The Tintin movie is due for a 2011 release

British actor Daniel Craig, best known for playing secret agent James Bond, has signed up to play the villain in the new Tintin movie.

The 40-year-old has landed the role of Red Rackham opposite Billy Elliot star Jamie Bell, who will play the intrepid young reporter Tintin.

Filming for The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn, directed by Steven Spielberg, has already begun.

Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Mackenzie Crook will also appear in the film.

Sequel planned

Writer Steven Moffat had been working on the script, but was forced to leave the project when he replaced Russell T Davies as lead writer and executive producer on Doctor Who.

Moffat blamed the US writers' strike for delaying his work schedule.

The original Tintin character was created in 1929 by Georges Remi, better known by his pen name Herge.

His adventures were played out through two dozen books.

Over 200 million copies have been sold worldwide and the popular series has been translated into 70 languages.

It is thought the Tintin movie, planned for release in 2011, will be the first of two or three movies featuring the character.

Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson, who is co-producing the project with Spielberg, has been lined up to direct the sequel.





