Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

[MacGuffin]

Shia LeBeouf Leaks 'Indiana Jones' Fourth Title At VMAs
'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull' is the name we've all been waiting for.

"If adventure has a name ... it must be Indiana Jones," a publicity campaign announced in 1984. Now we know that the fourth installment in the Indiana Jones series has a name, and it will be "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull."

Shia LaBeouf, one of the franchise's new castmembers, announced the title of the much-hyped, long-awaited flick in dramatic fashion at MTV's Video Music Awards. For months, if not years, the name of this latest Indy adventure has been debated. Last month, it seemed that the field of contenders had been narrowed when it was discovered that Lucasfilm had registered six names the with the Motion Picture Association of America, in addition to the winning name, there was "Indiana Jones and the City of Gods," "Indiana Jones and the Destroyer of Worlds," "Indiana Jones and the Fourth Corner of the Earth," "Indiana Jones and the Lost City of Gold," and "Indiana Jones and the Quest for the Covenant."

Ever since the last Indiana Jones adventure, "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade," was released in 1989, rumors of a fourth film have run wild. Several high-profile Hollywood writers, including Frank Darabont ("The Shawshank Redemption") and M. Night Shyamalan ("The Sixth Sense") were signed on to pen the sequel in the last few years. In the end, it was a polished script by David Koepp ("War of the Worlds") that convinced Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Harrison Ford to break out the famed fedora one more time. The film has been shooting since June in locations ranging from Connecticut to Hawaii.

The story line is being kept under wraps for now. But we do know that several new cast members are part of the adventure. The aforementioned LaBeouf has been rumored to be playing Jones' long-lost son. And his mother could be none other than Marion Ravenwood from "Raiders of the Lost Ark." Spielberg announced that Karen Allen would reprise her role as Ravenwood during a dramatic Comic-Con presentation in July.

Ford introduced actor Ray Winstone ("Beowulf") in that same presentation, describing him as his "sidekick." Also in the cast are Oscar winner Cate Blanchett and John Hurt. The most pervasive rumors have them pegged as a villain and the long-lost Abner Ravenwood (Marion's father) respectively. Sean Connery will not reprise his role as Indiana Jones' father, saying he finds retirement "too damned much fun" (see " 'Indiana Jones 4' Loses Sean Connery As Indy's Dad, Picks Up John Hurt").

"Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" is set for release May 22.

[modage]

that is a horrible title.  its the Phantom Menace of titles.

[Pubrick]

Indiana Jones and Somebody Stop George Lucas

[grand theft sparrow]

its the Phantom Menace of titles.

I wouldn't go that far.  Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is just as good of a title as (if not better than) Temple of Doom.  The problem is that the movie is going to be the Phantom Menace of Indy and no title will make that any more or less true.

[edison]

So they are looking for these things?

[cron]

anyone else gets the feeling that ray winstone's gonna play a traitor, and that's gonna be the biggest twist in this movie?

i like the title, though.

[NEON MERCURY]

that is a horrible title.  its the Phantom Menace of titles.

i think one of george lucas' illagitimate children came up w/the title

[Pubrick]

So they are looking for these things?

first thing i thought of was:

its the Phantom Menace of titles.

I wouldn't go that far.  Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is just as good of a title as (if not better than) Temple of Doom. 

i completely disagree, i would defintely go that far.

Temple of Doom is a good title, along with Last Crusuade, they don't overwhelm the "Indiana Jones" part so as to become separate titles of their own. The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull has twice as many phrases as the previous examples! Indiana Jones and the  "X Y" or at most "X of Y" where X/Y= ONE WORD. the only way this title could be worse is if it was "The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull That Has Magic Powers And When You Get It You Can Use The Powers and The Skull Itself Is Probably Worth Something Too"

temple of doom/last crusade roll of the tongue and also evoke appropriate moods for each film, grandiose fare either ominous or legendary (whether they deliver or not). this new title offers very little of either.

[grand theft sparrow]

So by that logic, if this movie was called Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Skulls, that would be a better title?  No.  And three pages back on this thread, everyone was already talking smack about Indiana Jones and the City of Gods. 

Kingdom of the Crystal Skull may not roll off the tongue as well as the other titles but it most definitely evokes the mood of the adventure stories that Lucas grew up on.  The problem isn't the title in and of itself.  It's that the title promises a shitty movie.  Like who's taking bets on the crystal skull in question shattering to save Shia from being eaten by Nazis?

Besides, in the same way that we refer to Raiders, Temple of Doom, and Last Crusade, this will get abbreviated to Crystal Skull.

[Pubrick]

i think you just repeated what i said:

So by that logic, if this movie was called Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Skulls, that would be a better title? 

YES and NO. i was making two separate points about why the title sucked: phonetically and semantically. so yes it would at least SOUND slightly better, the series of [k] sounds in Kingdom of Crystal Skulls would be less jarring and repetitive, which is good in children's books but not in titles, it's just too much.

And three pages back on this thread, everyone was already talking smack about Indiana Jones and the City of Gods. 

that title is also shit. at least due to the existence of City of God (a great title), as illustrated by the brilliant mock-up made by polky.

Kingdom of the Crystal Skull may not roll off the tongue as well as the other titles but it most definitely evokes the mood of the adventure stories that Lucas grew up on. 

Lucas needs to shut the hell up.

The problem isn't the title in and of itself.  It's that the title promises a shitty movie. 

i went on to say that what you just repeated is exactly the problem too. not only does it SOUND bad, it promises a shitty movie. i want this to be fun as much as the next guy, but george's idea of fun as shown by the star wars prequels is completely out of touch with whoever the hell he was in his youth --- the person who actually had some idea of what made a movie good.

it's interesting to see the progress of Lucas versus that of Coppola, and to a lesser extent Spielberg. right now all three seem concerned with recapturing the zenith of their relevance, coppola has even made this explicit. i think Spielberg is a less extreme case because he's appealing to the popular majority without having really lost touch with it. he's as crafty and audience-savvy as ever. he's doing his best work without actually remaking his best work. he's doing minor work too, but the spirit of what he's doing has not changed compared to the 70s. he's aware of both the essence of his work and the surface appeal.

Lucas has lost all touch, he had amazing ideas in the 70s and instead of appealing to the spirit of those ideas, he's working from the surface outwards. it's hard to find heart in what he does. Coppola however is the opposite, he is starting RIGHT AT THE HEART and not really thinking about the surface, which he realises is transitory anyway. so i do have hope for this movie, it's just covered in a thick lucas layer which i'm gonna have to swallow.

[mogwai]

indiana jones and the cristal bitches.

[Pubrick]

i don't get it.

[mogwai]

just thought it was funny title.

[Pozer]

what happened to Indiana Jones and the City of Gods?  way better.

[picolas]

i've actually forgotten the title thrice.

i'd like to reference The Return of the Curse of the Creature's Ghost.