Indiana Jones 4 http://www.harrisonfordweb.com/indianajones4/ en-us Copyright 2008 Sat, 07 Aug 2010 20:01:45 -0500 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.2 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Main heading
Release Date: May 22, 2008 Studio: Lucasfilm, Paramount Pictures Genre: Action, Adventure Director: Steven Spielberg Screenplay: David Koepp Cast: Harrison Ford -- Indiana Jones
Karen Allen -- Marion Ravenwood
Cate Blanchett -- Irina Spalko
John Hurt -- Prof. Harold Oxley
Ray Winstone -- "Mac" George McHale
Shia LaBoeuf -- Mutt Williams
Jim Broadbent -- Dean Stanforth ]]> http://www.harrisonfordweb.com/indianajones4/archives/#000335 http://www.harrisonfordweb.com/indianajones4/archives/#000335 Sat, 07 Aug 2010 20:01:45 -0500 Crystal Skull on Blu-Ray and DVD on Oct. 14 August 12, 2008

CRYSTAL SKULL ON BLU-RAY AND DVD ON OCT. 14

Announcement from Paramount today: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull will be available on Blu-Ray and DVD on October 14. The announcement doesn't specify whether this is a US only or a worldwide release date. We assume the former.

List price for the two disc Blu-Ray edition is USD 39.99, the single disc edition has a list price of USD 34.99. The pricing is interesting and the message is crystal clear: Indy is going all HD, starting with the last chapter.
 
The DVD edition will be available in a single disc version (movie only) a two disc version and in a new four disc Indiana Jones Box Set. The Blu-Ray version will be available in a two disc version. There's yet no word on when all four Indiana Jones movies will be available on Blu-Ray.

The Extras Disc (available in the two disc versions only) will include a segment on how the new movie evolved, a production diary including glimpses of location shoots in New Mexico, Connecticut and Hawaii as well as segments on makeup, visual effects -- and crystal skulls.

Big thanks to Aaron Aguiar for the heads up!!


Sources:
Yahoo News
Blu-Ray.com
amazon.com
]]> http://www.harrisonfordweb.com/indianajones4/archives/3q_2008/#001447 http://www.harrisonfordweb.com/indianajones4/archives/3q_2008/#001447 3Q 2008 Tue, 12 Aug 2008 15:40:21 -0500 Lucas: Indy 5 Focus on Indy, Not Mutt August 6, 2008

LUCAS: INDY 5 FOCUS ON INDY
Official: No Indy with Mutt as the main character

George Lucas has spoken -- again -- and this time we like what we hear: Lucas confirms in an interview with the MTV Movies Blog on Aug. 5 that Indiana Jones remains the main character and focus of the Indiana Jones franchise.

Quote George Lucas: "Indiana Jones is Indiana Jones. Harrison Ford IS Indiana Jones. If it was Mutt Williams it would be Mutt Williams and the Search for Elvis (!!!) or something"

When at this year's Cannes Festival in mid May, Lucas hinted to reporters that he had an idea for a possible Indiana Jones 5 with Mutt Williams as the central character. That idea seems to have been nuked (we dunno if a fridge was involved in this case --) . Upon question from MTV News on whether he still considered Mutt Williams a strong enough character to drive an Indiana Jones movie, the answer was a thinly veiled "no", ref. the quote above. Lucas also told MTV that work is being done to find a suitable go-after object for another installment.
 

Illo inspired by T-shirt design by BustedTees
 Any news on when or if  we can expect Indiana Jones 5? No.
Any deliberations on just how much we will see of Mutt Williams? No.

We suspect that the less than lukewarm reception to Mutt's monkeying about in Crystal Skull  and actor Shia LaBeouf's off-stage accidents may have had an influence. A certain Dark Knight may also be casting a bit of a shadow.

May we also add that if we ever see Indy again we prefer him cleverer, grittier -- and more family unfriendly. A tamed Indy ain't Indy.


Source:
MTV Movies Blog
]]> http://www.harrisonfordweb.com/indianajones4/archives/3q_2008/#001445 http://www.harrisonfordweb.com/indianajones4/archives/3q_2008/#001445 3Q 2008 Wed, 06 Aug 2008 05:09:19 -0500 More Indy If Lucas can come up with another team-approved idea July 27, 2008

MORE INDY IF LUCAS CAN COME UP WITH ANOTHER TEAM-APPROVED IDEA
..Indy playing second fiddle in Indy 5?


George Lucas
Photo by Will Lawrence
 Times Online published a highly interesting interview with George Lucas today re: the launch of Star Wars: The Clone Wars  3D animated movie on August 15 and the subsequent launch of the Clone Wars TV series on Cartoon Network later this fall.
  
Lucas' parlance is ripe with biblical metaphors when he muses about the Star Wars phenomenon: the father (filmed adventures, features, animated movie/series and upcoming live-action TV series), the son (the licenced products: games, toys and books) and the holy ghost (bloggers, fans). Lucas has started work on the new live-action, brand new characters Star Wars TV series, which will go into production in 2009.

Lucas also has a thing or two to say about Indiana Jones: he is considering what to do about a fifth installment. First something rather deflating, considering presendence: Quote Lucas: "If I can come up with another idea they (=Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford) like, we'll do another." (It took nearly two decades the last time around -)

Then Times Online indicates pretty directly - and hardly without approval - that Indiana will play second fiddle if a fifth film is ever made: "the whip-snapping achaeologist remains in high demand, even though his own days as a whippersnapper is behind him (Harrison Ford is two years older than Lucas.)"

Lucas also admits it was a challenge to get Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull   together: "Indiana Jones only becomes complicated when you have another two people saying 'I want it this way' and 'I want it that way', whereas, when I first did Jones, I just said, 'We’ll do it this way' — and that was much easier. But now I have to accommodate everybody, because they are all big, successful guys, too, so it’s a little hard on a practical level."

Lucas also delivers the following description of the Jones teamwork with long time friend Steven Spielberg: "Really, with the last one, Steven wasn’t that enthusiastic. I was trying to persuade him. But now Steve is more amenable to doing another one. Yet we still have the issues about the direction we’d like to take. I’m in the future; Steven’s in the past. He’s trying to drag it back to the way they were, I’m trying to push it to a whole different place. So, still we have a sort of tension. This recent one came out of that. It’s kind of a hybrid of our own two ideas, so we’ll see where we are able to take the next one.”

Read the whole interview at Times Online here


Source:
Times Online
]]> http://www.harrisonfordweb.com/indianajones4/archives/3q_2008/#001442 http://www.harrisonfordweb.com/indianajones4/archives/3q_2008/#001442 3Q 2008 Sun, 27 Jul 2008 04:10:37 -0500 New Featurette: Indy Villains July 04, 2008

NEW FEATURETTE: INDY VILLAINS

 
The official Indiana Jones site also sports a number of recent updates: the Indy icons sets are complete, Marshall College is in session -- and check out the Adventure part.


Source:
indianajones.com
]]> http://www.harrisonfordweb.com/indianajones4/archives/3q_2008/#001436 http://www.harrisonfordweb.com/indianajones4/archives/3q_2008/#001436 3Q 2008 Fri, 04 Jul 2008 15:41:10 -0500 Indy 5: HFW Visitors' Suggestions July 04, 2008

INDY 5: HFW VISITORS' SUGGESTIONS

Vanity Fair recently had a contest where they asked their readers to submit their suggestions for the title and plot of a potential Indiana Jones 5. The winning suggestion was submitted by an Australian, who had the following suggestion:
Indiana Jones and the Son of Man
A skeptical Jones is offered the chance to visit Palestine in the time of Christ in a joint U.S. Army/Vatican time-travel experiment—overseen by Albert Einstein, who is also part of Indy’s posse—to verify the existence of Jesus Christ. Meanwhile, Soviet agents bent on erasing Christ from history hijack the experimental base underneath the Vatican, and pursue Indy through the tunnels of Time, as Jones tries to save a man who neither needs nor wants saving.
Inspired by VF's idea we invited HFW's visitors to sumbit their Indy 5 ideas -- and here they are.

We'd love to hear even more -- as well as your reactions to the those ideas already submitted: keep on dropping an email and we'll be back with more.
 
Note: All below ideas are copyright the below cited authors!!
 

Forced to find the cremated remains of Adolf Hitler
 Daniel Halprin:
The movie begins (credits-like all the movies) following a tunnel with all types of booby traps, spiderwebs and bugs, until we come across Indiana slowly climbing down a rope to new obstacles. He is searching for something, that which is not important, in this mission, however, he injures himself terribly and barely escapes alive. Figuring he's had enough adventure for a lifetime, Indiana Jones retires.
Over the course of a few years he has since written a bestselling book, which has catapulted him into newfound celebrity. Henry is forced to do a world-wide book tour which eventually lands him back in Germany (jokes commense).

A few jugheads approach him and demand his assistance in a crucial matter. Henry turns it down while displaying his disinterest to take part in such events. It turns out he gets chased and captured and brought to a secret hideout of leftover Nazis. There it is revealed they are searching for the stolen remains of Hitler's cremated body. He doesn't want to help them but is forced into it.

Mind you, for most of this movie Indy is in his suit and tie, but on one of his attempts to escape he quickly sends a telegraph back to the States. Suprisingly the third attempt to escape is aided by the return of Mutt Williams who has brought a suitcase with him, inside is.....Indy's' clothes, whip, fedora and all.

Hitler's remains are unearthed again and taken back, which fuels a great fight between the Russians and Nazis with Indy and Mutt left in the middle. Along the way some great religous treasure is found and powers revealed...
 
 

Back to basics -- and priestly garments
 Bryna:
They need to go back to the Ark....that was cool and they did not get a chance to delve into it. I remember reading an early "guess" as to what Indy 4 would be about..and the thing that caught my interest was about the priestly garments - the ephod. Do that.....that would be cool.
 
And they need to stick with a smaller cast of characters: Mutt, Indy and Marion are totally cool..but it would be nice to just have Mutt and Indy. They never said why Mutt was so angry.
 
 

Look to the Martin Mystère comics
 Marianna Fanti:
A lot of things can be a good starting material for IJ. Here in Italy we have comic series, older than the first IJ (is started more or less 28 years ago) where the main character is an American archeologist (without the whip), living in New York, called Martin Mystère. The subtitle of the series is "the Detective of the Impossible" and in 28 years a lot of things have been explored (different cultures, artifacts, misteries and so on)
 
 

Base it on existing novel
 Megan Solis:
Well I was thinking that maybe they could make one after the books.

A short overview of available Indy novels:

Indiana Jones And The Secret Of The Sphinx, Indiana Jones And The Hollow Earth, Indiana Jones And The Philosopher's Stone, Indiana Jones And The Dinosaur Eggs, Indiana Jones And The White Witch, Indiana Jones And The Sky Pirates, Indiana Jones And The Dance Of The Giants, Indiana Jones And The Seven Veils, Indiana Jones And The Genesis Deluge, Indiana Jones And The Peril At Delphi, Indiana Jones and the Interior World, Indiana Jones and the Unicorn Legacy
 
 

Indiana Jones and the Blood of Fire:
an assassination, Lenin, the Gordian Knot and the life-giving burial site of Alexander the Great
 Nicolas Fleurier:
Marion is shot during a graduation ceremony at Marshall College by a madman who turns to be Abner Ravenwood, kept alive by Russians anxious to find a way to resurrect Lenin. Indiana Jones travels from Greece to Egypt with Mutt, and from Egypt to Iraq with the daughter of Sallah, seeking revenge and the Gordian Knot, a broken pendant of magical properties which can open the tomb of Alexander the Great, who was supposed to be a god with fire in his veins, later to be buried in a place called Lazarus' Pit, where life can be given again.
]]> http://www.harrisonfordweb.com/indianajones4/archives/3q_2008/#001434 http://www.harrisonfordweb.com/indianajones4/archives/3q_2008/#001434 3Q 2008 Fri, 04 Jul 2008 02:18:41 -0500 The Indy Future: Questionable, Still Indy is Ford June 27, 2008

THE INDY FUTURE: QUESTIONABLE, STILL INDY IS FORD

IESB.net got an interview with producer Frank Marshall on the red carpet of the 34th Saturn Awards on Wednesday. Marshall had a few comments on Bourne 4 and the future of Indiana Jones.

On Jason Bourne:
Bourne will be heading South America way, he's still played by Matt Damon, shooting of the hitherto unnamed movie is planned for next summer and the release of the movie is set to 2010.

On Indiana Jones:
Will there be an Indy 5? Questionable, considering the time it took to get the last script written. A movie about Indy jr, perhaps? Quote Frank Marshall: "We didn't let  him take the hat. Still Indiana Jones is Harrison Ford".




Thanks to Aaron Aguilar for the tip!!


Source:
IESB.net
]]> http://www.harrisonfordweb.com/indianajones4/archives/2q2008/#001428 http://www.harrisonfordweb.com/indianajones4/archives/2q2008/#001428 2Q-2008 Fri, 27 Jun 2008 12:26:21 -0500 Meet Crystal Skull Novelist June 21, 2008

MEET CRYSTAL SKULL NOVELIST
...in Gurnee, Illiinois on July 16



Source:
Scan of info sheet (Thanks to John Tenuto!)
]]> http://www.harrisonfordweb.com/indianajones4/archives/2q2008/#001424 http://www.harrisonfordweb.com/indianajones4/archives/2q2008/#001424 2Q-2008 Sat, 21 Jun 2008 06:58:09 -0500 Vanity Fair: Indiana Jones and the Next Indy Movie June 18, 2008

VANITY FAIR: INDIANA JONES AND THE NEXT INDY MOVIE

Vanity Fair has decided on a winner re: their contest to come up with the best title and plot for a fifth Indy movie. The winner is an Australian calling himself Maximillian. We suggest you go to the VF Daily blog to read his entry.
 
VF has also taken the trouble to do a basic plot trend analysis. What plot themes were suggested and how many suggested them? Here are the results:



We'd love to hear your opinion of the above and/or your suggestions for a hypothetical Indy V. Drop an e-mail and we'll do a followup on the wishes, thoughts and ideas of the visitors to this site.

Thanks in advance for your participation!!


Source:

VF Daily (Thanks Hamish!!)
]]> http://www.harrisonfordweb.com/indianajones4/archives/2q2008/#001421 http://www.harrisonfordweb.com/indianajones4/archives/2q2008/#001421 2Q-2008 Wed, 18 Jun 2008 03:13:40 -0500 Crystal Skull Fourth Weekend June 16, 2008

CRYSTAL SKULL BOX OFFICE AS OF JUNE 15



B.O as of June 15, 2008
US Domestic USD 276,4 million
International USD 358 million
Total USD 634,4 million


Source:
Box Office Mojo
]]> http://www.harrisonfordweb.com/indianajones4/archives/2q2008/#001418 http://www.harrisonfordweb.com/indianajones4/archives/2q2008/#001418 2Q-2008 Mon, 16 Jun 2008 02:43:04 -0500 Indiana Jones and the Darabont script June 13, 2008

INDIANA JONES AND THE DARABONT SCRIPT

It's been all over the Internet for the past few days: the assumed genuine Frank Darabont script for Indiana Jones IV -- and the verdict is unanimous: this one would have made a better fourth Indiana Jones movie than the script that ended up as Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
 
Here are reviews from two sites:

MTV
G4TV


For the record: we basically agree with the reviewers above. Genuine or not, this script is  better in many ways: the story is far more poignant and congruent and the characters are better evolved and tied in -- especially Marion Ravenwood but also Indy himself. We also found the side character gallery more interesting and to the point - villains and shady characters included. Best twist: there's no Mutt Williams (no sour grapes to Shia LaBeouf: he did very well with the material he was handed).
Nevertheless: we feel this script would have needed some tightening up, especially on a couple of the action sequences. Like the movie, we'd also have loved Indy to be using his wits and cool sense of improvised practical solutions a bit more.

P.S. Surprisingly many of the most criticized scenes in Crystal Skull  are in this script -- and we feel the same way about them that we did re: the ditto scenes in Crystal Skull: one waterfall is quite enough, thank you (this script has four of them!!). The bungee tree still doesn't tickle our fancy. To make things a bit worse: Indy is (part time --) snake food in this script. The idea is logically grounded (well, sort of) ....but really a goofy bite too much for our taste. The Temple climax scenes are far superior, though -- and unlike the movie they make sense.

We suspect the critical voices may be met with a shrug and a little reminder of the very nice Crystal Skull box office. So be it. We can only retort we think present and future B.O would have been at least as glorious had things been different -- notwithstanding the issue of an heir apparent in the franchise.
]]> http://www.harrisonfordweb.com/indianajones4/archives/2q2008/#001415 http://www.harrisonfordweb.com/indianajones4/archives/2q2008/#001415 2Q-2008 Fri, 13 Jun 2008 13:44:40 -0500 Crystal Skull Box Office Third Weekend June 09, 2008

CRYSTAL SKULL BOX OFFICE THIRD WEEKEND



B.O as of June 8, 2008
US Domestic USD 253 million
International USD 326 million
Total USD 579 million


Box Office Mojo
Variety
]]> http://www.harrisonfordweb.com/indianajones4/archives/2q2008/#001410 http://www.harrisonfordweb.com/indianajones4/archives/2q2008/#001410 2Q-2008 Mon, 09 Jun 2008 03:17:35 -0500 Indiana Jones Promo in Japan June 04, 2008

INDIANA JONES PROMO IN JAPAN
...open on Indy V but not yet decided on details


Click above to go to
HFW Gallery 1
 Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, George Lucas, Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall have gone to Japan to promote Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. We have pictures from today's press conference in Tokyo (click thumbnail left), where Harrison and George Lucas just couldn't resist a little impromptu prank.

Crystal Skull opens in Tokyo on
June 14 and in the rest of Japan on June 21.

(Note: We assume that the June 6 date as seen in the the background [thumb, left] refers to the release of the Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures game for PC and major consoles.
 
Harrison said at the press conference that the Indiana Jones adventure series was 'shamelessly' made for the audience: "There is no series of films that I have done that have the same spirit and are so, if you will, shamelessly made for the audience -- not to pander to them, but to give them an exciting ride."

George Lucas said the entire cast was excited when Ford put the Indy costume back on for the latest film. "It seems to happen on every movie, every Indiana Jones movie we do. There is this magic moment when Harrison appears on the set in his outfit and puts his hat on. That just transports everyone into a magic place. I don't know why. Even in 'Star Wars' we don't have an iconic figure who does the same."

Both Ford and scriptwriter George Lucas repeated that they were open to another episode of the series, although they have not yet decided on details.


Sources:
WireImage
IMDb
indianajones.lego.com
LucasArts
Yahoo News
]]> http://www.harrisonfordweb.com/indianajones4/archives/2q2008/#001403 http://www.harrisonfordweb.com/indianajones4/archives/2q2008/#001403 2Q-2008 Wed, 04 Jun 2008 13:28:18 -0500 Not a Compliment: Nuke the Fridge June 03, 2008

NOT A COMPLIMENT: NUKE THE FRIDGE


Illo by Grethe Boe
www.harrisonfordweb.com
 A new expression is spreading like wildfire: Nuke the fridge.
The reference is of course Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull   -- and the colloquialism is not a compliment.
 
According to Urban Dictionary, the expression has the following meaning:

Nuke the fridge is a colloquialism used to refer to the moment in a film series that is so incredible that it lessens the excitement of subsequent scenes that rely on more understated action or suspense, and it becomes apparent that a certain installment is not as good as a previous installments, due to ridiculous or low quality storylines, events or characters.

The term comes from the film Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, in which, near the start of the movie, Harrison Ford's character survives a nuclear detonation by climbing into a kitchen fridge, which is then blown hundreds of feet through the sky whilst the town disintegrates. He then emerges from the fridge with no apparent injury. Later in the movie, the audience is expected to fear for his safety in a normal fistfight.

Fans of the Indiana Jones series found the absurdity of this event in the film to be the best example of the lower quality of this installment in the series, and thus coined the phrase, "nuke the fridge".


The expression "jump the shark", has a similar meaning, but it refers to a series or movies produced for TV (Origin: one of the episodes Happy Days where the Fonz does just that -- while water skiing)

The unfortunate expression has also spread to YouTube, where a poster leaves little doubt re: definition and opinion:



We have been thinking a bit -- and something else strikes us as more important than predictable fanboy/fangirl irony:

Had we been from Hiroshima or Nagasaki we might not have laughed.

Crystal Skull opens in Japan in three weeks.


Sources:
Urban Dictionary
YouTube
]]> http://www.harrisonfordweb.com/indianajones4/archives/2q2008/#001401 http://www.harrisonfordweb.com/indianajones4/archives/2q2008/#001401 2Q-2008 Tue, 03 Jun 2008 07:19:44 -0500 Crystal Skull Passes the $400M Mark June 01, 2008

CRYSTAL SKULL PASSES THE USD 400 MILLION MARK

Here's the Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull  box office as of June 1. Domestically the movie lost out on the second weekend to Sex and the City but it still displays very healthy B.O. It can also draw on hitherto untapped 'reserves': The movie opens in India this weekend and Japan is "go" in another three weeks.


B.O as of June 1, 2008
US Domestic USD 216.9 million
International USD 188.4 million
Total USD 405.3 million



UPDATE

Correction/update: the table top shows international cume as of last Wednesday. Getting the great international weekend result in actually puts Crystal Skull in the vincinity of USD 500 million:


Updated B.O as of June 1, 2008
US Domestic USD 216.9 million
International USD 266 million
Total USD 482.9 million



Sources:
Variety (article #1)
Variety (article #2)
Variety (article #3)
Box Office Mojo
]]> http://www.harrisonfordweb.com/indianajones4/archives/2q2008/#001399 http://www.harrisonfordweb.com/indianajones4/archives/2q2008/#001399 2Q-2008 Sun, 01 Jun 2008 13:44:08 -0500