Remember The Adventures of Tintin? That 2011 CGI animated film based on a comic book by award-winning Belgian writer/artist Herge and directed by award-winning filmmaker Steven Spielberg? If you do there’s a good chance you don’t live in North America – or maybe you’re just an animation junkie. The movie did gross more than $370 million worldwide, but its North American profits only accounted for around $77 million of that. In any case, that gross (more than triple the film’s budget) meant a sequel was well on its way.

Before Tintin started production there were plans for at least two sequels. Peter Jackson – a producer on the first movie – has been set to make the second Tintin movie from the start; however, a little something called The Hobbit has delayed those plans for a bit. Luckily, for those of us who thoroughly enjoyed the first Tintin (character designs that sometimes edge into the Uncanny Valley aside),  Jamie Bell, the actor playing the title character, recently gave an interview with IGN wherein he all but confirmed the sequel as a reality.

According to Bell, Jackson will get to work on The Adventures of Tintin 2 “as soon as [he’s] back from Middle-earth” referring to the setting of the Hobbit films, the last of which – There and Back Again – should be out December this year. The Tintin sequel’s schedule all depends on when Jackson will be ready and willing to reenter the director’s seat; though a Christmas 2015 release was planned at some point, that’s “long-since ceased being a realistic goal.”

Jamie Bell and Andy Serkis

The Adventures of Tintin was praised for its animation, which merged realism with the designs of Herge’s comics. Bell’s co-star Andy Serkis will likely reprise his role, as his character Captain Haddock was a mainstay of the comics.