Club Jade

The IMAX version of Raiders of the Lost Ark opened in theaters this past weekend, grossing about $1.73 million over the three days. Playing in 267 IMAX theaters nationwide, the first Indiana Jones film will continue to run until this Thursday as part of the hype for the upcoming release of the entire Indy film series in a Blu-ray box set on September 18. Can’t make it to an IMAX screening? AMC theaters will be hosting marathon screenings of all four films on Saturday, September 15.

Also helping to herald the Blu-ray release:

• Entertainment Weekly got an exclusive clip of the deleted scene of Indiana Jones fighting the Arab swordsman in Cairo – rough cuts of Indy using his whip to fend off the attack, rather than the iconic scene of simply shooting the swordsman with his pistol.
• Raiders star Karen Allen spoke with USA Today last week about her lack of fear of snakes on the set of the Well of Souls scenes, and mentions that she’s up for another Indy outing.

With the Blu-ray box set, Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures, coming out next week, you might wonder if there’s a special collector’s edition of the set? And there is…. not in the US. Amazon UK has a Limited Collector’s Edition, which comes with the five disc Blu-ray box set and a huge pile of goodies, including a 144-page replica of the Grail Diary from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, a film cell, other replica prop items. Meanwhile, versions of the set in steelbook collector cases will be available in Germany and France, with the German version also having an optional Zippo lighter.

While at the 30th anniversary screening of Raiders of the Lost Ark, Steven Spielberg talked a bit about the early development of Indiana Jones by him and his friend George Lucas, their friendship, about the restoration of Raiders of the Lost Ark (for eventual Blu-ray release), and being hopeful for Indy V.

When Harrison Ford came out, he said he’s up for a fifth time as Indiana Jones, and thinks the key is expanding the audience’s understanding of the character. Also, Harrison Ford in Jurassic Park? Spielberg offered the role of Alan Grant to him.

Rounding out their coverage, the LA Times also did a retrospective on the Raiders of the Lost Ark toys from the 1980s.

EDIT: While Spielberg commented that the newly cleaned up version of Raiders of the Lost Ark that they were screening was going to be eventually used for the Blu-ray and he noted that that Blu-ray release would not have any changes from the 1981 theatrical release, Spielberg later commented that he regrets making changes to E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial for its 20th Anniversary DVD, saying, “I realized what I had done was I had robbed people who loved E.T. of their memories of E.T.”

He went on to say that the E.T. Blu-ray would be the original 1982 theatrical version, and not contain the unpopular 2002 revisions, such as digitally replacing police guns with walkie-talkies.

From the same talent who brought us Ghostbusters ’54…

(via)

We’ve featured at least one of these before (not The Princess Bride) but who cares? It’s a bunch of geek classic movies (mostly) with lightsabers added. Go forth and enjoy. (via)

Pete Vilmur interviews the prolific artist about his work for Indiana Jones franchise.

Explore the site of sculptor Keith Short, the man responsible for Palpatine’s throne and the Ark of the Covenant. He also worked on The Phantom Menace and Temple of Doom, among others.

Helping to celebrate the release of the official teaser poster for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (see previous entry), StarWars.com has a neat article looking at Indiana Jones posters from the previous adventures, covering the globe with posters from Poland, Australia, Belgium, and even Disneyland. Read the article by Pete Vilmur. The hatless, jacketless Indy poster looks more like a Bond flick poster!

“Found crate with the Ark of the Covenant in it. Now everyone’s dead.” (via)

The American Film Institute is having a poll to decide which of their 100 most thrilling movies will be screened for free at Hollywood’s Arclight on Halloween. Both A New Hope and Raiders of the Lost Ark are on the list.