Spielberg says he won't direct 'Jurassic Park 4'; talks 'Tintin' sequels

While Steven Spielberg's War Horse has underperformed here in the States, it still has a good shot scoring some Oscar love in the next few weeks. As the equine drama makes it's roll out overseas, Spielberg has been making the press rounds, and of course the conversation turned to some of his other projects. Why? Because War Horse isn't all that interesting compared to what Spielberg has on tap.

One of those that should be on the horizon is a sequel to The Adventures of Tintin, another Spielberg film that has done lukewarm business on our side of the fence. However, as it's based on the popular French comic books, has done nearly $300M of business in the foreign market, all but ensuring we'll see more. A couple of months ago we learned that pre-production had already begun, with Anthony Horowitz(Stormbreaker) prepping the script. Peter Jackson would direct, but there's been some question over which Tintin novels would be combined to comprise the next film. Collider had a chance to talk to Spielberg about it, and while he wasn't answering that particular question, he did reveal the number of books and when filming would begin....


Spielberg: “I’m not going to say which stories have been chosen for Peter Jackson’s sequel because Peter and I agreed that we weren’t going to let that information out yet. The script is now being written. It’s more than one book, but it’s not three books, so that means it’s two books. It’s two and a half books that we’re combining with The Secret of the Unicorn. And Peter will start working on the film this year. When he’s done shooting The Hobbit, he’ll begin his performance capture work with the actors later in 2012, which I’m very excited about. And of course, I’m hoping I’ll be able to direct the third one. I’d love to do the third one because I had so much fun on the first one.”

And then there's Jurassic Park 4, which is probably the film we have the most interest in here in America. After years of rumors and false starts, Spielberg and writer Mark Protosevich confirmed that the dino sequel was in the planning stages, with the director confirming last July that they had a story idea set in place. What we didn't know was how involved Spielberg would be in the process. Would he direct the film himself? Or just serve as an advisor while some somebody he trusts takes the reins? Remember how well that worked with Jurassic Park III? While Spielberg wouldn't go too into detail, he did confirm that it won't be him behind the camera...

Spielberg: “I don’t want to talk about Jurassic Park 4 yet – it’s too early – but I can tell you that I’m not directing it. I’m producing it though.”

Disappointing, but not totally unexpected. With Lincoln, Robopocalypse, Tintin, and a possible Biblical epic in Gods and Kings, Spielberg has more than enough to keep him busy. To check out the full story, go check out the interview by our friends over at Collider.