. I’m looking forward to it. It’s easily one of Cruise’s most satisfying roles and hiring Brad Bird looks to be a very smart move indeed. Can’t wait.

Last night HeyUGuys headed down to Leicester Square for the UK premiere of The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn. As is usual for these things we managed to grab a few interviews with some of the people involved with the film. What was a little less usual was that those people comprise a list of our favourite British filmey-types.

In the course of the evening we accidentally accused Nick Frost of being a bit of a slacker, discovered that Simon Pegg would like to work with the Cohen Brothers*, had Steven Moffat refuse to tell us whether Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish would be involved in the next series of Doctor Who, and discussed the possibility with Daniel Craig of him playing the baddie more often. And of course we also grabbed a few moments with star of the show, Jamie Bell.

Check out the videos below, the first if which is our coverage and the second was filmed by our friends from Upbeat.

You can see our review of the film here and all our coverage of Tintin here.

*Not on the video is the point where I suggest to Pegg that he pitch ‘Han and Chewie: The Musical’ to George Lucas as a vehicle for himself and Frost.

The Adventures of Tintin is set to storm into UK cinemas this Wednesday and this evening sees the UK premiere hit London with many of the cast set to be in attendance. Jamie Bell, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and writers Edgar Wright, Joe Cornish and Steven Moffat are all set to walk the red carpet and you can see it all as it unfolds from the confort of your own computer screen. We’ll be there braving the London cold to hopefully bring you interviews with the names mentioned above as soon as we possibly can.

From Oscar®-winning director Steven Spielberg and Oscar®-winning producer Peter Jackson, two of today’s most visionary storytellers, comes a 3D motion picture event:  an epic, globe-hopping quest that spans hidden mysteries, menacing criminals and ancient secrets – and brings to dazzling, life the classic escapades that have enthralled generation after generation with their one-of-a-kind mix of action, humor and scintillating tale-spinning in The Adventures of Tintin: THE SECRET OF THE UNICORN.

Based on the internationally beloved and irrepressible characters created by Hergé, the story follows the unquenchably curious young reporter Tintin (Jamie Bell) and his fiercely loyal dog Snowy as they discover a model ship carrying an explosive secret.  Drawn into a centuries-old mystery, Tintin finds himself in the sightlines of Ivan Ivanovitch Sakharine (Daniel Craig), a diabolical villain who believes Tintin has stolen a priceless treasure tied to dastardly pirate named Red Rackham.  But with the help of his dog Snowy, the salty, cantankerous Captain Haddock (Andy Serkis) and the bumbling detectives Thompson & Thomson (Simon Pegg and Nick Frost), Tintin will travel half the world, outwitting and outrunning his enemies in a breathless chase to find the final resting place of The Unicorn, a shipwreck that may hold the key to vast fortune … and an ancient curse.

From the high seas to the sands of North African deserts, every new twist and turn sweeps Tintin and his friends to escalating levels of thrills and peril, proving that when you dare to risk everything, there’s no limit to what you can do.

I’ll say no more other than I hope you enjoy the coverage right here. The stream is set to go live 17:30 GMT. You can see all our coverage of all things Tintin right here and our review here.

New trailer time for Tintin and there’s a whole lot of One Boy and his Dog to enjoy here as the release date for the 3D Mo-captravaganza from Messrs. Spielberg and Jackson draws ever closer.

What’s gratifying on the new posters has the names of writers Stephen Moffat, Joe Cornish and Edgar Wright prominently displayed alongside the Producer and Director and I’m certainly hoping for big things from this talented trio.

Ben saw the film earlier this week and his thoughts are up here, and there’s certainly something very enticing about a new Spielberg action movie. In the UK we’ll have our chance to see the film on the 26th of October with a December release for the States.

Here are your posters and a new trailer, anticipation frenzy-whipped yet?

The Playlist threw us the trailer bone while IMPA did the poster thing with the usual aplomb.

The first reviews are finding their way online for The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn and it’s a generally positive reception for a film which comes to us from two masters of modern popular cinema. If you’re curious then click here to read Ben’s take on the film.

THR sat down with the pair to talk about their collaboration and their love of the story and the new technology which helped bring this version of Herge’s celebrated boy-wonder to the big screen. Certainly when the Blu-ray is released there’ll be lots of interesting behind the scenes stuff to dive into, not least on the technology side of things, but also to see how the two worked on a day by day basis.

We here in the UK get Tintin on the 26th of October while the US have to wait until the 21 December to join in on the fun. The earlier release date here is nice and all, but remember that the States get The Muppets in a month while we have to wait until February next year to indulge ourselves. Both sides of the Atlantic are calling for simulataneous worldwide releases right now.

Here’s the

It’s probably worth starting this review of The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn by gently ushering a couple of elephants out of the room. The first is the title, which is ridiculously overlong. For the sake of simplicity, from here on in, we’ll simply be calling it ‘Tintin’. The second, much larger elephant is the look of the film.

Motion capture is second only to 3D as a point of contention among audiences. Quite understandably so. All too often, reasonably good films have been hampered by characters who move in an odd fashion, and have a soulless, dead-eyed look. Getting expression out of animated characters is a difficult enough thing to achieve, and the almost religious adherence of proponents of the technique like Robert Zemeckis, to animation based exactly on the actors’ performances rather than a collaboration between actor and animator, often makes this impossible. This is also not helped by the fact that the filmmakers almost always seem to plump for character designs that end up squarely in the middle of the Uncanny Valley.

Tintin is something of an exception to this. While the textures used on the characters are as close to real life as a modern computer will allow, the designs deftly skirt the edges of the precipice, taking their cues from Herge’s artwork rather than the actors portraying them. There is the odd moment when a hand or part of a face looks as if it’s been photographed rather than drawn, but rarely does it become unnerving. In contrast to this, the animation team appear to have focused much of their effort on getting everything else to look ‘real’, and with great success. The sets, props and costumes all look incredible, and it’s surprisingly easy to forget that this isn’t a live action film.

With these pachyderms pushed aside for the moment, we’re free to consider the movie in more general terms.  The story is well thought out, and feels like a Tintin adventure should – clever and fun – taking cues from the books, without being slavishly faithful. A conflation of several published stories, it none the less seems like a complete work, without unnecessary threads added for fan service. Indeed, where the film adds characters who wouldn’t otherwise appear, it does so in a way that is entirely consistent with its own logic, and uses them in a fashion that advances the story.

Tonally the 40s setting, the globe-trotting adventure and the intelligent, everyman lead – equally at home with brains, fists or guns gives the film a similar feel to Indiana Jones. Not surprising really, given that Spielberg himself once compared the two characters. This could have gone badly, the last time Spielberg entered this territory we ended up with Shia Le Tarzan, and Harrison Ford in a fridge. Worse, it could have simply been overly self-referential or even self-parody*. Fortunately Tintin is much more in the spirit of the first three films rather than the last, packed with intrigue and excitement rather than loaded down by its own mythology.

The beauty of this is that we get to see Spielberg directing the sort of fun action that he hasn’t done well since the late nineties, and it’s glorious. It’s also the point where our attention is once more on That Elephant. By using motion capture Spielberg is free to create action sequences that he never could in real life. The showpiece chase through a Moroccan city involves a hotel being carried through the streets on a tank, motorbike sidecars crashing through buildings and torrents of water turning whole streets into rivers. The sheer logistics of this, let alone the cost, would make it incredibly difficult, if not impossible to achieve in a live action film. Certainly some of the shots used simply can’t be done outside of animation.

While overblown, effects dependent chases don’t always work in live action films, with Tintin it was the highlight. Because everything is created in a computer there’s no issue with integrating animation and photography, and because everything does look slightly unreal, we can accept the impossible, whether that is a camera move, or a partial suspension of gravity.

Unfortunately while motion capture and near-photo-real animation allow for Tintin’s greatest triumph, it is also the film’s biggest flaw. While the chase, as well as the film in general, works well from a technical standpoint, it’s also somewhat sterile. There’s every reason for us to be emotionally connected with the characters, and rooting for them through their adventure, but the reality is that we’re not. Ordinarily this could be blamed on script, direction or acting, but everything here seems fine. If anything, it’s actually much better than fine. The problem is that the characters simply don’t connect. They’re far from the eerie mannequins we saw in films like Final Fantasy and Beowulf, but they still don’t give enough subtle cues for us to empathise with them as we would with a human actor, and they’re not sufficiently broad and cartoonish for us to forgive this.

Consequently, Tintin feels very mechanical. It’s not dull or boring, and it’s certainly worth a watch, but it’s nowhere near as good a film as it should have been. It isn’t even the sum of its very well made parts. It almost certainly is, however, the best film it could be.

 ***~~ (3/5)

*Yes, I appreciate the last Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was pretty much self-parody anyway, but  humour me.

I’m not sure what the consensus is these days regarding the M:I franchise. I loved the first and third films, thought the second was a bit duff and am thoroughly looking forward to Brad Bird’s live-action debut for Ghost Protocol. What does everyone else think? Sure, the whole hanging off a high building thing has been done to death in the franchise already, but Jeremy Renner has bags of charisma, Simon Pegg improves every film he appears in and Cruise himself is clearly no slouch.

With late December’s worldwide release date fast approaching, we now have another poster and TV spot, this time from Japan. The poster, as might have been expected, makes much of Cruise and nothing much of anyone else (unless those characters down the side read, “forget Cruise, Pegg is in this one”), though the TV spot does contain perhaps a couple of new beats. Frankly, it all comes rushing past so fast it can be hard to make sense of it. One can only hope that the film is edited a little more compassionately.

Thanks to Coming Soon.

Paramount / Columbia have dropped this brand new trailer for Peter Jackson / Steven Spielberg’s new movie, The Adventures Of Tintin which is set for release in the UK  October 26th.

Based on three of Georges “Hergé” Remi’s original Tintin stories, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn is directed by Steven Spielberg, and stars Jamie Bell, Daniel Craig, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Tony Curran, Toby Jones, Mackenzie Crook, Cary Elwes and Gad Elmaleh.

Tintin (Bell) and his friends discover directions to a sunken ship commanded by Capt. Haddock’s ancestor and go off on a treasure hunt.

The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn will be released in the UK October 26th, almost two months before it hits US cinemas on December 23rd.

This comes courtesy of MSN.