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.

Characters

 * Marcus Brody
 * Sallah Mohammed Faisel el-Kahir
 * Henry Walton Jones, Sr.
 * Indiana Jones
 * Mac
 * Marion Ravenwood
 * Willie Scott
 * Irina Spalko
 * Mutt Williams

Info
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, and co-starring 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 The picture has been replaced by another.

Indy IV Timeline
In an event to keep from updating the same old rumors, here is a short timeline of 'milestones' in the Indy IV film.
 * February 2008 - The first offical teaser trailer is released.
 * September 2007 - Title of Indy 4 officially released - "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull".
 * April 2006 - NEWS.com.au reports that Indy IV may be shot in Australia in 2007, the news coming from Frank Marshall.
 * March 2006 - Spielberg speaks out at the Oscars mentioning he is planning to take a year off.
 * January 2006 - Frank Marshall reports that shooting on Indy IV would likely happen after The Bourne Ultimatum, which starts shooting August 1st.
 * October 2005 - Lucas confirms at the 2005 Hollywood Awards that Indy IV is indeed coming.
 * April 2005 - Lucas confirms the script is in its finishing stages.

Facts and fiction

 * Henry Jones Sr. was in the script, but Sean Connery turned the film down, finding retirement too enjoyable. Lucas said they did a quick re-write to exclude the character.
 * The fourth film will take place in 1957, meaning that nineteen years will have passed for both the audience (1989 to 2008) and the character (1938 to 1957).



Confirmed

 * Harrison Ford — Indiana Jones
 * Shia LaBeouf — Mutt Williams
 * Ray Winstone — Mac
 * Cate Blanchett — Irina Spalko
 * Jim Broadbent — Yale colleague
 * John Hurt — Unknown. Rumored to be Abner Ravenwood
 * Karen Allen — Marion Ravenwood
 * Igor Jijikine — Unknown

Rumored

 * Kate Capshaw — Wilhelmina 'Willie' Scott
 * Andrew Divoff — Unknown

Declined

 * Sean Connery — Professor Henry Jones Sr. - Declined due to retirement.

Other

 * Marcus Brody will likely not appear in the film because Denholm Elliott died in 1992.
 * John Rhys-Davies was not asked to return as Sallah.

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.

Confirmed

 * Director: Steven Spielberg
 * Producer: George Lucas
 * Story by: George Lucas
 * Screenwriter: David Koepp
 * Cinematographer: Janusz Kaminski
 * Editor: Michael Kahn
 * Original Music/Composer: John Williams
 * Poster artist: Drew Struzan

Trivia

 * Lucas and Spielberg shot Indy IV using the same techniques they used in the previous films, which means little use of CG, and an emphasis on stunt men and similar shooting techniques.
 * 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.