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Tintin Movie Sequel: General speculation [may include spoilers!]

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tintinsgf
Member
#41 · Posted: 6 Feb 2012 14:40
mct16
That I remember, Hergé and his team were about to develop Tintin et Le Thermozero, but after drawing 8 pages, they decided to stop making it, and then they instead focused on developing The Calculus Affair.

Anyway though, you can see the plot summary at wikipedia, it wasn't completed (as far as I remember) but don't you think that this means the plot is expandable?
jock123
Moderator
#42 · Posted: 6 Feb 2012 16:48
mct16:
If Greg's script survived then it could be the basis for a film. Anyone know if it is in the archives?

Well it seems more than likely – the pages Hergé drew are certainly there, and he certainly horded paperwork.

What’s more, not only is the incomplete Tintin book there, according to archivist M. Bernard Tordeur, the complete Jo, Zette & Jocko version is there too (it is complete in as much there is work for the entire story – there is nothing to say that there is a finalized, fully finished, ready-to-go book).

tintinsgf:
after drawing 8 pages, they decided to stop making it, and then they instead focused on developing The Calculus Affair.

Le ThermoZéro actually post-dates The Calculus Affair, as Hergé was working on it in 1959-60.

As to adapting it to the screen, while possible, it seems highly unlikely to me – leastways until they finish with titles which people might recognize. Add to that the fact that the script and story would have been available to them when Greg wrote Lake of Sharks, and they didn’t use it (the J,Z&J version having been shelved by then), and I’m not certain that we’ll see it any time soon.
Blistring_Barnacles
Member
#43 · Posted: 6 Feb 2012 17:19
One problem they would have with doing The Calculus Affair is that they'd have to change Calculus's weapon. If Castifiore can break bullet-proof glass that easily, what's the point of Calculus's invention?
jock123
Moderator
#44 · Posted: 6 Feb 2012 22:50
Blistring_Barnacles:
If Castifiore can break bullet-proof glass that easily, what's the point of Calculus's invention?

Actually, you’ve more or less given the answer – Calculus foresees the fact that with a suitable amplifier, the same force which Bianca used to shatter the glass could be turned against cities; he builds the prototype to prove his concept, and provide warning of the danger (not to use it as a weapon himself).
tintinsgf
Member
#45 · Posted: 7 Feb 2012 11:30
jock123
Oh, is that so? Then I was misreading it back then at wikipedia... And all I remember is that le Thermozero plot somewhat resembles the Calculus affair, and that it was stopped (that's all I remember). Anyway, thank you for the reminder.

I think it's the plot development that make Thermozero unlikely to be used for the next sequel. Anyway though, seeing The Calculus Affair as a standalone story would be nice, I just think that it might not work well when combined with other story.
mct16
Member
#46 · Posted: 7 Feb 2012 15:06
If they did film "Calculus Affair", then maybe they ought to update it to the present, with the action in the Middle East and Calculus being fought over by thinly-veiled Israeli and Iranian agents.
jock123
Moderator
#47 · Posted: 7 Feb 2012 16:20
mct16:
If they did film "Calculus Affair", then maybe they ought to update it to the present,

Hmmm… You’re actually condoning changing one of the texts? ;-)

mct16:
with the action in the Middle East and Calculus being fought over by thinly-veiled Israeli and Iranian agents.

That misses the fact that Hergé wasn’t dealing with any specific regime, policy, political position, or whatever – he was using the milieu of the thriller to comment on the world of politics in general, not directing a broadside at political philosophy.
The fact that it is almost impossible to tell Borduria from Syldavia, or what it is which separates one from the other, or even what the exact nature of the regimes in place are, is genius: it’s a commentary upon the notions of government.
Tying this sort of thing to a specific place, party or time would diminish it incredibly; you’d have to come down on one side or the other. It’s why Red Sea Sharks is a better book now that it’s set in an imaginary world than it was originally, and why Blue Lotus may work artistically, but leaves most readers a bit puzzled and confused by the fact that the relations between Japan, China and the rest of the world no longer reflect current positions, locking it to a period long gone.
mct16
Member
#48 · Posted: 7 Feb 2012 19:54
jock123:
Hmmm… You’re actually condoning changing one of the texts? ;-)

Not really, but given the fact that they'll change it anyway I might as well make some constructive suggestions.

jock123:
it is almost impossible to tell Borduria from Syldavia

The story still has a very Cold War feel about it and the conflict between Israel and the Arabs is general enough that a work of fiction does not necessarily have to choose sides. It's often been pointed out that Borduria has a Stalinist atmosphere about it so that is at least one side that we know of.

Herge did base the story around the context of the Cold War and obtaining the services of scientists in order to build WMDs - Balthazar raised this point only the other day.

jock123:
Blue Lotus may work artistically, but leaves most readers a bit puzzled and confused by the fact that the relations between Japan, China and the rest of the world no longer reflect current positions, locking it to a period long gone.

Well, having a passion for history, this actually makes it more appealing to me since it raises past issues that would otherwise be unknown or forgotten. I'd never heard of the Shangai International Settlement prior to reading "Blue Lotus" and this spurred my interest to check it out a little. I wish the publishers had included some notes about the Gran Chaco War of 1932 to 1935 in "Broken Ear". Until I read Farr's book I just saw it as Herge's attempt to prolong the story by a few pages and sub-plots.

It is not unusual for films or books to include contemporary issues which may seem dated a few years later: the Bond movie "The Man with the Golden Gun" includes references to the Energy Crisis of the early 1970s since it revolves around a device which could revolutionise solar power. You'd have thought that the end of the Cold War would have meant that John Le Carre's novels of the time were no longer relevant - but one of last year's big hits was the film "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy", set in the 1970s.

Today we're celebrating the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens. Do you think "Oliver Twist" would be better off being re-written with borstals (instead of workhouses) or a drug-dealing Artful Hoodie?

How about this: Tintin and Haddock must rescue Calculus who has been alternately kidnapped by Muller, a German-Jew, and Bab El Ehr, a Shia terrorist involved in a conflict with Sunni despot Ben Kalish Ezab?
jock123
Moderator
#49 · Posted: 7 Feb 2012 22:31
mct16:
It's often been pointed out that Borduria has a Stalinist atmosphere about it so that is at least one side that we know of.

But we don’t – it may be what people apply to it, but Stalinism is just an influence for the decor of the story, it’s set-dressing; the book isn’t a critique of Stalinism, and it doesn’t matter which side is which.

mct16:
Herge did base the story around the context of the Cold War and obtaining the services of scientists in order to build WMDs

But again, he’s simply writing a spy story, not delivering a message, or taking the systems apart. Missing scientists and stolen secret plans just fit in as McGuffins to the spy genre. Hergé isn’t thinly disguising anything, or alluding, or making a political point – he’s writing a ripping yarn.

mct16:
Today we're celebrating the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens. Do you think "Oliver Twist" would be better off being re-written with borstals (instead of workhouses) or a drug-dealing Artful Hoodie?

I think you’re now arguing with yourself – you wanted to relocate the book in space and time, not I… ;-)

I actually don’t mind whether or not stories are updated; I just don’t think that the suggested change in any way improves on the original.
mct16
Member
#50 · Posted: 7 Feb 2012 23:14
You appeared to say that some books don't age well, such as "Blue Lotus" which includes the issue of the Japanese Occupation, but I don't think it is necessarily the case.

For "Calculus Affair" a la Middle East, I'm just coming up with the ways in which the producers would divert from the original source material - as they seem to have a tendency to do anyway.

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