Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

[MacGuffin]

Cast and Crew of Indy 4 talk
Source: Moviehole

In their special 'Indiana Jones' themed issue this month, Empire Magazine Australia caught up with team players Harrison Ford, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Karen Allen, John Rhys-Davies, Vic Armstrong and Producer Frank Marshall to get the latest – and once again, nothing very special at the update they give – on the sluggishly-moving fourth "Indy" adventure.

Lucas says he never wanted to do a fourth one, because it's too hard to come up with a MacGuffin, but Spielberg and Ford were dead keen.

Spielberg does state, however, that it still isn't a sure thing. "Indy has made his mark. It will be said if there is never another Indy Jones movie. But at the same time, if there is, it will be wonderful. If there isn't, I'm happy with he memories of the last three".

There is a script though, says Lucas. "I discovered a MacGuffin. So I told the guys and they were a little dubious about it, but it's the best one we've ever found".

Spielberg and Ford liked Lucas's idea, but thought it was a bit "too connected", so it's been tweaked since. In fact, Spielberg asked Lucas to change the 'MacGuffin' at one point, but the former held his ground and won.

The compromise?

"I said, 'We'll have to go back to that original MacGuffin, but I'll take out the offending parts of it and we'll still use that area of the supernatural".

Producer Frank Marshall says they're not going to infest the film – despite it being a supernatural film – with special effects.

"We're going to shoot them like we did the last three, not jazz up the effects or make them more unbelievable than they were", he says, adding that Ford will be doing his own stunts in the movie.

Not that there will be a lot of stunts, because Indy will be aged in the movie. "It's going to be at least 10 years after the last one. I mean, he's not going to try and play what he was in Last Crusade".

Vic Armstrong, captain stunts himself, says he's been contacted about doing "three fantastic stunt sequences" in the film.

Karen Allen, rumoured to be reprising her role as Marion (from "Raiders of the Lost Ark") for the film, says she thinks there might be something to rumours that Natalie Portman has been asked to play Indy's daughter in the film. "When my character wakes up on the Pirate ship [in Raiders], it occurred to me they had their wonderful thing in bed...I was thinking, Hmm, she's dark haired....".

Rhys-Davies, expected to reprise his role as Sallah, says, "Spielberg, Lucas and Ford are no longer in it just to make money, they're in it to write another chapter in the history of film. If you hear that the new Indiana Jones is being made, it will because those three men are absolutely committed to the greatest Indiana Jones film of all."

"Indy 4" – should it happen – will film in 2007, and be released the following year.

[MacGuffin]

Indiana Jones 4 Update
Source: Variety

Variety talked to "Star Wars" creator George Lucas, who says that Lucasfilm is getting out of the movie business. "We don't want to make movies. We're about to get into television. As far as Lucasfilm is concerned, we've moved away from the feature film thing, because it's too expensive and it's too risky. I think the secret to the future is quantity. Because that's where it's going to end up."

Having said that, Lucasfilm's exit from feature films is not instant or absolute. Indiana Jones 4 is still in development. "Steve (Spielberg) and I are still working away, trying to come up with something we're happy with. Hopefully in a short time we will come to an agreement. Or something," Lucas said.

He is also working on a film about the Tuskegee airmen of World War II called Red Tails. "I've been working on that for about 15 years," he said, adding he's also been working on "Indy 4" for 15 years.

And Lucas Animation does plan to start making feature films -- eventually. "Right now we're doing television, which looks great. I'm very very happy with it," he said of his animation division. "And out of doing the animation, we're getting the skill set and the people and putting the studio in place so we can do a feature. But it's probably going to be another year before we have the people and the systems in place to do a feature film."

Lucas calls himself "semi-retired" but reiterated his plans to direct, "small movies, esoteric in nature," after his other projects are launched. He expects to serve as executive producer on the two features and the TV shows, including the live-action "Star Wars" series.

[modage]

"I think the secret to the future is quantity."

wow, way to imply that TV sucks! 

[MacGuffin]

Harrison Ford: I'm still 'fit' to play Indiana Jones

ROME, Italy (AP) -- Harrison Ford says he feels "fit to continue" to play Indiana Jones despite growing older.

Ford, 64, said at the inaugural Rome Film Festival on Friday that he was delighted to team up again with directors Steven Spielberg and George Lucas for the film. Lucas co-wrote and executive produced the earlier films, which Spielberg directed.

"We did three films that stay within the same block of time. We need to move on for artistic reasons and obvious physical reasons," Ford said at a news conference. "I feel fit to continue and bring the same physical action."

"Indiana Jones 4" has been in development for over a decade, but the production has recently gained momentum. Lucas has said he and Spielberg, who would direct, are working on a script, though no details have been disclosed.

Ford played Indiana Jones in 1981's "Raiders of the Lost Ark," 1984's "Temple of Doom" and 1989's "The Last Crusade." In the last film, Jones' father was played by Sean Connery, who Ford said might also appear in the planned fourth feature.

"He's part of the emotional fabric of these films. I think there may be an opportunity, I believe that Sean is still willing and I'd be delighted if he joined us," said Ford.

Connery, who attended the Rome event last week, has said that no offer had been made.

Ford declined to provide details about a shooting schedule or film locations, adding that the directors were not yet finished with the script.

"I think it's a real opportunity to make a film as successful ... as the ones we've made before," he said.

[MacGuffin]

INDIANA JONES AND THE WASTED SCREENPLAY
Source: CHUD

This evening I got on the phone with Frank Darabont to talk about next week's special edition 2 disc set of The Green Mile. I made sure to ask him about his upcoming projects, but I couldn't help asking him about his participation in Indiana Jones IV. Darabont had spent a lot of time working on that script, which supposedly dealt with Indy investigating UFOs in the 50s, but his version was eventually scrapped. After that, Darabont announced he wouldn't be working as a screenwriter anymore but would be directing full time. I had to get the inside scoop.

Q: How difficult is it when someone takes a script of yours and then never makes it? I'm thinking of the whole Indiana Jones thing.

Darabont: That was the most frustrating of all, and that was the straw that broke the back of me wanting to continue in that line of work. That was terrifically frustrating. I worked for over a year on that; I worked very close with Steven Spielberg. He was ecstatic with the result and was ready to shoot it two years ago. He was very, very happy with the script and said it was the best draft of anything since Raiders of the Lost Ark. That's really high praise and gave me a real sense of accomplishment, especially when you love the material you're working on as much as I love the Indiana Jones films.

And then you have George Lucas read it and say, 'Yeah, I don't think so, I don't like it.' And then he resets it to zero when Spielberg is ready to shoot it that coming year, [which] is a real kick to the nuts. You can only waste so much time and so many years of your life on experiences like that, you can only get so emotionally invested and have the rug pulled out from under you before you say enough of that.

Q: Coming from an insider's perspective on that whole thing, do you think that movie's ever going to happen?

Darabont: I don't think so. I don't think so. But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. I just think it's fantastically bizarre that for a project that people have been trying to crack for ten years and have a writer come in and finally crack it and have a director who happens to be Steven Spielberg, one of the greatest directors of all time, and then say, 'No, I don't think so...' It's just bizarre to me. I can't get into George's head.

[SiliasRuby]

I'm a bit frusterated with him, george, all he seems to be doing lately is saying no, you wonder whether or not he actually wants to have this movie be done.

[grand theft sparrow]

This is the first good thing Lucas' megalomania has yielded.  No offense to Frank Darabont, of course, but this movie should not be made.

[MacGuffin]

'Indiana Jones' to Be Filmed Next Year

George Lucas said Friday that filming of the long-awaited "Indiana Jones" movie will begin next year. Harrison Ford, who appeared in the three earlier flicks, the last one coming in 1989, is set to star again. Lucas said he and Steven Spielberg recently finalized the script for the film.

"It's going to be fantastic. It's going to be the best one yet," the 62-year-old filmmaker said during a break from preparing for his duties as grand marshal of Monday's Rose Parade.

Exact film locations have not been decided yet, but Lucas said part of the movie will be shot in Los Angeles.

The fourth chapter of the "Indiana Jones" saga, which will hit theaters in May 2008, has been in development for over a decade with several screenwriters taking a crack at the script, but it only recently gained momentum.

Lucas kept mum about the plot, but said that the latest action flick will be a "character piece" that will include "very interesting mysteries."

"I think it's going to be really cool," Lucas said.

At the inaugural Rome Film Festival in October, the 64-year-old Ford said he was excited to team up with Lucas and Spielberg again for the fourth "Indiana Jones" installment. Ford said he was "fit to continue" to play the title role despite his age.

Ford played Indiana Jones in 1981's "Raiders of the Lost Ark," 1984's "Temple of Doom" and 1989's "The Last Crusade."

Lucas praised Ford for breathing life into his character.

"Mostly it's the charm of Harrison that makes it work," he said.

[MacGuffin]

David Koepp and the Press Blockade
Koepp is under strict orders not to blow Indiana Jones' cover. But as someone who was inspired to become a screenwriter by Raiders of the Lost Ark, writing Episode 4 definitely ranks as a sweet gig.
Source: FilmStew
 
Although screenwriter David Koepp jokes that the Dreamworks secret police will track him down if he reveals anything about the upcoming sequel Indiana Jones 4, he was able during a recent interview with FilmStew to drop a few pebble-sized hints.

"I spent about a year on it, first doing drafts with Steven and then doing drafts with Steven and George," he explains. "It was a lot of fun. The first thing is that you realize this is a beloved character, probably one of the most in film history, and a lot of people are going to be angry no matter what I do."

"I'm going to get my *ss handed to me on some level, even by my fellow filmmakers or the audience," Koepp continues. "So you just accept all that and go and do the best thing you can with as much love as you can. I worked with Steven a number of times but never with both of them. They're big guys with big opinions and it's definitely a challenge, but a challenge worth stepping up to."

Koepp agrees that it would be crazy not to take into account star Harrison Ford's real age for this next installment. In fact, he suggests that if it were not in the script, Ford would likely insist on references to this being added. Koepp himself was 18-years-old when Raiders of the Lost Ark first hit theaters back in 1981 and, ironically enough, says that's the movie that made him want to become a screenwriter.
 
"This one was hard, because there's the wait of expectation which I felt also on Spider-Man," Koepp reveals. "At the time, that had been a comic for 35 years, so there's a big audience out there for it and it's beloved."

"People have a lot of preconceptions about what it ought to be and that's the same kind of pressure you feel with Indiana Jones," he continues. "It's hard to write when you feel the audience looking over your shoulder, but you just try and put it out of your mind."

As much as he is a fan of Indy lore, Koepp says it's essential to discard that point of view when tapping out further adventures. "You can't write a fan script," he insists. "You have to pretend that this movie exists without the other one."

"The worst thing to do would be to have him make reference to things he said in the first movie, like to pun on lines of dialogue," he argues. "That's tempting, because you've seen the movie a hundred times and you know all the dialogue, but no human being remembers exactly what they said 25 years ago word for word, much less make reference to it. So you try to put aside the other movies and yet be in the spirit of them."

If you're going to work as a screenwriter in independent film, this is pretty much the best way to go. As Koepp points out, because Lucasfilm is underwriting Indiana Jones 4, the project is technically an indie (or is that "Indy?"). And pray tell, will this indie start with a gigantic set piece?

"Now, how would that not be telling you what happened in the movie?" Koepp teases. "I'm not going to tell you what happens. But with set pieces, sometimes it's common sense and sometimes it's a bad idea."

[Mavis]

Koepp himself was 18-years-old when Raiders of the Lost Ark first hit theaters back in 1981 and, ironically enough, says that's the movie that made him want to become a screenwriter.

Coincidentally, you son of a bitch.

[RegularKarate]

Koepp himself was 18-years-old when Raiders of the Lost Ark first hit theaters back in 1981 and, ironically enough, says that's the movie that made him want to become a screenwriter.

Coincidentally, you son of a bitch.

Give it time... if this movie ends his career, then it will be irony.

[MacGuffin]

Sean Connery Considering Indiana Jones 4
Source: ComingSoon

Sean Connery has told Scotland on Sunday that he is considering returning as Dr. Henry Jones in the highly-anticipated Indiana Jones 4. He previously played Indiana Jones' father in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade back in 1989:

The new Indiana Jones film is due to shoot this summer, and after being approached by Lucas, Connery admits he is seriously considering it.

Asked directly if he thought he would be back in front of the cameras this summer as Dr Jones, he answered: "Perhaps."

Choosing his words carefully, Connery then added: "At the moment there's nothing decided. I haven't got the script. Everything depends on the script."

Filming is expected to start in June for a May, 2008 release

[MacGuffin]

Kaminski confirms DP post on 'Indy 4'
Source: Spielberg Films

British cinematographer Douglas Slocombe casts quite a large and well-lit shadow through Steven Spielberg's filmography. From his work lensing the legendary India sequence in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," to his beautiful and varied vistas on display throughout the "Indiana Jones" films, the Oscar-nominated Slocombe's cinematography stands amongst some of the richest visual work in a Spielberg picture (and that obviously says volumes).

Slocombe retired from his nearly five decade long career in a blaze of glory with 1989's "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade," and so, it's been on many a fan's mind who would be taking up the viewfinder for the fourth "Indiana Jones" film. Considering that Steven Spielberg has said he will not shoot a film now without cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, it's been a pretty obvious fact that Kaminski would be the man for the job.

Presumptions were confirmed this week by Kaminski himself as he told Polish publication Gazeta Wyborcza that his next project as director of photography is indeed "Indiana Jones 4." The film will begin shooting this June, and Kaminski fires fans' imagination with news that he will be lensing the film "all over the world," specifically in jungle locales and the previously mentioned Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles specifics are still unclear publicly. Will it be on soundstages or in actual locales in and around L.A.? The revelation that the film will be shot in jungle terrain is incredibly inspiring, especially when one thinks of the beautiful photography and exciting jungle sequences captured for "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom."

A small puzzle piece, perhaps, but an exciting one, none-the-less.

The yet untitled "Indiana Jones 4," featuring cinematography by two-time Oscar-winner Janusz Kaminski, will hit theatres in May 2008.

[MacGuffin]

Indiana Jones 4 Set for May 22, '08!
Source: ComingSoon

Box Office Mojo reports that Paramount Pictures has set Thursday, May 22, 2008 as the release for the fourth "Indiana Jones" movie, which the studio is now officially referring to as the Fourth Installment of the Indiana Jones Adventures.

The picture maintains the Memorial Day weekend release strategy of the last two "Indiana Jones" movies, and it mirrors the last two "Star Wars" movies and The Matrix Reloaded with its Thursday launch.

Also currently scheduled for Memorial Day weekend 2008 is Warner Bros.' Speed Racer.

[MacGuffin]

Rumor Of The Week: Have They Cast Indiana Jones Jr?!
Source: AICN

Normally, I would stay out of this.

I'm not excited about the prospect of INDIANA JONES AND THE FOURTH ADVENTURE or whatever ridiculous awkward temporary title Paramount is using for the film at the moment. To be honest, I never saw the point in continuing to make Indy movies. Sure, I know... it's all about the money. But even though I'm not a huge LAST CRUSADE fan, I do love the last shot, and I thought it was a fitting end to the series.

In the years since, we've heard so many rumors about this movie that it's become easier just to tune them out. One of the more persistent kinds of rumor is "Guess who will be playing Indy's brother/sister/son/daughter/random family member," something that's always made me nervous. It's such a desperate move to start inventing family members for Indy, something that smacks of "Cousin Oliver" syndrome. When you're in trouble and trying to reinvigorate something, just add some cute kids to the family!

Or don't. Please.

I've read one of the recent version of INDY 4, and there were no new family members added. That pleased me greatly. However, they've thrown that version out now, and whatever David Koepp's done, he's made the people over at Dreamworks very, very happy. And now that they're getting close to production, I've heard a persistent rumor, a new version of that old familiar. The thing is, I'm hearing this from some pretty reliable places.

So here we go again.

Shia La Beouf will play the son of Indiana Jones.

The thing is, we know Spielberg loves La Beouf right now. DISTURBIA became a pet project for The Beard, and it evidently came out well. TRANSFORMERS is a big deal for the company, and a lot of the weight of that falls squarely on the shoulders of Shia. So as much as I pray that there's no Indy Jr., I'm starting to think that this may in fact be true.

I know adventure has a name. But does it really have to have a son? Really?

Only time will tell.