A poster of comics figure Tintin and his dog Milou. After 25 years of negotiations, Steven Spielberg's Dreamworks Studios has begun preparations for a "Tintin" film, the firm that owns the rights to the celebrated animated hero.[AFP]

After 25 years of negotiations, Steven Spielberg's Dreamworks Studios has begun preparations for a "Tintin" film, the firm that owns the rights to the celebrated animated hero said on Thursday.

"We began negotiations with Spielberg's company 25 years ago. Three years ago, we signed a contract with his company, Dreamworks. Last week, they decided to enter into preproduction to make a series of 'Tintin' films," Moulinsart's owner Nick Rodwell said.

If it is successful, the "major production" due for 2009 or 2010 will be the first in a series, he said at a press conference in Brussels.

Rodwell did not say which of the 23 "Tintin" adventures the film will be based on, and he declined to specify whether it would be a movie or an animation.

"With Harry Potter, everyone knows that there are seven films. We have 23 scenarios. If the first succeeds, the series will continue," he said.

Rodwell's wife Fanny is the widow and sole heir of Herge, the Belgian creator of the young reporter and his faithful canine companion Snowy.

She is also the president of Studios Herge, which protects the work of the animator, who died in 1983 and hoped that a "Tintin" film would be made by a big name in cinema.