Jul 22, 2008 10:00 AM
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Tue Feb 9
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Just how much did Steven Moffat want to take control of Doctor Who? Apparently enough to turn down half a million dollars and tell Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson that he'd rather not work with them after all, according to a recent newspaper interview that the new Who-master gave over the weekend.
Given the choice between taking the reins of Doctor Who and fulfilling his contract to write the second Tintin movie for Spielberg and Jackson was a no-brainer, according to Moffat:
I know a lot of people won't understand it but I've been dreaming about writing for Doctor Who since I was seven. There are no bad feelings between Spielberg and me, but Doctor Who has to come before Hollywood... I could not work on the second Tintin film and work on Doctor Who. So I chose Doctor Who. Steven is a fan and he understood my passion for the series completely.
Moffat, who's already written the first of a planned Tintin trilogy, was originally contracted to write the first two before being offered the Who gig. In a classic British tabloid attempt, the Mail of Sunday story quotes an anonymous (and potentially fictional) Hollywood insider to give the story some more spice:
No one walks away from Spielberg and all that money for a show no one has heard of. I mean, what is this doctor show about? It sounds a little silly.
More silly than a Belgian boy reporter and his cute little dog hanging out with alcoholic sea captains and having adventures on the moon? Somehow, I don't think so, Johnny Hollywood.
£500,000 Mr Spielberg? Sorry, I've got a date with the Beeb, says the new Dr Who writer [Mail on Sunday]
Send an email to Graeme McMillan, the author of this post, at graeme@io9.com.
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