Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull will be the fourth Indiana Jones film. It is set to be released on May 22, 2008. The trailer can be seen here.

Synopsis (1957)
With a Cold War's presence hanging over the world the US Government has become fearful of a communist threat. Indiana Jones and his partner George "Mac" McHale find themselves with Soviet agents on a remote airfield and a classified government facility in the American Southwest. The Soviets coerce Jones into helping find them a sacred object stored at the warehouse there, or it will mean the death of a friend.

Following the encounter, Jones returns to Marshall College where he finds out from Dean Charles Stanforth that due to his recent suspicious activities, the United States Government is putting pressure on the school to have the teacher fired.

On his leaving Princeton, Jones is contacted by a young greaser named Mutt Williams seeking his assistance. He tells the archaeologist that his parents, which includes his surrogate father, Harold Oxley, an old friend of Jones and fellow former student of Abner Ravenwood, are in need of rescue on the South American continent.

The pair set off for Peru on a search that is one that could also lead Jones to uncovering the missing Crystal Skull of Akator, an artifact of power which has become the interest of the Soviets led by Irina Spalko. Spalko a dangerous soldier whose "psychic abilities" have met with the approval of Joseph Stalin, seeking research into the potential of psychic warfare against the USSR's enemies.

Along the way, Jones is reunited with old flame Marion Ravenwood and the group becomes embroiled in a battle against the Soviets who believe the Crystal Skull, said to grant its power to anyone that returns it to its temple resting place within a lost city in the Amazon guarded by the living dead, holds the key to world domination.

Cast and characters

 * Marcus Brody
 * Colonel Antonin Dovchenko
 * Sallah Mohammed Faisel el-Kahir
 * Henry Walton Jones, Sr.
 * Indiana Jones
 * Mac
 * Professor Harold Oxley
 * Marion Ravenwood
 * Willie Scott
 * Irina Spalko
 * Dean Charles Stanforth
 * Mutt Williams
 * Andrew Divoff — Unknown
 * Pavel Lychnikoff — Unknown

Sean Connery declined to appear as ProfessorHenry Jones Sr. due to retirement. Marcus Brody will not appear in the film because Denholm Elliott died in 1992. John Rhys-Davies was not asked to return as Sallah. Pat Roach, who played henchmen in all of the previous three films, died of cancer in 2004.

Development
During production of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles television series, Lucas became interested in the crystal skulls. He originally called for an episode which would have been part of the third season involving Jones and his friend Belloq searching for one of the skulls. The episode was never produced, and the idea ultimately evolved into the 2008 feature film Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Meanwhile, author Max McCoy incorporated the crystal skull mythology as a recurring theme in his four Indiana Jones novels,   and the skull was also featured in the 2001 Tokyo Disney theme park attraction Indiana Jones Adventure Temple of the Crystal Skull. Additionally, Young Indy director Simon Wincer later made The Phantom, a film involving the crystal skulls, which was written by Last Crusade writer Jeffrey Boam, and co-stars Young Indy actress Catherine Zeta-Jones. Rob MacGregor, author of several Indiana Jones novels, wrote the film's novelization.

Rumors of an Indiana Jones IV production have persisted for more than a decade, with recent developments giving a projected release date of May 2008. George Lucas confirmed in April 2005 at the Star Wars Celebration III in London that he is in the process of finishing the script for the film.



The script for this film seems to be the biggest problem. For several years now, since the major rumors of a fourth Indy film started, plans seem to be sitting on waiting for the final draft of the script. There have been multiple rumors that different scripts have been approved by different people at different times. Most recent reports say that Ford and Spielberg have the script in hand, but no date for shooting has been set.

The film is set for release on May 22, 2008.

The Film also may contain the Ark of the Covenant, of which a layout of Indianajones.com has gladly brought up rumors for a box that says: "Property of Dr. Jones", there is also a number that greatly reflects the number in Raiders of the Lost Ark under the headline. The picture has been replaced by another.

Leaked plot details and theft
An extra in the film, Tyler Nelson, violated his nondisclosure agreement and gave an interview to the The Edmond Sun on September 17, 2007, which was then picked up by the mainstream media. Spielberg has yet to decide if he will cut Nelson's scene. At Nelson's request, The Edmond Sun subsequently pulled the story from its website. On October 2, 2007, a Superior Court order was filed finding that Nelson knowingly violated the agreement. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

A number of production photos and sensitive documents pertaining to the film's production budget were stolen from Steven Spielberg’s production office. An official of the Indiana Jones production reported the missing items to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department on September 24, 2007. Marvin Levy, Steven Spielberg's spokesman, said the director was concerned that the thieves would try to sell the materials, and on October 2, the people believed to be involved in the burglary sent out e-mails to several entertainment gossip websites offering to sell the images. According to IESB, TMZ.com obtained some of the stolen property and was on the verge of running the story on its TV division until Paramount lawyers stepped in. After Paramount was notified about the emails, they contacted sheriff's investigators. A member of the online press helped the detectives by posing as a potential buyer and setting up a meeting in West Hollywood. When the seller arrived, he was arrested on suspicion of receiving stolen property. On October 4, Roderick Eric Davis, age 37, was charged with one felony count of receiving stolen property. He later plead guilty to two felony counts and will serve two years and four months in jail.

Reception
George Lucas anticipates negative fan reaction, saying "We're not gonna have adoring fans sending us e-mails saying how much they loved the movie. We're gonna have a bunch of angry people saying, 'You're a bunch of assholes, you should never have done this. You've ruined my life forever.".

Several people close to the franchise were given advanced screenings of the film, including Sean Patrick Flanery, who felt "It's the same vibe, the same feel. They didn't miss a beat. People are going to love it. It's what everybody's been waiting for."

Sequels
In am April 2005 interview, George Lucas stated the possibility of introducing a younger character in Indiana Jones 4, but not to take over as a main character, but to possibly use in future Indiana Jones films. However, in an interview for the May 2005 issue of Time magazine, he was quoted as saying that he didn't plan to make any more Indiana Jones films after Indiana Jones 4. The introduction of Mutt (Shia LaBeouf) in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull has led to speculation that the character is Indiana's son, and will take over the franchise from Ford. In an interview with IGN, "[Spielberg] indicated that LaBeouf has to make multiple Transformers movies before he can move over and take on the fedora and bullwhip of Indiana Jones." The actor himself said, "Am I into it? Who wouldn't be? I don't think that's reality. It's a fun rumor."

In an interview with Vanity Fair, Spielberg was quoted as saying "And in this case George was passionate that this was not the story he wanted to tell at this point in the Indiana Jones saga." In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Lucas was asked if he planned to make any more Indiana Jones films after Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, to which he replied: "That I don't know. We do these one at a time and we do them purely for the fun of it, which means that if we've got too many other things going on — Steve [Spielberg]'s got a couple more movies, he's got Chicago Seven, he's got all this stuff backed up for years — who knows?". In the May 2008 issue of Total Film magazine, Lucas was asked "Is Crystal Skull a full stop or a new beginning, to which he replied "I don't know. There's no motive other than to enjoy ourselves. We'll see what happens..." In an interview with USA Today, Ford voiced his support for a fifth film, with the condition that it didn't take as long to develop as Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Trivia

 * By June 3, 2003, the script by Frank Darabont was being reported as being complete. But in April 2004, the project was officially shelved once more after George Lucas rejected the script by Frank Darabont earlier. Reportedly, Lucas did not like Darabont's handling of the storyline between Indy and his brother (both Indy's father played by Sean Connery and brother, a role for which Kevin Costner was rumored to be considered, were to have roles in the new movie). In media reports Frank Darabont indicated he was "disappointed" with the decision.


 * The crew members returning from the first three films are Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Harrison Ford, John Williams, Michael Khan, Frank Marshall, and Kathleen Kennedy. The only crew members of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles to return for this film are George Lucas (story/executive producer on both projects), Frank Darabont (wrote an earlier script, which contributed to the final David Koepp script), Jake Garber (special makeup effects artist on both projects), Gwendolyn Yates Whittle (sound editor on the series and adr supervisor on the film, as well as assistant sound editor on Willow and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade), and publicist Lynne Hale.


 * Several publicity stills and on-set videos have been released on the internet during the build-up to the film's release.


 * Frank Darabont's screenplay featured cameos from Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) and Willie Scott (Kate Capshaw), but did not include a son for Jones, as rumored.


 * Spielberg and Ford initially felt that the crystal skulls were "too connected" to the previous films.


 * According to Paramount Pictures executive Rob Moore, the film will be released on both the HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc formats as part of its eventual home video release. The film will make its pay-TV debut on Showtime, and will air on USA Network in 2011, as part of a deal with Paramount to repeatedly broadcast the previous films to promote the film in May.


 * George Lucas intended to unveil the title with the teaser trailer, but Shia LaBeouf announced it earlier at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards on September 9, 2007. Although the film's title was chosen in October 2006, five fake titles (The City of Gods, The Destroyer of Worlds, The Fourth Corner of the Earth, The Lost City of Gold and The Quest for the Covenant) were registered with the Motion Picture Association of America to distract fans from the true title.


 * The film will showcase Indiana's home, which was only previously seen in Raiders of the Lost Ark. As nineteen years (both fictional and real) have passed, the filmmakers decorated the sparse living room with numerous artifacts Indiana has collected during his travels. Production designer Guy Hendrix Dyas said this was done to hint at the adventures he might have had in-between the first three films and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. There are also photos of Sallah, Marcus Brody, Willie Scott, Henry Jones, Sr., and Jones' Egypt adventure from the pilot episode of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.


 * John Williams stated on the 2003 DVD documentary The Music of Indiana Jones that he hoped to return to write the score for the film, as he did for the previous three. He began scoring the film in February 2008, and ten days of recording sessions wrapped on March 6, 2008 at Sony Pictures Studios. The soundtrack features a continuum, an instrument often used for sound effects instead of music.


 * Because of anticipation, the first teaser trailer was delayed to February 14, 2008, on which it debuted on Good Morning America, and was subsequently released on the internet and in theaters with ''The Spiderwick Chronicles the same day. Spielberg spokesman Martin Levy explained, "[Indy is] such a well-known character that it's not like you have to get out there and introduce something new [...] We also want[ed] to keep a lot of the surprises. That's part of the fun." Reaction to the trailer was generally positive, with criticism over the number of alleged computer-generated effects.  A shot of Indiana Jones and Mac was digitally altered for the American version so that the surrounding soldiers' guns are pointed down. Mac's belt, Indiana Jones' breast pocket and a background soldier's gun were computer-generated into the shot. Critic Drew McWeeny wrote, "What we're left with as our first glimpse in 19 years of this character that is so much a part of the film lives of a generation is this distracting, fuzzy, fucked-with image that will be fixed in the film anyway." The American flag is not seen in some versions of the international trailer.  According to Paramount, it has been the most-watched trailer in the company's history, with around 200 million views online in its first week alone.

A screening will be held in Oklahoma City, to the benefit of a local children's hospital.