{"id":1744,"date":"2008-05-18T07:11:40","date_gmt":"2008-05-18T06:11:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/?p=1744"},"modified":"2008-05-19T01:27:17","modified_gmt":"2008-05-19T00:27:17","slug":"countdown-to-indy-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/2008\/05\/18\/countdown-to-indy-4\/","title":{"rendered":"Countdown to Indy 4"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today sees the world premiere in Cannes of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

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It is one of the most eagerly awaited releases of the summer and likely to be the highest grossing film at the box office this year.<\/p>\n

I thought I’d post a few things in anticipation of the opening, ranging from images, videos and snippets of information related to the series.<\/p>\n

THE CREATION OF INDIANA JONES<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

George Lucas<\/a> created the character of Indiana Jones as a homage to the 1930 serials and pulp magazines he used to watch as a kid, such as those by Republic Pictures<\/a> and the Doc Savage<\/a> series.<\/p>\n

The serial of Zorro Rides Again<\/a> was a particular touchstone:<\/p>\n

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But the movie started to become a reality when, in 1977, Lucas was on holiday in Hawaii with his friend Steven Spielberg<\/a>. The director of Jaws told him that wanted to make a Bond film, but Cubby Broccoli<\/a> (then producer of the franchise) had turned him down twice.<\/p>\n

Lucas said that he had his own concept for a hero (then called ‘Indiana Smith’) along similar lines – an archaeologist<\/a> and adventurer inspired by the serials and comics he – and Spielberg – had enjoyed as children.<\/p>\n

The visual look of Indiana Jones was created by comic book artist Jim Steranko<\/a>. Lucas suggested the flight jacket, the fedora (a nod to Humphrey Bogart<\/a> in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre<\/a>) and a whip (reminiscent of Zorro’s weapon of choice).<\/p>\n

The costume designer Deborah Nadoolman Landis<\/a> admitted that Indy’s look was inspired by Charlton Heston’s character in the 1954 film Secret of the Incas<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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Lawrence Kasdan<\/a> was recruited to write the script on notes from Lucas and Philip Kaufman<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Indiana Jones was born, but who would play the role?<\/p>\n

Harrison Ford<\/a> had worked with Lucas on American Graffiti<\/a> (1973) and Star Wars<\/a> (1977) but the original choice for the role was actually Tom Selleck<\/a>, who had recently been cast in the TV series Magnum, PI<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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However, Selleck couldn’t get out of his contract with Universal television and had to pass on the role.<\/p>\n

Ford was then cast just three weeks before production began on Raiders of the Lost Ark in the summer of 1980.<\/p>\n

RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The first film saw Indiana Jones searching for the Ark of the Covenant<\/a> in 1936. In his search he discovers the Nazis are also keen to find and harness the Ark for their own ends.<\/p>\n

Assisted by an old girlfriend named Marion Ravenwood<\/a> (Karen Allen<\/a>) he ends up in Egypt, where a rival archealogist named Belloq (Paul Freeman<\/a>) is helping the Nazis.<\/p>\n

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Production was based at Elstree Studios<\/a> just outside of London and also shot in various locations around the world including La Rochelle<\/a> (for the Nazi submarine base), Tunisia<\/a> (for Egypt section ), Hawaii<\/a> (for the opening jungle sequence) and the United States from June to September of 1980.<\/p>\n

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The film was a huge hit when it was released in June 1981 and became the biggest film of that year, eventually grossing $384 million worldwide.<\/p>\n

It was also nominated for 8 Oscars<\/a> (including Best Picture) and ended up winning for Sound, Editing, Art Direction and Visual Effects.<\/p>\n

Here are some quick facts about Raiders:<\/p>\n