Beaks here...

We received a whole mess of TINTIN rumors today, and, after a little bit o' verificatin', one even turned out to be true!

According to a reliable source not at all involved in the production, those rumblings we heard last fall about Simon Pegg and Nick Frost being cast as the Thomson and Thompson were right on the money. They're in. Along with Andy Serkis, who's set to play Captain Haddock, this runs the number of confirmed flesh-and-blood performers up to three!

With production allegedly a month away, expect these numbers to grow rapidly. At the top of the to-cast list for director Steven Spielberg (and producer Peter Jackson): a new Tintin to replace Thomas Sangster, who got knocked out due to scheduling conflicts when the project was delayed. But who knows? Maybe they'll start with Snowy the dog. And maybe they'll offer it to Howie Mandel, who was so memorable as a canine in Melvin Frank's 1987 triumph, WALK LIKE A MAN (my kingdom for a Hulu embed).

Paramount and Sony are splitting the cost on the $135 million 3D performance-capture opus. You know the economy is shitty when studios are afraid to finance a Spielberg/Jackson picture. As reported many times over, Spielberg will direct the first installment, while Jackson will take the reins on the second. The first film is due out in 2010.