Release Date: July 1st, 2005 (estimated) (wide)
Release Date Note: (10/3/03) There have been conflicting reports (at least one of them originating from Paramount itself) that this film is aiming for either July 1st, 2005 (a Friday) or July 4th, 2005 (a Monday). The 1st seems more likely, but there have been rare cases in the past when movies were released on the 4th even though it fell on an unusual movie release day (Die Hard 2: Die Harder was the most-profile one; it was released on a Tuesday). Batman: Intimidation is also aiming for that weekend, and it is equally unclear as to whether WB intends to release it on Friday the 1st or Monday the 4th. My hunch is that it is the 1st in both cases; but my more relevant hunch is that ultimately, one of these movies will flinch. I think it's unlikely both movies would open against each other.
Casting Update: Paramount Pictures are against Harrison Ford returning to the lead, based on his age. Actors being considered to take on the role are Brad Pitt (Fight Club), Jackie Chan (The Tuxedo) and Tom Cruise (Vannila Sky). None of the actors involved has, as of yet, issued a statement confirming or denying the studios decision.
Title Note: As with the 2nd and 3rd films (and the first has now been retroactively retitled), this film will be something like Indiana Jones and the... [something]. It's the "something" that isn't currently known.
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Producer Note: George Lucas has been part of the Indy process for all three of the previous films, and would surely need/want to be part of the 4th film as well. This is noteworthy, as he's already quite busy with another project: Star Wars.
Cast: To Be Confirmed (Dr. Henry "Indiana" Jones Jr.), Sean Connery (Dr. H. Jones Sr.), Karen Allen (cameo) (Marion Ravenwood), Kate Capshaw (cameo) (Wilhelmina Scott), John Rhys-Davies (Sallah); Other cast are not yet announced.
Cast Notes: (10/14/03) The lead role, previously in the hands of Harrison Ford, may be passed on to another, younger actor, according to a statement issued by the studio last month. (9/26/00) Cinescape landed the scoop this week that Michelle Yeoh has been in talks for a role. (1/27/02) Fox News, talking to Steven Spielberg at the Golden Globes, broke the story that his wife, Kate Capshaw, will be costarring. (6/22/02) Talking to IGN FilmForce this week, Spielberg confirmed that Sean Connery will be returning as Jones, Sr. He'll probably be wearing some "old guy" makeup, since by math, his character will probably be considerably older than the 74 is in real life (when this films). Even if he isn't, Connery might want you to think so, anyway. Ford (60) and Connery (72) are only 12 years apart in age. Without "old guy" makeup, they might appear more like brothers in this film than son and father. The same addressed this week an unsourced rumor/report posted at the IMDb's WENN news service that Callista Flockhart, who has been dating Harrison Ford for a while now, may also have a role (per request from Harrison). This is the first I've heard of it; let's see if any other mainstream news source picks this up or, better yet, confirms it. (6/25/02) I guess we can get used to hearing what sound like ca-razy casting scoops, because the latest rumor sent to AICN claims famous son Colin Hanks might also have a role. Here's a guess... maybe he plays Henry Jones III, and Callista Flockhart plays his girlfriend (though given the Ford/Flockhart age difference she could just as easily play his sister... :). Just guesses, just guesses, folks. (6/27/02) HarrisonFordWeb.com reports that Ford was asked by "Access Hollywood" this week about the Flockhart rumor, and he flatly denied it. Gosh, it sure would help if the IMDB's WENN news service would credit their sources, because it's so difficult to verify stories from them. (7/25/02) Ford told "Chicago Sun-Times" columnist Cindy Pearlman that there are definitely no plans for Indy to have a son. He didn't, however, say that Indy doesn't have a daughter (not that he does; I just noticed the gender specificity). (6/19/03) This will be the fourth film (obviously :) Harrison Ford has starred in for director Steven Spielberg. The only actor that's appeared in more of Spielberg's movies (other than his own cameos) is stuntman/extra Ted Grossman, who's been in five (he played one of Indy's porters in the opening Peruvian sequence of Raiders of the Lost Ark, for example).
Director: Steven Spielberg (Saving Private Ryan, Jaws, Jurassic Park, Minority Report, Catch Me If You Can, many other popular favorites; next up before this is Terminal)
Director Notes: (2/10/03) "Variety" reports that Stephen Spielberg is planning on directing pal Tom Hanks again in a film called "Terminal" (preview page coming soon). Although it would be quite possible for Spielberg to finish that film long before the estimated May, 2004 production start date for this Indiana Jones movie, the article mentions that there is a possibility that Spielberg *could* decide to bump up filming to sometime in 2003 instead. If he does... we will definitely hear more soon, I'd suspect. My hunch, though, is that filming will remain scheduled for May, 2004.
Screenwriter: Frank Darabont ('The Green Mile,' 'The Shawshank Redemption'; also wrote several episodes of the "The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones" TV series; next up before this are Collateral and Fahrenheit 451)
Screenwriter Notes:
6/03/02 - Before Frank Darabont signed on, other writers that were approached about the job were M. Night Shyamalan ("The Sixth Sense") and Tom Stoppard ("Empire of the Sun", "Enigma").
Based Upon: This is, of course, the 4th in the world-famous Indiana Jones series. The third film was 1989's Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Indiana Jones, is of course, an archaelogist who has amazing, roller-coaster-ride adventures, usually in the 1930's, but this 4th film, released over 12 years after the last, may be set as far in the future as the 1950's or 1960's when Indy is about the age that Harrison Ford is now. (6/3/02) My guess on the setting has been confirmed. Also, the specific "source" for Darabont's script is a story idea by George Lucas, which has been approved by both Harrison Ford and Steven Spielberg.
Premise: This isn't known, to the slightest degree. Check out the Reality Check site linked below... there you can read about ELEVEN possiblities that have been either reported or rumored in recent years. Yikes. With Harrison Ford saying he's waiting for a script everyone likes, it's very likely that the script that eventually gets made may not be one of those 11 at all (or maybe it will be... hard to tell). Anyway, 11 different stories is just too much for me to get into, so I refer you to Indyfan.com for now. (6/3/02) Not much is known yet about the story that Frank Darabont is working on, except that it is set in the 1950's.
Genre: Action, Eye Candy, Historical, Sequel, Supernatural
Filming: Production is scheduled to start in the summer of 2004. One of the locations may be the Rotorua region of New Zealand.
Filming Notes: (4/22/02) Michael Fleming of Variety reports that Lucas and crew hope to start filming sometime in 2004... but that's far from confirmed until there's a script everyone likes. (6/3/02) Talking to Cinescape, Steven Spielberg said the target is to start filming in April or May of 2004 to make the early July, 2005 release. (12/17/02) Filming may now be scheduled to start a little later in 2004 than May. (2/10/03) With Steven Spielberg also committed to direct a movie called "Terminal" (preview page coming soon) in the fall of 2003, it's possible the production start date of this film will be changed to accomodate it. (4/15/03) Production is still scheduled to start in 2004.
Unofficial Actor Fan Site: HarrisonFordWeb.com
Unofficial Series Fan Site: IndyFan.com (This site is pretty comprehensive, frequently updated, and worth watching. Here's also a link directly to their Reality Check section about this project). (6/1/00) Another fansite is theraider.net.
Official Site: indianajones.com
Official Site Note: (3/13/00) Nothing there yet about this new film, but you can certainly find things about the first three, as well as the Young Indiana Jones series of telefilms now out on video. It's interesting to note that they've numbered the series so Last Crusade is #25, which would make this film #26. (6/15/03) There's still nothing there about this movie.
Message Board: Share your thoughts on our "Indiana Jones 4" Message Board
Input about Greg's Previews of upcoming Movies, or any movie covered here, is encouraged. Just e-mail Greg Dean Schmitz using our feedback form. Please note that all release dates are subject to change.
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10/30/03 - Filming
10/03/03 - Release Date, Release Date Note
6/19/03 - Screenwriter, Director, Cast Notes
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11/15/03 - Filming of this movie is still about a year or so away, but Harrison Ford is reportedly still confident that he can hold onto the lead role, despite rumours that Paramount is scouting around for a replacement. In a recent interview, Harrison said, "As long as I'm still down on the cast list, I am Indiana Jones, and while I may be a great fan of Tom, Brad and Jackie, this role will always be mine, and I think everyone knows that." More news on that as it develops.
6/18/02 - Talking to the "Houston Chronicle" this week, Steven Spielberg remarked that there is a drastic difference in opinion with George Lucas on the issue of film versus digital. Spielberg is famous for being one of the most old-fashioned of Hollywood's big gun directors; not only does he use film exclusively, he doesn't even use an editing tool like AVID (long story about what that is). In the opposite corner is his old friend George, who's been blazing the digital trail in all manner of ways for twenty years now. My hunch is that Spielberg will win out. I can sort of see the logic behind Star Wars being a good candidate for digital anything, but Indiana Jones? Indy is all about the "old days"; SW has nostalgia too, but Indy personifies it in big letters, with the posters dripping age, all browned and almost tattered, from the day they hit the marquees. A digitally-filmed Indy would seem... weird. Even if you couldn't tell it was filmed digitally (you probably would be able to), it would just feel... not right. If anything, I'd encourage Spielberg to use really old film stock, actually. But he doesn't need my encouragement, does he? He's "freakin'" Steven Spielberg and I'm some dude with a computer.
6/03/02 - There's been a lot of press about this project this week, as Frank Darabont has been confirmed as the screenwriter, with filming also confirmed for April/May of 2004 for a release around the 4th of July, 2005, just over a month after George Lucas' final Star Wars movie. It's nice to see that it's finally, finally, FINALLY happening. This has been the granddaddy of "will it ever happen?" sequels for over a decade. Now, it's just a matter of time.
5/20/02 - IGN FilmForce reports that Frank Darabont, who wrote several episodes of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, as well as movies like The Green Mile and The Shawshank Redemption, may be the writer Lucas is now talking to about signing on. Given that the Tom Stoppard news was far from firm, this certainly seems credible.
5/17/02 - Catching up on recent unconfirmed rumors, Dark Horizons got a tip that crew may be doing some scouting in the American Southwest. The fan site, IndyGear.com also contacted ComingSoon.net saying that they were contacted by the production about the whips that are needed for the movie (with the word that this entry in the series will use a lot of them). If that story is accurate, they mention that other locations may include Southeast Asia and South America.
4/29/02 - Entertainment Weekly spoke to George Lucas recently about this project, and he revealed that Karen Allen is also likely to have a cameo role, reprising her Raiders of the Lost Ark character, Marion Ravenwood.
4/22/02 - Michael Fleming of Variety reports that Lucas and crew are now "courting" Tom Stoppard to take a bang at this script, with hopes they can have something in time to start filming sometime in 2004.
1/29/02 - Correcting a bit of that story a bit, Variety reports that Capshaw's return as Willy will be just a cameo.
1/27/02 - Fox News, talking to Steven Spielberg at the Golden Globes, reported that his wife, Kate Capshaw, will be returning to the franchise in this fourth film. Also, he's expecting to make this a priority after Catch Me If You Can, although that doesn't necessarily mean it'll be his very next film after it... his Big Fish is also a priority.
12/08/01 - TheRaider.net reported this week that this may no longer be at Paramount, if reports are true that the studio's 20-year rights have expired. If this line of reasoning is correct, it may open the door for another distributor (DreamWorks?) to step in and speed up the development of this sequel. Or... it might not be accurate at all. If it is, I would expect we will hear about this again.
9/10/01 - George Lucas recently told TheForce.net that this film will have to wait until after he's done with Star Wars Episode III, with the summer of 2006 probably being the earliest possible target (could be much later). Harrison Ford will turn 65 on July 13th, 2007.
7/09/01 - It seems that some media sources (often very large, heavy-circulated ones) just get bored with the news and decide to rake up some old news, and repackage it as something new. So, this week was all aflurry with stories about this project, often quoting a New York Post story that didn't seem to give too many exact sources. The gist is that this film is prohibitively expensive for Paramount after the percentages and salaries for the three central figures. The bottom line, and my point, however, is that there isn't any real news to this story.
The project is stuck in the same rut as it's been in for years. If it ever does happen, it's indeed going to take some deal-making and willingness on the parts of Lucas, Ford, and Spielberg to do so, but that doesn't mean it's not possible. These are powerful guys... if they *want* to do something, they can do it. That's the real question... will they ever agree among themselves to do one more?
P.S. Little-known fact
3/13/00 - The grandson of Indiana Jones makes a cameo appearance in Fantastic Four Annual '98. It's a great story by Karl Kesel about a timelost Ben Grimm... worth checking out.
Page Created: 3/13/00
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In Theaters 
