Tag: indiana jones

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UChicago’s Indiana Jones package mystery solved!

Last week, I reported on a mysterious package that ended up at the University of Chicago for Indiana Jones – it turns out that the mystery of the Lost Ark’s journal has been solved! UChicago’s Admissions Tumblr reports that the package was indeed a replica prop from eBay being sent from Guam to Italy, when it fell out of its packaging in Hawaii – and since the interior “package” appeared to be legitimate with an address, it made its way to the university.

The University has been allowed to keep the replica prop, while the journal’s maker will create a replacement for the original intended recipient. Most likely, the postal service opened up the package because it was leaving a red line around the globe as it traveled.

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UChicago gets package for Indiana Jones

The University of Chicago received an unusual package recently, addressed to Indiana Jones. Some pranksters sent a package containing a replica of Abner Ravenwood’s diary, some replica money, postcards, and pictures of Marion and had it slipped into the incoming mail at the admissions office, which is housed in the building that formerly held their geography and geology departments.

As mentioned in Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jones was the protégé of Professor Ravenwood at the University of Chicago, before their falling out over Abner’s daughter, Marion. The admissions office is trying to sort out who sent the package and why… but it seems pretty obvious to me that Abner needs to keep his documentation away from the Nazis, and sent it to someone who could use it. The bigger mystery: if Professor Ravenwood died in Nepal, who mailed it from Egypt? (Also, the addressor appears to have misspelled “Illinois” and added a ZIP code, which didn’t exist yet in the 1930’s, when Raiders takes place.)

“Doctor Jones! I’m so glad you’re back! Your mail is on your desk.” — Irene, Indy’s secretary at the college

In the meantime, the University has set up an email to accept information about the package: indianajonesjournal@uchicago.edu. Is it from a prospective student? Is it just an elaborate hoax? Is it some sort of guerilla PR work to ramp up for some new Indiana Jones announcement – some sort of new story focusing on the legacy of Abner Ravenwood? It’s not the first time Abner’s death had been exaggerated.

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Crystal Skull lawsuit: It belongs in OUR museum! (As do some of the Indiana Jones profits)

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?

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Roundup: No, it wasn’t a wish your heart made, Disney really did buy Lucasfilm yesterday

Now that the dust is settled a little from yesterday’s bombshell, we can all take a deep breath and… Continue to freak out about how there are going to be more Star Wars movies. Um.

A good place to start would be Slashfilm’s roundup of yesterday’s conference call with Russ Fischer. It addresses and expands (and yes, in some cases, speculates) on some of those lingering questions you may have on Indiana Jones, Episode VII, Industrial Light & Magic and more.

One thing I haven’t seen widely reported – though I may very well have missed it in the conference call – is Bleeding Cool’s report that Fox retains the distribution rights to the existing films.

One take I found rather interesting – if a bit paranoid – is from The Daily Intel’s Kevin Roose. He speculates that the deal is a financial dud and that Disney is getting Lucasfilm “for a steal.” I doubt this is the last we’ll hear on the financial side of this – and it’s clearly written from the perspective of a Star Wars cynic – but it’s something to keep in mind, at least. In another corner of New York Magazine, Vulture’s Kyle Buchanan and Margaret Lyons have 7 questions about Episode VII.

But overall, I think the reaction has been fairly positive, as Disney is able and – apparently – willing to let fresh eyes take on the franchise

Of course, there’s speculation on the new trilogy everywhere. ThinkProgress’ Alyssa Rosenberg weighs in on how Disney could make Episode VII awesome with 5 ideas plucked from the pages of the Expanded Universe, while Forbes’ Alex Knapp has three options and AMOG’s Keith Veronese has five. (IGN even pulled one up from their archives.) I’m sure we’re going to be seeing everyone and their vat-grown clone throw their favorite book/comic/Boba fetish into the hat for the foreseeable future. We talked a bit about this on Tosche Station last night, but you’ll just have to wait on that one!

Outside of the news sites, we’re seeing lots from the fans – and pros! – on this as well. Author Jason Fry took to Tumblr, as did Bria and Jay. Fansite proprietors at Geek My Life, NJOE and Knights Archive. And, of course, SF/F godfather John Scalzi had some thoughts as well.

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Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark debuts in IMAX, and more

Raiders of the Lost Ark - IMAX posterThe 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:

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.

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Raiders of the Lost Ark to return to theaters – in IMAX!

Running from the boulderThe original Indiana Jones adventure is coming back to the big screen — a very big screen, actually: IMAX. Screencrush reports that Raiders of the Lost Ark will be released in IMAX (and fake IMAX) formats for a limited run (Sept 7 to Sept 13) to promote the upcoming Blu-ray box set. That boulder’s gonna be huge!

As reported earlier, The Complete Adventures of Indiana Jones Blu-ray box set (containing all four Indy films) comes out on September 18. For a movie that came out 31 years ago, the enduring classic adventure of Raiders shows that it’s not the years or the mileage… it’s the awesome.

Also, to help promote the Blu-ray, Lucasfilm has been updating Indiana Jones’ timeline on Facebook with actual dates for his epic adventures. So far, 1957 is full of Crystal Skull events, while they’ve just started on his quest of Temple of Doom in 1935.

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A fifth Indiana Jones? Frank Marshall points to “not happening”

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.

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SDCC: Lucasfilm brings out live snakes, Well of Lost Souls for Indiana Jones Blu-ray

COBRA!!!!!!Lucasfilm will be promoting the upcoming release of the Indiana Jones quadrilogy on Blu-ray by having a recreation of the Well of Lost Souls at Comic-Con, with live snakes. WITH LIVE SNAKES! Talk about a ubercool photo op for fans of the Harrison Ford adventures. or uberscary, if you are an ophidiophobe. Lucasfilm’s snake pit will be located at booth #2913. Those who pre-order the set will also get a $25 gift card to Sideshow Collectibles.

Check out the Indiana Jones Blu-ray trailer at the LA Times Hero Complex. They also report that, in time for the Blu-ray release on September 18, the Indiana Jones and the Adventures of Archeology museum exhibition will be finally hitting the States, starting off in Orange County’s Discovery Science Center (which just recently finished the Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination exhibition).

No telling whether your photos will also have the tell-tale glass between you and the cobra, but at least you’ll get to say “Snakes? Why did it have to be snakes?”

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Video: Star Wars Begins filmumentarian finishes Raiding the Lost Ark

Jamie Benning, who created the Star Wars Begins, Building Empire, and Returning to Jedi “filmumentaries,” has posted the finished version of his latest fan documentary, Raiding the Lost Ark on Vimeo. (He’s not so big on YouTube these days.)

Compiling lots of making-of information with original interviews with several cast and crew members (and even an interview with Blade Runner‘s Sean Young, who had auditioned for the role of Marion Ravenwood,) it’s essentially an super vocal commentary of the first Indiana Jones film. Benning guest-blogged on Empire Online about the making of Raiding the Lost Ark, while PBS dives into Benning’s history of filmumentaries, and GeekDad has a Raiding image gallery

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In the news: VW keeps Star Wars, trades in kid for dog

Star Wars and the Super Bowl. Stuart Elliot on the New York Times’ Media Decoder blog has some details of this year’s Volkswagen Star Wars commercial. The kid isn’t returning (guess I need to change the name of our tag) but it does involve a dog named Bolt and a Beetle. The Star Wars bit? Looks like a cantina alien or two may show up. On that note, the Washington Post Style Blog has an interview with Jeff Elmassian, who helped created ‘The Bark Side’ teaser.

One MILLION. The director’s cut of Star Wars Uncut has already seen more than a million views on Youtube, says the BBC.

Gaming. Ben Fritz and Alex Pham take a look at The Old Republic for the L.A. Times‘ Hero Complex.

People (and puns.) Carrie Fisher subbed for Kathie Lee on Today this morning. Luke Perry happened to be the guest, and he revealed that Mark Hamill was the only celebrity he ever asked for a photo with.

At random. Behold the Indiana Jones engagement ring.