Spielberg has been connected to the project for nearly 25 years as he was approached by Herge the creator of Tintin back in the early 1980's. Herge believed that Spielberg was the only one in Hollywood who could do his comic hero justice on the big screen.



Spielberg though never was able to commit totally to the project because he believed that he would never be capable enough to translate the ligne claire style of action adventure books to the big screen with the technology available. It is only no with Peter Jackson on board who using his Weta workshop that the Belgium boy detective can now come to life.

The big question and one that has Tintin forums are in a tizzy is the question if who will play the lead? Is it going to be an unknown such as Kristen Myburgh (has been one named linked) who may like Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter go on to become a household name. Well the newest name liked is a more established actor and British cinematic hero Simon Pegg.

Simon Pegg first came to the attention of British People in his self-penned TV series Spaced that became a cult hit. Along with his team of Nick Frost (Co-star) and Edgar Wright (Director) he went onto make the hugely successful Shaun of the Dead (2004) which along with Hot Fuzz (2007) brought him to the attention of Hollywood.

He has made several films this year including his first role as lead in a film that he hasn't written called Run, Fat Boy, Run (directed by David Schwimmer) and he also pops up in Grindhouse too.

The role of Tintin will be huge and will take up a lot of time for which ever actor accepts the lead with the films being shot back to back as Lord of the Rings was. It may not suit Simon Pegg who is always inventive and throwing himself into new projects. Simon though is a known comic book fan and has admitted to loving Tintin in several interviews that has only fuelled the debate.

The question though is whether he has the right look for the film. This maybe not as much of problem as previously thought. Simon Pegg maybe older that Tintin (Estimated to be in his late teens) but the technique that will be used in the films is similar to those used to bring Gollum to life in Lord of the Rings. The character Gollum was created by Weta using motion capture techniques on actor Andy Serkis then using key frame animation and subsurface scattering rendering techniques enabled the first completely convincing portrayal of an animated humanoid in a feature film. This technology would make it easy for Simon Pegg to play Tintin.

The debate is set to rage on and with the first film not scheduled to be finished in production till 2009 there will not be any answer soon.