Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

The 2007 MTV Video Music Awards left a whirlwind of publicity in its wake including the botched Britney act and the clash between rock stars Tommy Lee and Kid Rock, but one clean highlight on the reel was Shia LaBeouf announcing the title to the latest Indiana Jones flick. Hype had increased in the past month when it was discovered that Lucasfilm had registered six names with the Motion Picture Association of America, and now we know Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull has surpassed the others and become the official title.

The last Indiana Jones adventure, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, was released in 1989. Several veteran writers, including M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense) and Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption), had stepped forward since Last Crusade's release to write the sequel, but it wasn't until David Koepp (War of the Worlds) presented his polished script that Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Harrison Ford decided to pull the Indy hat out of the closet one more time.

The crew has been filming since June in several locations ranging from Connecticut to Hawaii, and several additions to the original cast have been sighted on set including LaBeouf, who has been rumored to be playing Jones' lost son, and who's mother would then be Marion Ravenwood from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Spielburg announced that Karen Allen would be reprising her role as Ravenwood during this year's Comic-Con in San Diego. Sadly, Sean Connery will not be making a cameo in the film as Indiana's father. "I thought long and hard about it, and if anything could have pulled me out of retirement it would have been an Indiana Jones film. I love working with Steven and George, and it goes without saying that it is an honor to have Harrison as my son," the 76-year-old Scottish actor declared. "But in the end, retirement is just too damned much fun."

So far, the storyline is being kept tightly under wraps but Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is set for release on May 22, 2008.

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