Author: jawajames

The midnight showings are tomorrow night for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. And with the release almost upon us, there’s a deluge of news articles covering the movie, the stars, the reviews, the crystal skulls, the merchandise, and pretty much anything else that can fit with Indiana Jones (Anyone see those NBA playoff/Indiana Jones commercials? what’s the connection there?)

Here’s some of the random news and commentary that’s fit to print:

• Harrison Ford helps Conservation International show how destruction of tropical rain forests can hurt us — using the analogy of getting his chest waxed.
• 10 random facts you may or may not know about Indiana Jones movies. Umm.. they need to do some fact checking of their own.
• Spielberg, Ford, Lucas, and LeBeouf get some comments in to the press – 5th Indy anyone?
• Ebert admits his love for Indy
• The Village Voice has an unfavorable review
• But the Providence Journal gives it 5 stars.
• Indiana Jones and the merchandising of obesity – on Salon.
• USA Today looks at George Lucas’ storytelling and father issues, and giving parental advice to Brangelina at Cannes.
• Just because Indy looks good in a fedora doesn’t mean that you will – and other movie fashion warnings from Wired’s Lore Sjöberg.
• Indiana Jones vs Spider-man
• Indiana Jones vs Jack Sparrow
• Indiana Jones vs the Internet (studio secrecy, etc.)
• The LA Times takes heat for putting a review of Indy on the front page.
• and thinking about why Raiders succeeded when Doom didn’t.

/Film shows off the four new Indiana Jones television ads and reports on how Spielberg has sought to keep the action scenes for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in a more old-fashioned style, without lots of quick-paced cuts (a la Bourne). Only a day before, /Film highlighted two new Indy TV ads, and discusses “creative differences” between Harrison Ford and George Lucas.

Meanwhile, CNN reports on the buzz from nearly everyone about Indiana Jones IV – the stars and some random imdb commenters. Canada.com compares the Indy films to being a cross between Zorro and Scrooge McDuck – ah nostalgia!

Harrison Ford and Bruce Willis tie for being Greatest Ever Action Heroes.

Indianapolis 500 meet Indiana Jones IV – OfficialStarWarsBlog gives us the dirt on the Indiana Jones themed Indy race car that will be seen in the Indianapolis 500 on Memorial Day. Brought to you by Andretti Green Racing, Blockbuster and Lucasfilm, the #26 Team Indiana Jones car will be driven by Marco Andretti. Before appearing in Indianapolis, the car will be going on a ten city tour of the US – details on the tour are supposed to be on blockbuster.com. An Indy car is definitely a step up over that mine car under Pankot palace!

Cinematical finds a review and some new photos from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Their article is spoiler-free, though their link to the review may not be.

The Independent does some research into the real crystal skulls found in the world’s museums? Crystal, yes! Central American? no! Bound to be more popular once the movie comes out? You bet!

Milo “Peter Petrelli” Ventimiglia is more excited about Indy than about getting an award for Heroes at the British Academy TV awards.

USA Today covers the Indy merchandising tie-in world with Dr. Pepper, Burger King, Lunchables, M&M’s, and more. What? No mention of the British lottery scratch-off ticket tie-in?

Artist Tom Hodges has some sketch cards in the Indiana Jones Heritage trading card set, as seen on starwars.com. Check out the surprised Indy sketch in the lower right corner.

Only one more week to go before Volume 3 of the Adventures of Young Indiana Jones DVD set is released. Continuing the StarWars.com tour:

• Disc 8 – The Scandal of 1920. Indy goes to Broadway and gets a job as a stagehand, befriends George Gershwin and tries to juggle 3 different girlfriends, all of whom will be at opening night. Hilarity ensues. Companion documentaries cover Tin Pan Alley, Broadway and Algonquin Round Table.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is one of the most anticipated of this year’s summer blockbusters, and probably will be one of the biggest box office hits of the year — but will George Lucas, Harrison Ford and Steven Spielberg make any money from this? Paramount insiders reveal to the LA Times that unlike traditional movie deals, Paramount gets to recoup its share before Ford, Lucas, Spielberg start earning their share — meaning that the first $400 million goes to the studio to pay for production, marketing, and distribution. Just to put it into perspective – no films grossed $400 million domestically last year, and only 4 films grossed more than $300 million domestically. Factoring in worldwide grosses, 11 films took in more than $400 million last year, so I think that George and company don’t have to worry too much. I bet that Indy IV will make $400 million just overseas, and probably at least $350 million in the US.