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News Archive - 2006
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - Director George Lucas said Friday
[Dec 29, 2006] filming for the much-anticipated "Indiana Jones" movie will
begin next year and he promised it will be "the best one yet." "It's going to be fantastic. It's going to be the best one yet," the 62-year-old filmmaker said during an interview at the Beverly Wilshire hotel where he took a break from his duties as grand marshal for the 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. While Lucas kept mum about the plot, he promised 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. October 21 Harrison was in Italy yesterday at the Rome Film Festival where he presented the Patricia McQueeney Award to his current agent Jim Berkus from United Talent Agency. October 07 More awards for Harrison: On Sept 30, he was awarded the Independent by Nature Award at the Aspen Filmfest. Furthemore he was bestowed with The Spirit of Nature Award at the 2006 Jules Verne Adventure Film Festival and Expositions in LA last night. A good friend - George Lucas - was awarded The Imagination Achievement Award on the same occasion. September 22 Harrison was awarded the International Conservation Caucus Foundation Good Steward Award in Washington D.C on Wednesday. The Award was given in recognition of his conservation ethic and long standing dedication to global environmental issues. As many will know, Harrison has served on the board of Conservation International since 1991, he has narrated several PSAs for CI and Earthshare, patrolled the Hudson river as Riverkeeper's first airborne watchdog and donated half of his Jackson Hole, WY estate to the Jackson Hole Land Trust as a conservation easement - among other things. July 25 Harrison will receive an award during the 28th annual Aspen Filmfest. The award is for recognition of the tremendous contribution Ford has made to modern cinema. The evening tribute will take place Saturday, September 30 at the Wheeler Opera House in Aspen and will be followed by a dinner at The Little Nell. June 20 Harrison to attend Los Angeles film festival on June 26th. Christina Applegate, Harrison Ford, Allison Janney, Virginia Madsen and Aidan Quinn will serve as honorary festival chairs for the 2006 Los Angeles Film Festival. Film Independent executive director Dawn Hudson lauded the quintet as embodying "the spirit of what great artists do -- champion both what is daring and diverse within filmmaking." Janney will host the opening-night festivities June 22, while Ford will host the filmmaker reception June 26. Madsen and Quinn will announce narrative and documentary winners at the Spirit of Independence event June 28, and Applegate will host the closing-night festivities July 2. June 12 Last week Harrison attended the AFI salute honoring Sir Sean Connery - Harrison Ford came out on stage, looked up, paused, and said, Dad! to laughs from the audience (he had played Connerys son in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade). (And yes, it was revealed on the night that Connery will indeed be returning to star alongside Ford for Indy 4)" May 05 Some news that will create much excitement from fans. At long last George Lucas has agreed to put the original trilogy unaltered out on DVD. The set will go on sale September 12th of this year. Here is word from Lucasfilm: Lucasfilm has announced plans to release the Star Wars trilogy in their original unaltered version on September 12th. "This September: Original Unaltered Trilogy on DVD Fans can look forward to a September filled with classic Star Wars nostalgia, led by the premiere of LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy video game and the long-awaited DVD release of the original theatrical incarnations of the classic Star Wars trilogy. In response to overwhelming demand, Lucasfilm Ltd. and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment will release attractively priced individual two-disc releases of Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Each release includes the 2004 digitally remastered version of the movie, as well as the original theatrical edition of the film. That means you'll be able to enjoy Star Wars as it first appeared in 1977, Empire in 1980, and Jedi in 1983. See the title crawl to Star Wars before it was known as Episode IV; see the pioneering, if dated, motion control model work on the attack on the Death Star; groove to Lapti Nek or the Ewok Celebration song like you did when you were a kid; and yes, see Han Solo shoot first. This release will only be available for a limited time: from September 12th to December 31st. International release will follow on or about the same day." April 10 Harrison was presented with an Excellence in Arts Award at the 4th Russian Nights/Tower Awards ceremony. March 23 Firewall DVD release date According to forum member digitalfreak it will be released June 6th simultaneously on DVD and HD-DVD (and probably Blu-Ray). We'll keep you updated when more details are available. Firewall is still in the top 10 and as of the 8th it is holding at #7 with a total of $43,268,730 March 07 First the good news: Firewall made it to the top of the Australian charts on the first weekend out (AUD 1.32 mil) with a good margin to #2 (Walk the Line at AUD 0.98 mil) Then the not so good ones: Indy IV is delayed again; according to an interview given at the Academy Governor's Ball on Oscar night, Steven Spielberg revealed he will "positively take a year off directing" to concentrate on getting/readying scripts for Dreamworks. Writer David Koepp has also succeeded Jeff Nathanson on the script writing front. February 13 Well, as many of you know Firewall opened in 4th place over the weekend with $13.8 million. Here is the results of the top four movies: The Pink Panther $21.7 Although Firewall performed slightly under expectations ($15 - $18 was projected) one good sign is that it did open better than K19 and Hollywood Homicide. Good word of mouth could possibly help Firewall in the long run. Many are have begun speculating as to why Harrison's return to the silver screen after three years was met with a low turnout and here are some things to consider: Four movies opened in over 2500 screens which made for an extremely crowded weekend. The Pink Panther opened on over 600 more screens than the other three and in some cases got more daily rotations than Firewall. FD3, which was predicted by the analysts to grab the #1 spot, was a given because of the violence/gore factor that appeals to younger movie-goers. Curious George is a beloved children's book character that parents (Harrison's main fan base age group) grew up with and wanted to treat their young children to. Critics across the board labeled Firewall as an action movie when in fact it was a Thriller. This could have possibly turned movie-goers off. There is a good chance that Firewall will build up due to various factors: It is doubtful that The Pink Panther will have strong legs due to the negative feedback from audiences. In many cases people were walking out at the half-way mark. FD3 has made it's money opening weekend and true to form for Horror movies, it should drop off. Curious George has been met with mixed reviews and is not going to be strong throughout the rest of it's run. Unlike family favorites such as Finding Nemo and Shrek, CG will not maintain a strong audience. Although I was very disappointed at Firewall's opening weekend numbers, I am hopeful that good word of mouth will carry this movie the next few weeks. On the right you'll notice I've added a box office tracking section where visitors can keep track daily on how well the movie is doing. January 03 A few quick notes - Harrison to be a presenter at the Golden Globe Awards on January 16th. - An interview with Harrison and his good friend Tom Brokaw will appear in the February addition of Men's Journal. - According to Parade magazine, Manhunt will begin filming this March. Thanks to Maria for the information |
Harrison Ford Web: 1999 - 2009. |