 |
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| Directed by | Steven Spielberg |
|---|---|
| Produced by | Frank Marshall George Lucas Kathleen Kennedy |
| Screenplay by | David Koepp |
| Story by | George Lucas Jeff Nathanson |
| Starring | Harrison Ford Shia LaBeouf Cate Blanchett Karen Allen Ray Winstone John Hurt Jim Broadbent |
| Music by | John Williams |
| Cinematography | Janusz Kamiński |
| Editing by | Michael Kahn |
| Studio | Lucasfilm Ltd. |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Release date(s) |
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| Running time | 121 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $185 million |
| Box office | $786,636,033 |
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a 2008 American adventure science fiction film. It is the fourth film in the Indiana Jones franchise, created by George Lucas and directed by Steven Spielberg. Released nineteen years after the previous film, the film acknowledges its star Harrison Ford's age by being set in 1957. It pays tribute to the science fiction B-movies of the era, pitting Indiana Jones against Soviet agents—led by Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett)—for a psychic alien crystal skull. Indiana is aided by his former lover Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) and son Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf). Ray Winstone, John Hurt and Jim Broadbent are also part of the supporting cast.
Screenwriters Jeb Stuart, Jeffrey Boam, Frank Darabont, and Jeff Nathanson wrote drafts before David Koepp's script satisfied the producers. Shooting began on June 18, 2007, and took place in various locations including New Mexico; New Haven, Connecticut; Hawaii; and Fresno, California, as well as on sound stages in Los Angeles, California. To keep aesthetic continuity with the previous films, the crew relied on traditional stunt work instead of computer-generated stunt doubles and cinematographer Janusz Kamiński studied Douglas Slocombe's style from the previous films.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was released worldwide on May 22, 2008, to generally positive reviews.[2] It was also a financial success, grossing over $786 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film of the franchise when not adjusted for inflation, the second highest-grossing film of 2008. Marketing relied heavily on the public's nostalgia for the series, with products taking inspiration from all four films. Anticipation for the film was heightened by secrecy, which resulted in a legal dispute over an extra violating his non-disclosure agreement and the arrest of another man for stealing a computer containing various documents related to the production.
Plot
In 1957, World War II hero Indiana Jones and his partner George "Mac" McHale are kidnapped by a group of Soviet agents led by Colonel Dr. Irina Spalko. The Soviets infiltrate a warehouse labeled "Warehouse 51" in Nevada and force Jones to find a crate containing the remains of an extraterrestrial that crashed ten years earlier near Roswell, New Mexico. After finding the crate, with its highly magnetic contents, Mac, bribed by the Soviets, double-crosses Jones. After a running battle with the Soviets, Indiana manages to escape on a rocket sled into the desert; he stumbles into a deserted town, part of a nuclear test site and survives a nuclear detonation by hiding in a lead-lined refrigerator. He is later debriefed by the FBI, who believe he's also working for the Soviets. Shortly after returning to Marshall College, Jones is offered an indefinite leave of absence to avoid being fired because of the incident.At a train station, Jones is stopped by greaser Henry "Mutt" Williams, who tells him that his old colleague Harold Oxley was kidnapped after discovering a crystal skull in Peru. Jones tells Mutt about the legend of crystal skulls found in the mystical city of Akator and whoever returns the skull to the city would be given control over its supernatural powers. Mutt gives Jones a letter from his mother, who is also being held captive, containing a riddle written by Oxley in an ancient Native American language. This leads them to the Nazca Lines in Peru. There they discover that Oxley was in a psychiatric hospital, after suffering a mental breakdown from handling the skull, and was kidnapped from his cell by the Soviets. In Oxley's cell, they find clues that lead them to the grave of Francisco de Orellana, a Conquistador who went missing in the 16th century while searching for Akator. They discover the skull at the grave, with Jones reasoning that Oxley had hidden it there.
Shortly afterward, Jones and Mutt are captured by the Soviets and taken to their camp, where they find Oxley and Mutt's mother, who turns out to be Jones' old love Marion Ravenwood, who reveals that Mutt is Jones' son, Henry Jones III. Spalko believes that the crystal skull belongs to an interdimensional being and holds great psychic power, and proves her theory by showing that the corpse stolen from the warehouse has an identically shaped skull. She also believes that returning the skull to Akator will grant the Soviets the advantage of psychic warfare. Jones, Marion, Mutt and Oxley escape from the Soviets into the Amazon; however, they are recaptured after Jones and Marion fall into quicksand and Oxley fetches the Soviets to "help". While being taken through the rainforest to Akator the next day, Marion and Indy argue so much that their guard Dovchenko gags Marion. However, Jones and Mutt manage to overpower him, after Jones frees himself with Mutt's hidden knife. He ungags Marion, then Mutt frees her while Jones takes over the truck, leading to a jungle chase resulting in many losses, then stopping in an area full of giant ants that kill a soldier and Dovchenko. The group escapes and makes it to the city, but only after evading the Soviets and negotiating three waterfalls in a duck and narrowly avoiding being killed by a tribe guarding the long-abandoned city. Mac, who again switched allegiances and claims to be a double agent, has been secretly leaving a trail for the Soviets to follow.
Inside the central temple, they find artifacts from several ancient civilizations. Jones deduces that the creatures were kindred spirits; they too were "archaeologists" studying the different cultures of Earth. The five enter a chamber containing the crystal skeletons of thirteen alien beings seated in a circle, with one missing its skull. After the Soviets arrive, Spalko replaces the skull. The aliens communicate to the group through Oxley using an ancient dialect and promises to reward them with a "big gift"; Spalko demands to "know everything". The skeletons grant her request and transfer their collective knowledge into her mind. At the same time they activate a portal to another dimension. Jones, Marion, Mutt and the now restored Oxley escape the temple, but Mac and the other Soviets are sucked into the portal. Meanwhile, the skeletons combine to form a single living being and the knowledge transfer overwhelms Spalko, causing her to disintegrate; her dust is then drawn into the portal. The survivors watch as the temple walls crumble, revealing a massive flying saucer slowly rising from the debris; it hovers for a second before disappearing into the "space between spaces".
Sometime later, after Jones is reinstated at Marshall College and made an associate dean, he and Marion are married in a church.
Production
Development
Indiana Jones and the Saucer Men from Mars script by Jeb Stuart, dated February 20, 1995:
The second draft's prologue is set in Borneo
in 1949, with Indiana proposing to Dr. Elaine McGregor after defeating
pirates. She abandons him at the altar, because the government requests
her aid in decoding an alien cylinder (covered in Egyptian, Mayan and
Sanskrit symbols) in New Mexico. Indiana pursues her, and battles
Russians agents and aliens for the cylinder.
The script featured army ants, a rocket sled fight, Indiana surviving an atomic explosion by sealing himself in a fridge, and a climactic battle between the US military and flying saucers. Henry Jones, Sr., Short Round, Sallah, Marion Ravenwood and Willie cameo at Indiana and Elaine's wedding(s). Indiana is also a former colonel and was assigned to the OSS during World War II.[37]
The script featured army ants, a rocket sled fight, Indiana surviving an atomic explosion by sealing himself in a fridge, and a climactic battle between the US military and flying saucers. Henry Jones, Sr., Short Round, Sallah, Marion Ravenwood and Willie cameo at Indiana and Elaine's wedding(s). Indiana is also a former colonel and was assigned to the OSS during World War II.[37]
Ford disliked the new angle, telling Lucas, "No way am I being in a Steven Spielberg movie like that."[23] Spielberg himself, who depicted aliens in Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, resisted it. Lucas came up with a story, which Jeb Stuart turned into a script from October 1993 to May 1994.[12] (Stuart had previously written The Fugitive, which starred Ford.) Lucas wanted Indiana to get married, which would allow Henry Jones, Sr. to return, expressing concern over whether his son is happy with what he has accomplished. After he learned that Joseph Stalin was interested in psychic warfare, he decided to have Russians as the villains and the aliens to have psychic powers.[39] Following Stuart's next draft, Lucas hired Last Crusade writer Jeffrey Boam to write the next three versions, the last of which was completed in March 1996. Three months later, Independence Day was released, and Spielberg told Lucas he would not make another alien invasion film. Lucas decided to focus on the Star Wars prequels.[12]
In 2000, Spielberg's son asked when the next Indiana Jones film would be released, which made him interested in reviving the project.[40] The same year, Ford, Lucas, Spielberg, Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy met during the American Film Institute's tribute to Ford, and decided they wanted to enjoy the experience of making an Indiana Jones film again. Spielberg also found returning to the series a respite from his many dark films during this period, such as A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, Minority Report, and Munich.[24] Lucas convinced Spielberg to use aliens in the plot by saying they were not "extraterrestrials," but "interdimensional," with this concept taking inspiration in the superstring theory.[13] Spielberg and Lucas discussed the central idea of a B-movie involving aliens, and Lucas suggested using the crystal skulls to ground the idea. Lucas found those artifacts as fascinating as the Ark of the Covenant,[41] and had intended to feature them for a Young Indiana Jones episode before the show's cancellation.[12] M. Night Shyamalan was hired to write for an intended 2002 shoot,[40] but he was overwhelmed writing a sequel to a film he loved like Raiders of the Lost Ark, and claimed it was difficult to get Ford, Spielberg and Lucas to focus.[42] Stephen Gaghan and Tom Stoppard were also approached.[40]
Frank Darabont, who wrote various Young Indiana Jones episodes, was hired to write in May 2002.[43] His script, entitled Indiana Jones and the City of Gods,[12] was set in the 1950s, with ex-Nazis pursuing Jones.[44] Spielberg conceived the idea because of real life figures such as Juan Perón in Argentina, who protected Nazi war criminals.[12] Darabont claimed Spielberg loved the script, but Lucas had issues with it, and decided to take over writing himself.[12] Lucas and Spielberg acknowledged the 1950s setting could not ignore the Cold War, and the Russians were more plausible villains. Spielberg decided he could not satirize the Nazis after directing Schindler's List,[9] while Ford noted, "We plum[b] wore the Nazis out."[23]
Jeff Nathanson met with Spielberg and Lucas in August 2004, and turned in the next drafts in October and November 2005, titled The Atomic Ants. David Koepp continued on from there, giving his script the subtitle Destroyer of Worlds,[12] based on the J. Robert Oppenheimer quote. It was changed to Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, as Spielberg found it more inviting a title and actually named the plot device of the crystal skulls. Lucas insisted on the Kingdom part.[45] Koepp's "bright [title] idea" was Indiana Jones and the Son of Indiana Jones, and Spielberg had also considered having the title name the aliens as The Mysterians, but dropped that when he remembered that was the name of a film.[13] Koepp collaborated with Raiders of the Lost Ark screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan on the film's "love dialogue."[8]
Filming
Half the film was scheduled to shoot on five sound stages at Los Angeles:[51] Downey, Sony, Warner Bros., Paramount and Universal.[31] Filming moved to Chandler Field in Fresno, California, substituting for Mexico City International Airport, on October 11, 2007.[52] After shooting aerial shots of Chandler Airport and a DC-3 on the morning of October 12, 2007, filming wrapped.[53][54] Although he originally found no need for re-shoots after viewing his first cut of the film,[44] Spielberg decided to add an establishing shot filmed on February 29, 2008, in Pasadena, California.[55]
Design
Spielberg and Janusz Kamiński, who has shot all of the director's films since 1993's Schindler's List, reviewed the previous films to study Douglas Slocombe's style. "I didn’t want Janusz to modernize and bring us into the 21st century," Spielberg explained. "I still wanted the film to have a lighting style not dissimilar to the work Doug Slocombe had achieved, which meant that both Janusz and I had to swallow our pride. Janusz had to approximate another cinematographer's look, and I had to approximate this younger director's look that I thought I had moved away from after almost two decades."[41] Spielberg also hired production designer Guy Hendrix Dyas after admiring his design work for Superman Returns. Spielberg did not want to fast cut action scenes, relying on his script instead for a fast pace,[41] and had confirmed in 2002 that he would not shoot the film digitally, a format Lucas had adopted.[56] Lucas felt "it looks like it was shot three years after Last Crusade. The people, the look of it, everything. You’d never know there was 20 years between shooting."[46] Kamiński commented upon watching the three films back-to-back, he was amazed how each of them advanced technologically, but were all nevertheless consistent, neither too brightly or darkly lit.[3]While shooting War of the Worlds in late 2004, Spielberg met with stunt coordinator Vic Armstrong, who doubled for Ford in the previous films, to discuss three action sequences he had envisioned.[57] However, Armstrong was filming The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor during shooting of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, so Dan Bradley was hired instead.[58] Bradley and Spielberg used previsualization for all the action scenes, except the motorcycle chase at Marshall College, because that idea was conceived after the animators had left. Bradley drew traditional storyboards instead, and was given free rein to create dramatic moments, just as Raiders of the Lost Ark second unit director Michael D. Moore did when filming the truck chase.[21] Spielberg improvised on set, changing the location of Mutt and Spalko's duel from the ground to on top of vehicles.[3]
The Ark of the Covenant is seen in a broken crate during the Hangar 51 opening sequence. Lucasfilm used the same prop from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Guards were hired to protect the highly-sought after piece of film memorabilia during the day of its use. A replica of the staff carried by Charlton Heston in The Ten Commandments was also used to populate the set to illustrate the Hangar's history.[45]
Effects
Steven Spielberg stated before production began that very few CGI effects would be used to maintain consistency with the other films. During filming however, significantly more CGI work was done than initially anticipated as in many cases it proved to be more practical. There ended up being a total of about 450 CGI shots in the film, with an estimated 30 percent of the film's shots containing CG matte paintings.[54] Spielberg initially wanted brushstrokes to be visible on the paintings for added consistency with the previous films, but decided against it.[23] The script also required a non-deforested jungle for a chase scene, but this would have been unsafe and much CGI work was done to create the jungle action sequence. Visual effects supervisor Pablo Helman (who worked on Lucas' Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace and Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones as well as Spielberg's War of the Worlds and Munich) traveled to Brazil and Argentina to photograph elements that were composited into the final images. Industrial Light and Magic then effectively created a virtual jungle with a geography like the real Amazon.[61]
The appearance of a live alien and flying saucer was in flux. Spielberg wanted the alien to resemble a Gray alien, and also rejected early versions of the saucer that looked "too Close Encounters". Art director Christian Alzmann said the aesthetic was "looking at a lot of older B-movie designs – but trying to make that look more real and gritty to fit in with the Indy universe." Other reference for the visual effects work included government tapes of nuclear tests, and video reference of real prairie dogs shot in 1080p by Nathan Edward Denning.
Release
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 18, 2008, a couple of days ahead of its worldwide May 21-23 release. It was the first Spielberg film since 1982's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial to premiere at Cannes.[68] The film was released in approximately 4,000 theaters in the United States, and dubbed into 25 languages for its worldwide release.[41] More than 12,000 release prints were distributed, which is the largest in Paramount Pictures' history.[69] Although Spielberg insisted his films only be watched traditionally at theaters, Paramount chose to release the film in digital cinemas as part of a scheme to convert 10,000 U.S. cinemas to the format.[70]Secrecy
Frank Marshall remarked, "In today's information age, secrecy has been a real challenge. ... People actually said, 'No, we're going to respect Steven's vision." Fans on the internet have scrutinized numerous photos and the film's promotional LEGO sets in hope of understanding plot details; Spielberg biographer Ian Freer wrote, "What Indy IV is actually about has been the great cultural guessing game of 2007/08. Yet, it has to be said, there is something refreshing about being ten weeks away from a giant blockbuster and knowing next to nothing about it."[21] To distract investigative fans from the film's title during filming,[71] five fake titles were registered with the Motion Picture Association of America; 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.[72] Lucas and Spielberg had also wanted to keep Karen Allen's return a secret until the film's release, but decided to confirm it at the 2007 Comic-Con.[73]An extra in the film, Tyler Nelson, violated his nondisclosure agreement in an interview with The Edmond Sun on September 17, 2007, which was then picked up by the mainstream media. It is unknown if he remained in the final cut.[74] At Nelson's request, The Edmond Sun subsequently pulled the story from its website.[75] 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.[76] A number of production photos and sensitive documents pertaining to the film's production budget were also stolen from Steven Spielberg’s production office. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department set up a sting operation after being alerted by a webmaster that the thief might try to sell the photos. On October 4, 2007, the seller, 37-year old Roderick Eric Davis, was arrested. He pleaded guilty to two felony counts and was sentenced to two years and four months in prison.[21][77][78]
Marketing
For a broader view of the franchise's revival in 2008, see Indiana Jones franchise.
Howard Roffman, President of Lucas Licensing, attributed the film's
large marketing campaign to it having been "nineteen years since the
last film, and we are sensing a huge pent-up demand for everything
Indy".[79] Paramount spent at least $150 million to promote the film,[80] whereas most film promotions range from $70 to 100 million. As well as fans, the film also needed to appeal to younger viewers.[81] Licensing deals include Expedia, Dr Pepper, Burger King, M&M's and Lunchables.[81] Paramount sponsored an Indiana Jones open wheel car for Marco Andretti in the 2008 Indianapolis 500, and his racing suit was designed to resemble Indiana Jones's outfit.[82] The distributor also paired with M&M's to sponsor the #18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, with NASCAR driver Kyle Busch behind the wheel, in the 2008 Dodge Challenger 500 at Darlington Raceway.[83] Kyle Busch and the #18 team won the race and visited victory lane with Indiana Jones on the car.[84] With the film's release, producer Frank Marshall and UNESCO worked together to promote conservation of World Heritage Sites around the world.[85][86]The Boston-based design studio Creative Pilot created the packaging style for the film's merchandise, which merged Drew Struzan's original illustrations "with a fresh new look, which showcases the whip, a map and exotic hieroglyphic patterns".[87] Hasbro, Lego, Sideshow Collectibles, Topps, Diamond Select, Hallmark Cards,[88] and Cartamundi all sold products.[89] A THQ mobile game based on the film was released,[90] as was a Lego video game based on the past films.[91][92] Lego also released a series of computer-animated spoofs, Lego Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Brick, directed by Peder Pedersen.[93] Stern Pinball released a new Indiana Jones pinball machine, designed by John Borg, based on all four films.[94] From October 2007 to April 2008, the reedited episodes of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles were released in three DVD box sets.[95]
Random House, Dark Horse Comics, Diamond Comic Distributors, Scholastic and DK published books,[79] including James Rollins' novelization of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,[96] a two-issue comic book adaptation written by John Jackson Miller and drawn by Luke Ross (Samurai: Heaven and Earth), children's novelizations of all four films,[97] the Indiana Jones Adventures comic book series aimed at children,[98] and the official Indiana Jones Magazine.[99] Scholastic featured Indiana and Mutt on the covers of Scholastic News and Scholastic Maths, to the concern of parents, though Jack Silbert, editor of the latter, felt the film would interest children in archaeology.[81]
Disneyland hosted "Indiana Jones Summer of Hidden Mysteries" to promote the release of the film.[100]
Home media
The film was released on Blu-ray Disc and DVD in North America on October 14, 2008. This includes a two-disc edition Blu-ray; a two-disc Special Edition DVD; and a one-disc edition DVD.[101] These editions were released in the UK on November 10.[102] Among the collectible editions include; Kmart, which contains four LEGO posters parodying those of the films; Target Corporation, whose DVD has an eighty-page book of photographs; and Best Buy, whose edition contains a replica of a crystal skull created by Sideshow Collectibles.[103] As of March 1, 2009, it has made $109,296,975 in revenue.[104] It made its worldwide television premiere on USA on December 9, 2010.Performance
Box office
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was released Thursday May 22 in North America and grossed $25 million its opening day.[105] In its opening weekend, the film grossed an estimated $101 million in 4,260 theaters in the United States and Canada, ranking #1 at the box office,[106] and making it the third widest opening of all time.[107] Within its first five days of release, it grossed $311 million worldwide. The film's total $151 million gross in the United States ranked it as the second biggest Memorial Day weekend release, behind Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.[108] It was the third most successful film of 2008 domestically, behind The Dark Knight and Iron Man respectively,[109] and the second highest-grossing film of 2008 internationally, behind The Dark Knight.[110] In February 2010, it was the 25th highest-grossing film of all time domestically, and 38th highest-grossing worldwide, as well as the most financially successful Indiana Jones film when not adjusted for inflation of ticket prices.
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