Indiana Jones was called a grave robber and “obtainer of rare antiquities” in his career, but at least in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the skull ended up in its rightful place. Not so much with another crystal skull, which was referenced in the 2008 film: the Mitchell-Hedges skull, found in British Honduras (now Belize) in the 1920s.
Now, the Institute of Archaeology of Belize is using the Illinois courts to get the Mitchell-Hedges skull back from its discoverer’s family, and are even claiming that the skull’s likeness was used as the basis for the fictional skull in the Indiana Jones film without Belize’s authorization and thus the country deserves a chunk of the profit from Lucasfilm and Paramount (and now Disney). Or could it be that the crystal skull prop (and the Mitchell-Hedges skull) are based on the design of human skulls (albeit for the movie, some proportions were extended to alien dimensions).
The lawsuit alleges that there are only four known major crystal skulls in the world, including the one in the British Museum. Wait, the British Museum rock crystal skull was determined not to be Mayan or Aztec, but made later, from material not in the pre-Columbian Mexico trade network. Not a good start for this case.
Whether the Mitchell-Hedges skull is stolen property that needs to be repatriated to Belize is one case, but then dragging Lucasfilm into the case for claiming stolen profits is going to be a much tougher case. Or was the goal to just get some PR for this lawsuit?
Every time I see someone use the term ‘Jedis,’ I sigh.
Maybe it’s petty, but few things drive me battier than glaring Star Wars typos, particularly when they come from professional and semi-professional news outlets. Here are a few Star Wars terms and spellings every fan (and entertainment journalist) ought to know and use correctly in the years ahead.
Federal antitrust regulators have cleared Disney’s purchase of Lucasfilm, the Associated Press reports today. No formal closing date has been announced yet.
Vulture caught up with Disney chairman Alan Horn last night and, naturally, asked him about Lucasfilm and Star Wars. He revealed how many people knew about Episode VII: “A very small group,” He dodged the Matthew Vaughn rumor, though he did say we should hear it “soon” and that the announcement has to come from Kathleen Kennedy.
“We take very seriously the obligation to make a very good movie,” he told Vulture. “Kathy is a very experienced producer; George Lucas is the godfather of that franchise and very, very involved on a consulting basis, so we feel very confident.”
It’s Part 3! George Lucas and Kathleen Kennedy talk about their meeting and his proposal for her to run Lucasfilm. “I love the challenge,” Kennedy says.
“It’s just such a perfect fit,” Lucas says. “She actually has all the qualities necessary to run a company like this.”
On the official blog today, Howard Roffman talks about his history with George Lucas, Bob Iger and Kathleen Kennedy, as well as his emergence from semi-retirement. “The prospect of being involved with a new trilogy of Star Wars films made by a new generation of filmmakers was nothing short of exhilarating for me,” he writes.
A CJ reader attending a Lucasfilm university recruiting event in October noticed something curious. During the Lucasfilm Animation portion of the presentation, University Relations Manager Anita Stokes said that in addition to The Clone Wars and Detours, “Lucasfilm Animation is also working on a feature film.” Our reader says it was heavily implied that this was a Clone Wars movie.
I have my skeptic hat on, even with yesterday’s report/very possible misquote of “two or three films a year.” With 3-D re-releases of Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sithlate next year, plus the original trilogy to (presumably) spread out through 2014 before the new films in 2015, it seems like Lucasfilm is quickly approaching a Star Wars saturation point in theaters. I could certainly see a full-length Clone Wars movie for TV – to launch the show on Disney XD, perhaps? – but ‘feature’ implies otherwise.
Of course, this mystery feature could also very well be the fairy project or, if the Disney deal scuttled that, something else entirely. Or maybe brand-new Star Wars to aim for the Episode VII-VIII gap – perhaps related to the new films? A launching pad for another animated series, even? Time will tell…
The Star Wars issue of Entertainment Weekly isn’t out yet, but apparently Kotaku got an early peek at it – and they’re reporting that Kathleen Kennedy says that Lucasfilm wants to make “two or three films a year.”
Lucasfilm’s co-chairman and soon-to-be president, Kathleen Kennedy, has told employees she wants the company to produce two or three films a year (it’s averaged fewer than four per decade), and first up is Star Wars: Episode VII for 2015, which will pick up sometime after Darth Vader gave his life to overthrow (figuratively and literally) the Emperor and save Luke in 1983’s Episode VI— Return of the Jedi. Yes, the plan is to return to the characters in the first trilogy (1977–83). Whether the original actors will have significant roles or merely be on hand to pass the baton to a new generation of actors—something Lucasfilm tried with mixed success with Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Disney with TRON: Legacy—is unclear.
Two or three? Well, we can probably assume we’ll get three in 2014 – the 3-D re-releases of the original trilogy. But somehow, I doubt that’s what she’s talking about… Disney seems mostly focused on Star Wars, but that’s… A lot of Star Wars. (Market saturation much?) If they are all Star Wars, anyway.
… Or this could all be a misquote of the original thing we heard about one movie every 2 to 3 years. Personally, that’s what I’m hoping for.
Lucasfilm hired Brenda Chapman – who was the writer and original director for Brave at Pixar- in August. Reports were that she was consulting on a ‘mystery project’ for Lucasfilm Animation…. But in the wake of the Disney sale and sequel trilogy announcements? Bleeding Cool notes some of her recent tweets – including a link to a Time story on Episode VII. Could she be involved with the new films somehow? ” We will just have to wait and see what happens,” she tweeted to one such inquiry.
Of course, it’s worth noting that all of Chapman’s credits are in animation – she directed Dreamwork’s The Prince of Egypt – and Episode VII already has a writer. But ‘consultant’ does cover a lot of ground, and the timing is pretty curious…
And yes, this is pure, unbridled speculation – even Bleeding Cool admits she might really be working on that fairy musical we’ve barely heard about, or something else entirely. Still, an interesting prospect.
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Indiana Jones was called a grave robber and “obtainer of rare antiquities” in his career, but at least in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the skull ended up in its rightful place. Not so much with another crystal skull, which was referenced in the 2008 film: the Mitchell-Hedges skull, found in British Honduras (now Belize) in the 1920s. 
Every time I see someone use the term ‘Jedis,’ I sigh. 
The Hollywood Reportor has named Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy as 
Federal antitrust regulators have cleared Disney’s purchase of Lucasfilm, the 
On the official blog today, 
A CJ reader attending a Lucasfilm university recruiting event in October noticed something curious. During the Lucasfilm Animation portion of the presentation, University Relations Manager Anita Stokes said that in addition to The Clone Wars and Detours, “Lucasfilm Animation is also working on a feature film.” Our reader says it was heavily implied that this was a Clone Wars movie.
Lucasfilm hired Brenda Chapman – who was the writer and original director for Brave at Pixar- in 
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