It’s funny… for all the bashing that Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull got, it still ended up getting enough people to go see it multiple times that it ended up being the #2 world wide box office movie last year just behind The Dark Knight.
But even people like me (who moderately enjoyed the movie) acknowledge it was a let down of epic proportions. I’ve always said that if you called Kingdom of the Crystal Skull by another name (something other than an Indiana Jones movie) it probably would have felt like a much better film… but it WAS an Indiana Jones film and thus should have been a hell of a lot better than it was.
At any rate, with the movie making as much money as it did, this news comes as no surprise. Shia LaBeouf is now saying that the next Indiana Jones movie is indeed moving forward. The folks over at Coming Soon had this to say:
In an interview with BBC News, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen star Shia LaBeouf says that it looks like a follow-up to Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is moving forward. “Steven [Spielberg] just said that he cracked the story on it before I left and I think they’re gearing that up,” LaBeouf said.
Ok, I know I’m going to be in the VAST minority here… but I’m happy to hear this news. Not because I thought KOTCS was good… but because I’d love for them to take a shot at redeeming themselves for the mistakes in the last movie. I still love Indiana Jones and I want a GREAT movie about an older Jones. Even with all the mistakes there were some good things about the last movie… and I hope they can build on those and get rid of the trash. And please George… just let Steven direct the film his way.
Recasting Indy could keep the franchise going for many years. However, an Old Indy was quite active in TV’s The Chronicles of Young Indiana Jones. Another thought; have Indy meet or have a co-adventure that would introduce Doc Savage or just William Harper Littlejohn (another archeologist). This would help expediate the Doc Savage movie franchise.
I think it is only a true Indiana Jones movie when Biblical artifacts are involved. The Arc and the Holy Grail. There is still one final piece that could be sought after. THE SPEAR OF DESTINY. The spear head that pierced Jesus Christ’s ribcage. Legends say that the spear head has powers and that certainly works for an Indy Jones movie. I think it would be perfect and get the Indiana Jones saga back on track . Get back to the jungle and ruins and oh what the hell. The Nazi Party could still be a part of it if Lucas can spin a story about an underground nazi chapter that still existed after World War was finished.After all Hitler did create fanatics , who searched the world over for such items.
I grew up on the Indiana Jones trilogy and anyone who wants to see Harrison Ford replaced for the Indy role is insane. Harrison Ford made that role what it is and noone can do him justice! Who says just becuase you get older you can’t still play a role. Yeah Crystal Skull was different but I still enjoyed it immensely and feel the introduction of Shia Lebouf was perfect becuase he reflects a younger Indy in his charisma and complete irreverence for authority. I say right on and keep them coming together. I loved the back and forth between the two!
I thought Crystal Skull was OK when I first saw it in the theatre, once I got the DVD I had a better appreciation for it. BTW, Harrison Ford IS Indiana Jones. I look forward to the next one!
I like to compare Indy 4 to a Best of CD from your favorite 80’s band. It had al the same scenes from the first 3 movies thrown together with modern stuff. I would of preferred if they went with 80’s special effects like they said they would do but oh well.
Mutt was fine. the only way you could’ve brought in a character to replace Indie, especially a kid, is to make him an angsty kid who thinks he’s tougher than he is (much like Indie does). there are so many characteristics that match Indie just fine. just like any protege, he’s not going to start off great.
Kingdom of the Crystal Skull disappointed people because they expected another Raiders. i don’t know why. they will never recapture the magic of the originals (even though Crystal Skull was better than Temple) just like they can’t with Star Wars or Rocky.
but that makes it by no means a bad movie. it had all the classic Indy stuff in it. Aliens was the next logical step in the series, especially for the timeline.
i guess they could’ve jumped on the vampire bandwagon but i would’ve hated that and complained to no end.
George worked his kiddie friendly thing on Indy 4 which made the Star Wars prequels so lame! Having said that Indy 4 was entertaining and it had (IMO) a pretty good story line. I could have done without the CGI animals (again for the kiddie’s) and it seems to me that they crammed too much into the film which, to me anyway, is the reason some people didn’t think it felt like an Indiana Jones movie, one could argue less is more! All in all I too liked Indy 4 and I have to say that I’ve watched it four times now on blue-ray and each time gets slightly better.
If they could get Sean Connery out of retirement for the next film that would be great to see.
even though he’s old i still think noah wyle shouldve been indiana jones son.
I’d happily go see a 5th Indy movie. Crystal Skull certainly wasn’t the best in the series (Raiders and Crusade share that honor), but it was far, far better than Doom. I enjoyed it a lot. So I say to Lucas and Spielberg, bring it on!
I loved the 4th Indy flick, but the Mutt character annoyed me. I hope he’s not “the new Indy”. They could do so much better.
I agree with John. ‘Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’ may have been a let down, but I have to admit I was damn excited when I heard this news earlier today! I don’t care how old the man is, give Ford that hat and whip, have him punch the hell out of somebody and you will get my money EVERY time.
Remember, ‘Temple of Doom’ was considered a let down, and they fired back a few years later with ‘Last Crusade’ which many (not me) consider the best of the series (I’m a ‘Raiders’ man).
I do think it’s important to remember one big detail of Shia’s quote that seems to keep getting overlooked here: “Steven [Spielberg] just said that he cracked the story on it”.
My point? He didn’t say Lucas creaked the story. This makes me feel a hell of a lot better.
It took 19 years for a new Indy movie because Lucas couldn’t think of a decent McGuffin. Now a little over a year from KOTCS and they’re gearing up for another sequel? Wow, it’s amazing what a few hundred million dollars can do for the creative juices!
The crystal skull isn’t even original to the series. Author Max McCoy employed a crystal skull in his four Indy novels. The only difference is McCoy retained the supernatural element from the films while Lucas went full-on E.T.
Hopefully this new sequel will bring back the charm of previous Indy flicks and leave out CG prairie dogs.
Good. PLEASE George, back off a bit. Steven built the series with his direction. Let him guide us home & to the end of this.
Actually War… it was George who called most of the shot behind the scenes for the first three even though Steven directed… Indy was always George’s baby. But from here on out, I totally agree with you
Crystal Skull wasn’t brilliant but it WAS better than Temple of Doom. Shia is better than “screamer” and day.
I’m not even sure that Shia is the right person to “take over” from Indy because he’s not an archaeologist at all. Though he was obviously “raised by one” in Crystal Skull.
In Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, it has an old Indy character (circa 1993) with a big scar on his face and an eye patch. I always thought it would be cool for them to tie it all together and tell the story of what happened.
I doubt that will happen though.
Nay, nay and thrice nay! I would rather see a Pirates IV than an Indy V right now. I’m dead serious.
I didnt hate crystal skull at all, but it was the worst one by far. Im happy about this news, just like you are John, so maybe they can make a new one thats even better than the others, or at least as good.
strange thing is, I find myself popping KOTCS in the DVD player more than any other IJ film. Probably because ive already seen the others 100 times.
It was pretty good and my kid liked it. I think Harrison Ford was fine. I think it was the premise that was lacking. Plus, I would like them to actually shoot on location.
Part 1- Shot in Northern Africa
Part 2- Shot in Sri Lanka
Part 3- Shot in Venice
Part 4- Shot in the backlot of the Paramount Studio
I can tell a set on a backlot from a real jungle. Plants don’t look like rubber…well except the rubber plant, I guess.
Either way, I’ll see the next one. It is good fun.
Am I the only person who like Crystal Skull? It was no Raiders or even Temple of Doom but with the exceptions of the monkeys, it was pretty damn good. No, I didn’t buy into the aliens but I still enjoyed myself. I hope they do make a new one they can only go up. It would be fine with me if they left Shia though.
as long as there are no cg prairie dogs, monkeys, or gratuitous nuclear explosions with fridges then I’m in.
Agreed. Please George, stay out of it. Your time has long since past.
If Shia LaBeouf is in it, I will not see it.
I’m ready for another Indy movie. They are not all going to be 5 star movies but I look forward to another adventure in the Indy series.
Along with a bad story and piss poor acting, the last Indiana flick was a good example of too much CGI. What a let down.
Maybe Lucas will do us all a favor and go away by the time they start shooting. Far far away. And they leave out the prairie dogs.
haha yea Steven should direct alone on this one.but i loved KOTCS no let downs or nothing to over the top for me was presented in the movie.but also its the 1st Indiana movie i saw.so i am all aboard for the next film.i can also see a possible re teaming of Shia an Megan possible(if they are passing the torch for Shia to continue the Indiana legacy).
I’ll definitely check it out. Just hope they come up with a better story than they did on KOTCS.
Count me out.
Oh-oh! Maybe this one will succeed in bringing Harrison Ford back into the spot light opening up a window for a Han Solo solo movie! J/K! :D
To this day i say KOTCS was still better than temple of Doom and will be looking forward to this movie
You’re gonna tell me that CGI monkeys with slicked-back 50’s hairdos swinging on vines through a forest is better than Temple of Doom. Seriously?
Though I enjoyed TOD I always considered it the weakest of the series. That is until KOTCS came out. As good an action film it is, KOTCS just isn’t an Indy movie.
“But even people like me (who moderately enjoyed the movie) acknowledge it was a let down of epic proportions.” ya man thats how i felt….i would tell people that if it wasnt a Indiana film i would have found it meh….7/10 …kinda like the mummy but not that epic…..but with all that it had going for it, it was so cheesey that it hurt….from the totally unrealistic crap like the ants that are insane…to the doo whop 50’s style hair on a monkey…..nukes going off while in a fridge? wtf …..ya it just was not feeling like a indy movie….doesnt mean im not up for another try at it…i mean hell if u told me that a new star wars was coming out i would hope just like this indy flick they try to fix what they broke….idk fix what they broke seems to fit how i feel…how bout u guys n gals?
I never really thought of the Indiana Jones movies as being realistic. I’ll have to watch them again as it has been a few years, but one scene really pops out at me right now for being unrealistic in the same terms as in Crystal Skull: Temple of Doom falling from a plane in a raft, landing on the side of the hill with everybody in tact and together, sliding down hill until going off a cliff, once again landing with everybody in tact and floating in the river down below, and… well, you get the point.
ya but that looked super cool and well….it could happen…lol….i ment that most of the stuff looked real….in crystal skulls it was cgi central in most of the scenes…hollywood needs to know when not to use CGI
I never quite understood the reasoning you and others present Bigsam. Before the events of Crystal Skull, Indiana Jones:
* was briefly under control by a magic spell AND was poked by a voodoo doll
* jumped out of a crashing plane with two other people on an inflatable raft, and surviving an icy mountain in the process
* swam to catch up to a submarine and rode on the deck for a good hour (probably more than that) and was really lucky that it did not submerge (and it’s not like they would let him in!)
* survived many chases air, land and sea
And then came Crystal Skull…and suddenly, Indy should not be involved in chases, crazy getaways and face flesh eating ants.
And I’ll say the same thing.
Can’t please everyone.
ya sorry i didnt state it better….i hated the crappy looking CGI
Huh? Why?
Hopefully it will be better than Crystal Skull.
This is good news for me since I think I am the one person in the world that really enjoyed the Crystal Skull.
Plus, if you go by the Indiana Jones trend, then the fill in the missing pattern: 1 = awesome, 2 = entertaining, 3 = awesome, 4 = entertaining, 5 = _______?
I know a lot of people (myself included) who loved Crystal Skull! I mean, F’n LOVED IT! So no worries Jeremy K. You are not alone! There are lots of us out there. It’s just the internet people that need to feel so very cool that like to trash on it for whatever reason. Yes it had problems. All and I do mean EVERY! films have problems. That’s all I’m going to say. Now, here comes the bashing and beating… wince.
i loved crystal skull, the one i hate hearing from all the haters is that it jumped the shark, yeah cause the holy grail and the ghosts who melt faces wasnt a stretch?
I liked Indy 4 also, I can’t say I loved it but it was a good movie. The thing I can’t figure out is this, the first indy was really good and everyone loved it, the second one sucked, then the third one was really good. So there are three movies with the only common thing about them is the character Indy (and other smaller things such as bad guys that can’t shoot). So how can people claim that it did not deserve to be called an indy? It had Harrison Ford, it had a car chases, it had a “Jones girl”, it had ancient artifacts, instead of germans it had russians, it had giant bugs, it had every thing that the others had and was very entertaining and way better the Temple of doom. So John, my question is why was it not good enough? What made it better than Temple of Doom?
@Riggs
I think people were saying that because the whole aliens thing seemed like an epic fail, at least to me. I really enjoyed it but I did have that sense of disappointment that it was an “Alien” story line. I’ll fully admit I’m biased in that department, I would much rather enjoy a cool story about Atlantis, some other lost relic from an ancient civilization, or another crazy cult. But aliens felt lack luster to me in the end. Maybe it was just the way it was presented.
I wouldn’t mind another. I’ll see it. But I wish they would recast Indy with another actor. This franchise should be no different than Bond. Harrison Ford was a great Indy, but his time in that role has passed.
I’ve wondered what it would be like if they recast Indy. Could they even pull it off? Is there even someone who can capture what Harrison Ford did with the role?
I used to think the answer to all those questions was “no.” But, after seeing “Star Trek,” I think Chris Pine could pull it off. Not yet, mind you, but in a few years when he is older.
Problem is, if Indy *was* recast (I’d cast Aaron Eckhart, BTW) …
Shia LaBeouf *would not* be involved. Go ahead, ask me why.
Newly cast (younger) Indy Jones means= no Mutt.
There was a lot of speculation that bringing in Mutt would suggest a passing of the torch. Perhaps they are going to do one more to better cement the character (or give us a reason to love him) before attempting a Mutt Jones Adventures type spinoff.
Not a recast, but still a viable future for the pulp adventure film genre (provided we buy into Mutt as a lead)
I like that idea. Mature his character a bit more in the next one to show some character development and let him prove his worth then pop him into a solo movie.
I loved Mutt. I would love to see a Mutt pulp adventure film. I think it would be awesome to have it have some kind of big radiation ’50s element to it. Maybe he’d have to save some “skirt” from a mutant Lizard or something. Maybe some giant shrews or a large Caterpillar! Hell, make it a 10ft. prarie dog. I’d love that kind of campy “mutant age, atomic horror, pulp shit!” …alas, that would never float in the current Hollywood. It wouldn’t have a big enough fan base.
I think he should be recast, one of the worst things that a company can do is tie the character to the actor, especially when the franchise is a cash cow like Indian Jones. They managed to pull it off with Bond and that franchise has made the most movies out of any other. However much I would like to see Indian Jones with a new actor I don’t see it happening. The reason for this is that not only do you have the character of Indy tied Harrison Ford but the stories tied to George Lucas and directing tied Steven Speilberg. You may be able to get rid of one of these people, and given time all three, but there isn’t time to do it so it will never happen.
I think you’re all way off base here. Bond is not a character that should be allowed to age. There for, is replaceable as has been shown. But a character like Indiana Jones? His aging should be a part of the story, and do you remember how retarded people got when the rumors were flying that he was passing the torch to Shia LeDouche? Not to mention that Harrison Ford is and will always be Indiana Jones, I really don’t want to think of anyone else replacing him…if it came down to that they just shouldn’t do it.
The one valid argument I see against recasting Indy like they do with Bond is that Indy did not exist before “Raiders.” Bond was a book character, but Indy is a film character who has always been played by Harrison Ford.
This doesn’t mean it can’t be done, but it would be hard to do. Like I said, until Christ Pine’s performance in Star Trek, I didn’t think there was anybody out there that could capture Indy. He might be able to do it.