After 'The Hobbit,' Peter Jackson Takes On 'Tintin 2'

Too early to ask just when exactly Peter Jackson plans on sleeping?

The Academy Award-winning director of the "Lord Of The Rings" trilogy will hardly catch his breath after shooting 2012's "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" and "The Hobbit: There and Back Again" back-to-back in New Zealand. Once his latest Tolkien takes are both in the can, Jackson will make a role-reversal with pal Steven Spielberg and start production on the sequel to another Academy Award nominee, 2012 Best Original Score contender and Best Animated Feature Golden Globe-winner "The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn."

"We made a deal," said Spielberg to Total Film recently. "I said, 'I'll direct the first one, you direct the second one.' Peter [who produced the first film], of course, is going to do it right after he finishes photography on 'The Hobbit.' He'll go right into the . . . performance capture."

A Jackson representative confirmed the project with EW.com recently, as well as that Spielberg would indeed be producing the sequel. The production team will be at work putting together as much of the digital sets, characters and locations as possible while Jackson finishes "The Hobbit."

Jackson certainly doesn't do anything on a small scale anymore. The first "Tintin" feature, released in late 2011, borrowed from three books among Belgian author Herge's 60-year running anthology. That would seemingly leave Jackson with three books down, another 21 to go.

"We're not telling the world what books we're basing the second movie on yet," Spielberg said.

Made on a $135-million budget, "The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn" ended up grossing $371.3 million in all.

Meanwhile, "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" hits theaters Dec. 14, 2012. That saga's conclusion, "The Hobbit: There and Back Again," releases Dec. 13, 2013.