Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

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

Synopsis
The film opens in Nevada, 1957. A series of U.S. Military trucks rush down the road to Hangar 51, shooting the guards as they pass through the checkpoint. When they reach the hangar, they pull two men from the trunk of a car: George "Mac" McHale, a British ex-spy, and Indiana Jones.

The U.S. military soldiers are revealed to be Communist Russians who have taken Indy to Area 51 to locate an object he was involved with some years ago. Led by a dominatrix-like commander named Irina Spalko, they hope Indy will be able to lead them to the artefact they seek.

Remembering that the object was highly magnetic, Indiana uses gunpowder and shotgun shells to lead the way to the crate. Once there, the soldiers open the body bag inside, finding unearthly remains. With the Russians distracted, Indy attempts to flee -- only to be stopped by Mac, who's been bribed to switch sides.

Indy makes his escape, fighting his way through the hangar to a rocket strapped to a railway. He fights with a massive Russian officer, Dovchenko, and accidentally activates the rocket. The pair blast out into the New Mexican desert, and Indy gets away.

The next day, he finds his way to an isolated small town. At first, it seems to be a normal community, with freshly-painted houses. Indy soon discovers that the bright new houses are filled with mannequins, and this is actually a nuclear testing ground.

Hearing the countdown, Indy crawls inside a refrigerator and survives the nuclear blast. He makes it to the testing facility, where he's decontaminated and debriefed. Now that his friend Mac has turned traitor, Indy is now under suspicion.

Even after he leaves the base and gets back to his teaching position, Indiana is followed by the allegations, and is forced to resign.

Boarding a train heading out of town, Indy is approached by Mutt Williams, a young man who tells him that an old friend, Harold Oxley, is in trouble over a crystal skull he found in Peru. Following a chase with Russian soldiers, Indy agrees to help Mutt, translating a piece of paper scrawled in an extinct language to lead them to thier first clue in Peru.

In Peru, Indy finds the prison where he was held after his harrowing experience with the skull. The experience almost drove him out of his mind, and he's told that he wrote messages on the wall during his stay. In the cell, Indy discovers a crude map that leads him to the final resting spot of a Conquistador mummified centuries before.

There, that he finds the Crystal Skull, a strange elongated skull made of pure crystal. The Skull is magnetic, just like the inhuman corpse at Area 51. The Russians catch up with Indy, and take Mutt, Indy, and the Skull into custody.

At the Russian camp, Indy and Mutt learn that the Skull is of extraterrestrial origin -- it's the actual skull of an alien life form that had psychic powers. They meet another prisoner of the Russians -- Mutt's mother, Marion Ravenwood.

After a brief reunion, Spalko fills him in on their problem. The Skull's power is psychic, and tapping into can be dangerous. Oxley was driven mad by when he stared into the Skull's eyes and absorbed some of its power.

The Russians force Indy to stare into the hollow eyes of the Skull so that he can communicate with Oxley, and lead them to the City of Gold. Indy makes contact with Oxley, and is beginning to piece together the mystery of the location of the City of Gold -- but Mutt creates a distraction, which allows them escape.

They get away, but Indy and Marion end up stuck in quicksand. Oxley and Mutt run to find help. Sinking deeper, Marion confides in Indy that Mutt is his son.

Marion and Indy break free from the quicksand -- but in his deranged state, Oxley has run to the Russian camp for help. Once again, the Russians take our heroes prisoner, and the group passes through the jungle in trucks. Indiana and Marion tell Mutt about his lineage just in time for another escape attempt.

The team takes control of one of the trucks, which leads them on a wild chase through the jungle. The Skull changes hands several times during the chase. After a close encounter with a killer ant hill and a waterfall, Indy and the gang finally put some distance between them and the Russians.

Mac reveals himself as a double agent for the British, joining them temporarily, and Indy discovers the entrance to the cave. They encounter some dangerous looking natives, who are repelled by the Skull's power.

The origin of the Skull is revealed -- Some time ago, aliens came to Earth to teach the savage ancestors of the Mayans the arts of farming and irrigation. Thirteen of the aliens remained deep within the recesses of the temple, waiting for the return of the Crystal Skull.

In the cave, the group finds a chamber filled with historical artifacts from every major period in ancient history, a veritable jackpot for museums and collectors. At the center, thirteen crystal skeletons sit in matching thrones. One of the skeletons is missing its skull.

Oxley is about to replace the Skull when Spalko and her communist cadre march in. It appears Mac wasn't a double agent -- he was leaving a trail for the Russians to find.

With the Skull replaced, the skeletons come to life, speaking in Mayan. They offer a "great gift", and Spalko demands that they tell her everything. They acquiesce to her request, firing the knowledge directly into her brain.

The temple begins to fall apart, revealing massive futuristic machines. Regaining his sanity, Oxley tells them that the aliens are inter-dimensional creatures, and this temple is a portal to the next world.

Indy and the gang decide to split. Spalko realizes her mistake as the knowledge overfills her brain, and she bursts into flames. Mac is sucked into the swirling vortex along with the Russians.

Indy and crew burst out of the temple, getting a front row seat as the building collapses -- revealing a spinning flying saucer that flies away. The saucer leaves behind a ruined pit that's soon swallowed by the nearby river. They head home, where Indiana marries Marion, with Mutt and Oxley in attendance.

Cast

 * Indiana Jones .... Harrison Ford
 * Marion Ravenwood ... Karen Allen
 * Mutt Williams .... Shia LaBeouf
 * Irina Spalko .... Cate Blanchett
 * George "Mac" McHale .... Ray Winstone
 * Professor Harold Oxley .. John Hurt
 * Colonel Antonin Dovchenko .... Igor Jijikine
 * Dean Charles Stanforth .... Jim Broadbent
 * General Ross .... Alan Dale
 * Smith .... Neil Flynn
 * .... Andrew Divoff
 * .... Pavel Lychnikoff

Characters

 * Marcus Brody
 * Francisco de Orellana
 * Sallah Mohammed Faisel el-Kahir
 * Howard Hughes
 * Henry Walton Jones, Sr.
 * Oppenheimer
 * Abner Ravenwood
 * Willie Scott
 * Pancho Villa
 * Colin Williams

Artifacts

 * Ark of the Covenant
 * Crystal Skull of Akator

Behind the scenes
Sean Connery declined to appear as Professor Henry 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.

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.

Reaction
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."

Continuity
The film is the most 'remote' than the other three, in timeline (set in the 50's while other three are in the 30's), in production time (17 years after the Last Crusade) and in concept (introducing alien beings). The narrative features and references events and personalities that take place during the 'gap' between the trilogy and the new film, like the relationship between Jones, Mac and Oxley.

However there are numerous references. The Ark of the Covenant has a 'cameo' of sorts, and we learn that the warehouse building it was stored in (at the end of the Raiders) is Hangar 51. There are also references both to Marcus Brody and Henry Jones, while the "Grail musical cue" is heard a couple of times. Also, the film makes a connection to The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, since Jones mentions his meeting with Pancho Villa.

Notably, there is even a Star Wars reference, when Jones speaks the famous catchphrase "I have a bad feeling about this".

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. Rumors also circulated that LaBeouf had signed a three film contract with Paramount.

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.

At the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, Lucas confirmed that he's planning for the next film to focus on Shia LaBeouf's character, with Harrison Ford 'srole being similar to Sean Connery's role in Last Crusade. In response, Ford said he will continue to play the character if asked, and LaBeouf expected the possibility of a fifth film to be based on public reception of the Mutt character.

Toy Line
A toyline for this film was released by Hasbro on May 1, 2008.

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 on the same day in Oklahoma City, to the benefit of a local children's hospital.
 * This is the first film in the series to be rated 12A by the British Board of Film Classification. The previous films were rated PG, which was before the creation of the 12 certifcate.