Club Jade

Interviews with producer Frank Marshall seem to indicate that Indiana Jones 5 seemes unlikely to happen. Marshall is likely to be pretty close in the loop on such things, as one of the producers on all four films in the Indiana Jones series and husband to Kathleen Kennedy, fellow Indy producer and recently named to be George Lucas’ successor at Lucasfilm.

Talking with Collider, Marshall responded that there’s no MacGuffin for a fifth film, and that Lucas, who is retiring from the reins at Lucasfilm, isn’t that interested in another flick for the archaeologist:

“Yeah, no he isn’t [hungry to do another Indiana Jones]. And he’s obviously passing the baton to my wife, so.”

Earlier in the week, Marshall told Crave that Lucas wasn’t working on the screenplay to an Indiana Jones film, claiming that a “really good story” is “hard to do”. With Lucas not at the helm of the franchise, does this mean that that Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was Indy’s last hurrah? Marshall seems to think so:

“I say, for me, [Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is] the last hurrah.”

Meanwhile, the Blu-ray release of Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures (there’s a fitting title if Marshall’s talk proves correct) comes out September 18.

New York Magazine’s Vulture blog caught up with George Lucas at The Adventures of Tintin premiere and learned that despite earlier comments by Steven Spielberg about the movie concept being done, Lucas is still seeking a key plot point for a fifth Indiana Jones film. Lucas said: “but I really haven’t found the MacGuffin yet. I mean, I know what it’s about, but I just have to find a MacGuffin that fits into the arena we’re working in.”

Meanwhile, Spielberg reported to MTV that making a fifth Indy film wouldn’t be made just to prove something to the audience (when compared to general fan reaction that felt that the most recent film, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, was a letdown compared to other Indy outings).

According to gossip site ShowbizSpy, Harrison Ford has been lobbying George Lucas and Steven Spielberg to kill off Indy in the next installment of the series.

“Harrison thinks it would be good for Indy to die and pass on his hat to his son in the next one,” reveals an insider.

“George especially is resisting the notion but Steven is considering it. Funnily enough Harrison wanted the same for Han Solo in the final Star Wars but George put an end to it. This time he doesn’t have all the say though.”

Bogus? Maybe. It’s a little too similar to the Han Solo story for me to believe, but I wouldn’t be all that surprised either. (via)

UPDATE: A rep for Ford told the Huffington Post that the report is false. Shocking! Now back to your regularly scheduled whatever.

Slashfilm reports that Lucasfilm has killed the unsubstantiated speculation on the fifth Indiana Jones film focusing its story on the Bermuda Triangle, with Harrison Ford and Shia LeBeouf teaming up for the main action. (Frank Marshall has also weighed in.)

My best guess is that after Indy’s experience with oil in the Venetian catacombs in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, he now doesn’t want to go anywhere near that BP oil spill.

While talking to MTV News, Harrsion Ford dished up a little talk about the fifth Indiana Jones film, but doesn’t elaborate much on George Lucas’ “crazy but good” idea for a new adventure, and concedes that his Extraordinary Measures co-star Brendan Fraser would probably have his Rick O’Connell character from The Mummy franchise beat Indiana Jones to the treasure nowadays.

Variety reports that Paramount released that the next Star Trek film will have its release on June 29, 2012. While J. J. Abrams will be producing, no word yet on whether he will be directing, or just adding lens flare effects. John Cho reports to IGN Movies that he’s hoping for some Khaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan in the sequel, which could either be Star Trek 2, or Star Trek 12 depending on how you count. Meanwhile SciFiWire finds some Trek fans in Seattle use body paint to make Trek uniforms (warning: NSFW). Maybe they could wear some Star Trek wetsuits.

/Film has tidbits of Karen Allen (at Dragon*Con! So weeks ago!) and Harrison Ford talking about the possibility of a fifth Indiana Jones movie.

Empire magazine gets the scoop from producer Frank Marshall that a fifth Indy film is in the works, confirming earlier reports from Shia Labeouf that a Indiana Jones 5 script was starting up. Just no more aliens, ‘kay?

Shia LaBeouf lets the archeologist out of the fridge with the BBC: “Steven [Spielberg] just said he cracked the story on it before I left, and I think they’re gearing that up.”

Wolverine rules the box office. Naked Hugh Jackman and friends brought in a whooping $160M worldwide this weekend. Also interesting? 47% of the U.S. audience was female. (Hey, look: It had issues, but it was better than X3. Plus, naked Jackman.) Looks like there may be a sequel in the offing after all.

Next week’s shiny. Wolvie faces his first real competition with the release of the new Star Trek on Friday. Anticipation is high, and the reviews are almost ridiculously positive – 100% on Rotten Tomatoes at the moment. And if you must know, Geoff Boucher has the skinny on the film’s homage to ESB.

And on that note… Stephen King’s Dark Tower series may be next for J.J. Abrams.

Let’s not forget Fanboys. With the DVD out in a few weeks, Lightsabre talks to director Kyle Newman.

Only because I am obliged to post it. Pretty much nothing going on with Indy 5.

Your final comic book tidbit. The first picture from Iron Man 2.

OH SHIT IT’S A TWILIGHT ENTRY, GET IN THE CAR. The reviews are not good (43%!) for the preteen squee event of the year, but since when has that ever made a difference at the box office? At the very least, we can hold out hope that the movie is better than the book. Just remember, ladies: stalking is not romantic, even if the guy is hot (well, ‘hot’) and comes with a lifetime supply of built-in body glitter.

• Going to Mars, BRB. The Watchman legal battle continues. Or skip the serious stuff and get your lulz on with the condensed version.

• Embarrassment squicks. Harrison Ford still talking about Indy 5; Gossip Girl’s Josh Schwartz penning teen X-Men flick.
• Fun fact of the day: J. Michael Straczynski wrote Changeling?
• Trailers: Neil Gaiman’s Coraline, Astro Boy.