You would think that there is nothing in the film industry somebody in the likes of Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson can’t get nowadays. After all, they are the men who made some of the biggest blockbusters in Hollywood history.
Steven Spielberg’s movie credits include E.T, A.I, War of the Worlds, Jaws, Indiana Jones, Schindler’s List, Jurassic Park and many other superb movies while Peter Jackson is best known for his Lord of the Rings trilogy and remake of King Kong.
However it seems that the economic crisis has spread its negative waves to Hollywood, judging by the fact that Spielbeg and Jackson got turned down after they submitted a budget of US$130 million for their 3D animated movie based on the famous Belgian comic Tintin to Universal Pictures. What it means now is that they have only Paramount to fall back on, who agreed to invest half the money for the film. Whether Spielberg would get his money from Paramount or not is skeptical as they are about to end their long term association to each other.
Spielberg first optioned the movie rights to Tintin in 1983. He had conceived the project for years and years, envisioning a trilogy, with the first film to be directed by himself and the second by Jackson. He has yet to decide what to do for the third. Initially he had hoped to begin the production this month with both movies being filmed back to back. Now it appears that Spielberg would have to shelf Tintin for just a while longer.
When even the formidable Spielberg and Jackson duo gets refused, you know that the economy is really rocking the foundations of the entertainment industry and even Spielberg’s magical touch would not move the studios into investing readily into his projects. This is a sobering piece of news for all of us in the entertainment industry, when it is painfully clear that the bottom lines for studios precede the reputation of the mega talents.
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