It’s official: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull will be screening (out of competition) at the 61st Cannes Film Festival next month.
Latest news from around the Indyworld
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 risky road to profit?
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.
NYCC ’08: The Star Wars/Indiana Jones panel
Given how little breaking Star Wars news we’ve had out of New York Comic Con, it’s not too surprising that we didn’t get a full panel report until now… Check it out at Cinematical. EW also includes it in their roundup.
Entertainment Weekly doles out more Indy
Now they’ve posted an interview with Harrison Ford. They touch briefly on Star Wars and Han Solo, but nothing we haven’t heard before.
Indiana Jones in the new Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is coming out with its Summer Movie Preview this week, and it’s not too big of a surprise that Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull made the cover. And they also sat down with George Lucas and Steven Spielberg to talk about Indy, Cate Blanchett’s overwhelming awesomeness, filmmaking, and all the other stuff you expect them to address, like Will Ferrell and Steve Carrell.
And thankfully, after an interview or two full of doom and gloom, George has found his sense of humor again. Phew.
New Invincible summary from Del Rey
Spotted at NJOE, a brand new Invincible summary in Del Rey’s Summer catalog (on page 75.) A bit spoilery if you can’t been reading the others, so highlight to read:
Luke Skywalker is stuck on the horns of a dilemma. He is convinced that Darth Caedus, the Sith Lord who began life as Luke’s own peace-loving nephew, Jacen Solo, must be destroyed-yet he worries that his vision is tainted by his own anger, pain, and desire for revenge. Jaina Solo, Jacen’s twin sister, has completed her training under the galaxy’s most fierce anti-Jedi warrior, and now it falls to her to fulfill her destiny as “Sword of the Jedi.” And so while the forces of the shattered Galactic Alliance struggle to end the civil war that has set planet against planet, Jaina-along with her parents, Han and Leia, fellow Jedi Knight Zekk, and old friend Jag-heads right into the lion’s den to confront the horrific tyrant who was once her twin brother….
There’s also some black and white cover art that looks like a rough sketch of the official cover. But the most interesting bit may be “Online promotions, including fan video contest, and series timeline and countdown at www.legacyoftheforce.com.” Looks like the site has been around a while, but there’s not much there yet but catalog links.
I’ve been hearing rumblings of a Denning book tour as well, and the catalog pegs New York, Philadelphia, Lexington, Cincinnati, Dayton, Indianapolis, Chicago, Milwaukee, Denver, and Salt Lake City for author visits. However, this does seem to be a slightly older catalog, so take nothing on pure faith. (The Essential Atlas, page 93, is shown with the June release date.)
Also in the catalog (page 72 and 73) are the Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull novelization and The Complete Making of Indiana Jones. Naomi Novik fans might also want to check out page 79 (Victory of Eagles is a hardcover?)
Indy IV soundtrack fails to provide a ‘noble end’
But that doesn’t mean the track listing for the Indiana Jones & the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull soundtrack doesn’t contain any spoilers. I suspect track 16 reveals what creature will be menacing Indy this time, but they could just be going on a picnic.
Young Indy – the Lost Years
Pablo’s got a sweet article on StarWars.com about the unproduced third season of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, with some plots that never made it to the screen (and some that did make it). Check it out here! Geese, Hirohito, Babe Ruth, tango and crystal skulls!
Speaking of Young Indy: The tour of the Volume 3 DVD set continues with:
- Disc 7: companion historical documentaries for Mystery of the Blues – a whole buffet menu full of documentaries on jazz, Al Capone, Eliot Ness, Prohibition, Ben Hecht, Louis Armstrong, and the Harlem Hellfighters.
Need to practice your skills as an adventurer? StarWars.com checks out the Indiana Jones Handbook, with important tips on escaping tombs, riding elephants, and punching Nazis.
People dressing up in non-sci-fi movie costumes? (and more Indynews)
USA Today provides some coverage of Indyfans, gathered at Legoland, as well as the upcoming documentary of the same name.
A new Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull poster (by Drew Struzan) has surfaced, and looks great. But what’s this? /Film says it might be fake!
Making news in India: Shia LeBoeuf’s injury on the set of Indy.
and someone at film.com muses on how glad they are that Indy is not all-CGI-all-the-time.