Peter Jackson Is Penning a Long-Awaited Sequel to The Adventures of Tintin

Peter Jackson's had a busy week in Cannes: he picked up an honorary Palme d'Or, spent time chatting with press, and let slip a bunch of updates about what he's working on next. If you figured he'd be directing every Lord of the Rings spinoff until the end of time, well... not quite.

Why Andy Serkis Is Taking Over 'Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum'

Jackson confirmed he's officially handing the director's chair to Andy Serkis for the next installment in Middle-Earth, which, if you haven't heard yet, is basically 'Gollum: An Unexpected Journey Through Pure Misery.' The film's set sometime between The Hobbit and the original trilogy, and (here's the interesting part) it's more about Gollum's inner mess than epic orc battles or jewelry-hoarding elves.

As Jackson put it:

'It would be more interesting with this particular story – which takes place between Hobbit and Lord of the Rings – if Andy Serkis directed it. It’s an internal story about Gollum’s psychology and addiction. Andy knows this guy better than anybody. The more exciting version of this movie is if Andy Serkis made it.'

Translation: even Jackson, the man who built billion-dollar hobbit-mania, thinks Serkis is the only one who can do justice to the tragic, noodle-bodied weirdo known as Gollum. Fair enough.

Meanwhile, Remember 'The Adventures of Tintin'?

Now, here's the fun whiplash: Jackson has jumped back into writing the script for the long-promised sequel to 'The Adventures of Tintin.' You might remember that back when Steven Spielberg made his animated Tintin movie, he promised it'd be a two-parter — with Peter Jackson stepping up to direct the second round. Spielberg said at the time:

'Peter Jackson has to do the second part. Normally, if all goes well, he will soon start working on the script. As it takes two years of animation work on the film, for you, I would not expect to see it for about three years. But Peter will stick to it. Tintin is not dead!'

That was eight years ago. (So, yes, assuming you're alive to read this, 'soon' is a term with a lot of elasticity in the world of Peter Jackson.)

Good news? Now it's actually happening. Jackson himself said that he's actively writing the new Tintin script alongside Fran Walsh — literally in between meetings and red carpets at Cannes, apparently. His words: 'The deal was Steven (Spielberg) directs one, and I direct another.' For diehard Tintin geeks, expectations are the sequel will adapt the stories 'The Seven Crystal Balls' and 'Prisoners of the Sun.'

• Jamie Bell will likely return as Tintin
• Andy Serkis pulls double duty, probably back as Captain Haddock
• Nick Frost and Simon Pegg are expected to reprise their twin detective act as Thomson and Thompson

Oh, and a Side of World War II Drama

If that's not enough, Jackson also mentioned he's kicking around another project: a World War II film about the Dambusters Raid — a real-life 1943 Royal Air Force attack on German dams by the legendary 617 Squadron. Jackson was originally eyeing this story before the avalanche of Hobbit movies took over his career, and now it sounds like he's ready to dust it off again.

So, to recap: Peter Jackson is finally writing The Adventures of Tintin 2, Andy Serkis gets to dig into the greasy psyche of Gollum with his own camera, and there's a WWII epic in the wings. If you like big swings from Middle-Earth to Belgian comic book heroes, Jackson's got you covered.