SAN DIEGO – Steven Spielberg figures there’s only one or two of his old movies that he might consider converting to 3-D. And the ones he’s thinking about have large, hungry creatures at their centre.
Spielberg said Friday that if conversions could be done well enough that the result looked like a movie shot in 3-D, then his dinosaur adventure “Jurassic Park” might be a candidate for the three-dimensional treatment. He also said his shark tale “Jaws” was a possibility.
The filmmaker spoke in an interview before a presentation at the fan convention Comic-Con in San Diego, where he was showing off footage from “The Adventures of Tintin,” his collaboration with “The Lord of the Rings” creator Peter Jackson.
Comic-Con also presented Spielberg with an Inkpot Award, an honour given to notable convention guests.
Spielberg took the stage to a booming standing ovation from the Comic-Con crowd, whom the director offered profuse thanks.
“I wouldn’t be here without you,” Spielberg told the audience. “I wouldn’t be here without you supporting these movies. Kids, no matter what your age, you’re kids, and you’ll be kids the rest of your lives. I’ve been a kid all my life.”
Spielberg said the day he grows up is the day “I stop making movies, which I don’t intend to do.”
Before showing “Tintin” footage, Spielberg presented a hilarious gag-reel audition of Jackson in sailor costume trying out for the role of Captain Haddock, the title character’s grouchy pal. Jackson’s test ends with him diving off a pier into the sea.
Jackson then joined Spielberg on stage, a surprise appearance, since distributor Paramount Pictures had kept it under wraps that he would be attending Comic-Con.
A producer on “Tintin,” Jackson added his own wry accolade for Spielberg.
“I think he shows real promise,” Jackson said. “If he decides to stick with filmmaking, I think he could really go places.”
The Comic-Con audience had a chance to ask questions of both filmmakers, and one boy wanted to know which of Spielberg’s films was his favourite.
Spielberg said the best one to actually make was his blockbuster “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” because he came to love his three child stars – Henry Thomas, Drew Barrymore and Robert MacNaughton – so much.
Usually, after finishing a film, everyone just goes home and moves on, but “when I went home from the production of ‘E.T.’, I didn’t want to go home,” Spielberg said. “I realized for the first time in my life that I wanted to have children. I have seven now, thanks to ‘E.T.'”
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