"NOT JUST FOR FRANCOPHILES..."

So, Tintin, the legendary boy detective of the late Belgian artist Hergé is finally reaching the screen in 2009. Let's keep our fingers crossed, shall we.

The name and the quintessential image of the ever energetic Tintin conjures up many fond childhood memories for me. He was certainly a hero of a much more innocent time. In the early Seventies when I read the "Tintin" graphic novels, I was always inspired by his boyish courage, and had many good laughs at the hilarious blasphemies of his friend Captain Haddock and the "idiotic genius" Professor Calculus.

Not to mention that über-cool shark submarine and red-and-white checkered moon rocket, which I've always wanted as models...

Now Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks SKG are gearing up to do a movie adaptation. This straight from the horse's mouth (actually The Hollywood Reporter) :

"Herge Studios chief Nick Rodwell said it is still unclear which of the 23 Tintin books will be chosen for a first movie, nor could he say whether the film would be live-action, traditional animation or CGI. "With Harry Potter, everyone knows that there will be seven films. We have 23 scripts. If the first one works, we'll make another," he said.

Well. I can only hope that Spielberg & Co. will pull this one off. Personally, I'm not at all sure if Tintin even works that well in English. I'm not a Francophile, but I feel that "Tintin" should be shot in French. (Yup, no typo there. I mean, can you imagine Captain Haddock swearing in a Cockney or New York accent?!?! Oh boy.) Then again, you certainly don't have to be French, Belgian or a hard-core Francophile to get Tintin.

When I interviewed director Jean-Pierre Jeunet ("Alien: Resurrection", "A Very Long Engagement") a few years back, I had the nerve to tell him "mano a mano" that I thought he would be the perfect man for the job. To direct "Tintin". To my surprise, he agreed.