Monday, November 18, 2024

The Hobbs Snob at the Border

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Sunday, November 17, 2024

JUROR #2 (2024)

 


Juror #2 is a 2024 American legal thriller film co-produced and directed by Clint Eastwood and written by Jonathan Abrams. The film stars Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, J. K. Simmons, and Kiefer Sutherland. In the film, a man serving on the jury of a high-profile murder trial realizes that he may be responsible for the victim's death.

Juror #2 had its world premiere at AFI Fest on October 27, 2024, and was released in the United States by Warner Bros. Pictures on November 1, 2024. The film received positive reviews for its direction, narrative and Hoult's performance.

Plot

In Savannah, Georgia, journalist and recovering alcoholic Justin Kemp is called up for jury duty on a case concerning the death of Kendall Carter, who, a year prior, had a fight with her boyfriend, James Sythe, at a local bar, and was later found dead under a bridge. Sythe was charged with her murder. Hoping to attract voters with a high-profile domestic violence conviction in her run for district attorney, Faith Killebrew takes on the role of case prosecutor. Witnesses confirm Sythe was drunk and disorderly on the night in question and that he followed Kendall after she stormed off. Additionally, a coroner testifies that Kendall's injuries were consistent with a battery by a blunt instrument, and an eyewitness claims they saw Sythe at the spot where Kendall's body was thrown from.

Justin becomes convinced he might have killed Kendall when, on the night of her death, he hit something with his car after nearly relapsing into alcoholism at the local bar Sythe and Carter were at. Assuming that he had hit a deer and unable to find it, Justin drove home. Horrified that an innocent man might be convicted, Justin goes to his Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor, Larry, for advice. Larry, a defense attorney, informs Justin that due to his prior DUI offenses, no one will believe he was sober, and Killebrew will put him in prison. Larry adds that the jury must reach a verdict: Killebrew has tied this case to her election campaign and will try the case as many times as necessary, so holding out and forcing a mistrial will not save Sythe.

Justin resolves to argue for a not-guilty verdict, using his own sobering story to prove that Sythe is capable of change, but Sythe's public defender, Eric Resnick, is overworked and makes several errors, failing to offer a competing medical opinion and not raising questions about poor nighttime visibility. Most jurors favor a conviction, with retired detective Harold arguing, at Justin's suggestion to examine the case closely, that the eyewitness testimony could have been skewed by confirmation bias. Another juror confirms there would have been low visibility and a medical student points out that Kendall's injuries suggest she was the victim of a hit and run accident, a theory that multiple jurors begin to agree with, causing Justin to grow worried that he may be identified as the killer. Harold breaks the jury rules by collecting data on body shop visits following Kendall's death, and the next day, says he has narrowed the search to fifteen vehicles, including Justin's. When presented with this, Justin strategically reveals Harold's research to the court and has him disqualified from the jury.

Killebrew grows conflicted about the case, realizing that law enforcement primed the eyewitness to identify Sythe at trial. Despite her duty of candor, she refuses to withdraw the charge. She takes the repair records and visits each of the vehicles' owners. While Justin's vehicle is on the list, it is registered to his wife Ally, and Ally parrots Justin's cover story to Killebrew. Ally later confronts Justin, who confesses to having been in the bar that night, without drinking, and repeats his story to her that he hit a deer, but on another road. She is skeptical, but being pregnant and having previously miscarried, keeps silent to protect her family.

After a fellow juror refuses to change his vote, Justin convinces the remaining jurors to vote to convict although he does not appear in the courtroom when the verdict is given. Sythe is sentenced to life without parole, and Killebrew finds out Justin is Ally's husband. After the sentencing, Killebrew sits down with Justin, who vaguely suggests that if someone else accidentally killed Kendall, that person should not warrant harsh punishment. Killebrew argues that with an innocent man convicted, it is no longer an accident. Justin points out that were Killebrew to go after the real killer after pushing so hard for Sythe to be convicted, she would lose her position as DA, and a "good man" would see his life and family destroyed. He implores Killebrew to leave the case alone, adding that Sythe had a history of violence.

Ally delivers the baby safely, Killebrew is elected DA, and Resnick never follows up on Harold's leads. Justin sells his car to destroy his connection to the crime, but as he and Ally are playing with their daughter, Killebrew knocks on their door.

Cast

Production

Clint Eastwood was 93 years old when production began for Juror No. 2.[4]

It was announced in April 2023 that filmmaker Clint Eastwood had set the project as his next film,[4] with Nicholas Hoult and Toni Collette in negotiations to star.[5] They were confirmed the following month, with Zoey Deutch and Kiefer Sutherland also joining the cast,[6][7] and Gabriel Basso entering negotiations for a role.[8] In June, Leslie Bibb was added to the cast.[9] In November, Chris Messina joined the cast while Basso was confirmed.[10] J. K. Simmons, Amy Aquino, Adrienne C. Moore, Cedric Yarbrough, Chikako Fukuyama, Onix Serrano and Francesca Eastwood were added in December.[11][12]

For Collette and Hoult, it would be their reunion on the big screen 22 years after playing mother and son in About a Boy (2002). For Deutch and Hoult, it would be the second time they have been seen on screen, after working together on the film Rebel in the Rye (2017).[citation needed]

Production began in June 2023, when Eastwood was 93 years old,[4] with filming locations including Savannah, Georgia and Los Angeles,[13][14] before it was suspended in July due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike.[15] Production resumed in November upon the conclusion of the strike.[10]

Post-production had wrapped by April 2024.[16] Mark Mancina composed the score for the film; he previously worked on Eastwood's Cry Macho (2021).[17]

Release

Juror #2 premiered as the closing film of the 38th edition of the film festival AFI Fest on October 27, 2024; the event continues a long-standing relationship between Eastwood and the American Film Institute (AFI), which previously launched the world premieres of American Sniper (2014), J. Edgar (2011), and Richard Jewell (2019) at the festival.[18]

Warner Bros. Pictures initially envisioned Juror #2 as a direct-to-streaming release on Max.[failed verification] However, Warner Bros. gave the film a limited release on November 1, 2024.[19] The film was released in fewer than 50 domestic theaters, and Warner Bros. is expected to not report box office results.[20] Variety characterized Warner Bros.' decision to deny the film a wide release as "a peculiar approach for a filmmaker who still has commercial appeal", noting that Eastwood had been making films for Warner Bros. for 50 years and was still delivering major commercial successes, including American Sniper (2014), Sully (2016), and The Mule (2018).[20] Vulture's Bilge Ebiri suggested that Warner Bros.' decision implied deep problems with the modern-day studio system, suggesting that "Eastwood, for all his genre cred and iconic stature, is one of the few major filmmakers left making studio-financed adult dramas. To the modern studio executive, he must look like a glitch in the matrix — not an artist to be protected, but an error to be corrected."[21]

The film received a wide release in the UK, showing at more than 300 cinemas nationwide.[22]

Reception

Box office

In the United States, the film opened in 35 theaters and grossed an estimated $90,000 on its first day and $260–270,000 over the weekend; Warner Bros. did not report official numbers, to reportedly "save face" for Eastwood "by avoiding any negative box office headlines."[23] Internationally, the film grossed $5 million from six territories in its opening weekend, including $3.1 million in France.[24]

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 93% of 114 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.3/10. The website's consensus reads: "A legal thriller with a heavy conscience, Juror #2 is less a summation of Clint Eastwood's storied directorial career than another terrific reminder of his knack for plain-spoken drama."[25] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 74 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[26]

Vulture's Bilge Ebiri commented that Juror #2 inverts many tropes of the courtroom drama genre, writing that while in an ordinary legal thriller, "the system usually prevailed" and "justice would be served, even if it took a few extra tries," Eastwood's drama is a film "about how the system can fail even as everybody tries their best." He added that Eastwood's perspective is mirrored by "own growing cynicism about the effectiveness of [government and legal] institutions."[21]

Several critics noted that Juror #2 did not fit a traditional political narrative. IndieWire's Christian Zilko called the film "one of the best studio films of 2024," writing that while the film "introduces a reverence for law, order, and due process that seems to suit a lifelong conservative, it eventually reveals a more apolitical patriotism that’s uniquely Eastwoodian."[27] The New Yorker's Richard Brody agreed that while Eastwood is "one of the most distinctive and original political filmmakers ... the politics [the film] brings to life is essentially, and forcefully, anti-political. ... Eastwood treats celebrity as a diabolical tool and sees the gap between publicity and reality as a trap door to hell."[28]

The New York Times' Manohla Dargis praised the film and Hoult's performance, but commented that the visuals were more functional than impressive.[29] Variety's Peter Debruge added that while "as always, Eastwood respects our intelligence," the film "ranks among his quietest films, forgoing spectacle in favor of self-reflection."[30]

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Saturday, November 16, 2024

LEPRECHAUN (1993)

 


Leprechaun is a 1993 American comedy horror film written and directed by Mark Jones, and starring Warwick Davis in the title role, with Jennifer Aniston supporting. Davis plays a vengeful leprechaun who believes a family has stolen his pot of gold. As he hunts them, they attempt to locate his gold to mollify him.

Originally intended as straight horror, Davis injected humor into his role, and reshoots added increased gore to appeal to older audiences. Leprechaun was the first in-hose production at Trimark Pictures for theatrical exhibition; it earned a domestic gross of $8.556 million against a budget of roughly $900,000 and became a cult film. While initial reviews were negative, the commercial success prompted a series of films.

Plot

In 1983, Dan O'Grady returns to his home in North Dakota from a trip to his native Ireland, where he has stolen a leprechaun's pot of gold. After burying the gold, O'Grady discovers that the leprechaun has followed him home and murdered his wife. O'Grady uses a four-leaf clover to suppress the leprechaun's powers and trap him inside a crate. Before he can burn him, O'Grady suffers a stroke.

Ten years later, J. D. Redding and his teenage daughter Tory rent the O'Grady farmhouse for the summer. Contract workers Nathan Murphy, his 10-year-old brother Alex, and their dim-witted friend Ozzie Jones help re-paint the farmhouse. In the basement, Ozzie hears the leprechaun's cry for help and mistakes him for a child. He brushes the clover off the crate, freeing the leprechaun. After failing to convince the others that he met a leprechaun, Ozzie spots a rainbow and chases it, believing there will be gold at the end. Alex accompanies him, fearing that Ozzie might hurt himself. A bag of one hundred gold coins appears before Ozzie. After Ozzie tests the gold and accidentally swallows a coin, they stash it in an old well and plot to keep it for themselves, hoping to fix Ozzie's brain.

At the farm, the leprechaun lures J. D. into a trap by imitating a cat, biting and injuring his hand. Tory and the others rush him to the hospital while the leprechaun follows on a tricycle. Alex and Ozzie visit a pawn shop to see if the gold is pure, and the leprechaun kills the shop owner for stealing his gold and shines the corpse's shoes before leaving. The leprechaun fixes himself a go-kart and goes back to the farmhouse, getting pulled over by an officer on the way back for speeding. The officer gets chased by the leprechaun into the woods and eventually gets killed. The leprechaun returns to the farmhouse and searches for his gold, shining every shoe he finds. Leaving J. D. at the hospital, the group drives back to the farmhouse. Finding it ransacked, Nathan checks outside and is injured by a bear trap set by the leprechaun. The group fights the leprechaun outside, beating him up with sticks and stones.

After finding a shotgun in the farmhouse, they repeatedly shoot the leprechaun, to no avail. They then attempt to flee the farm, but their truck's engine has been sabotaged by the leprechaun. After ramming the truck with the go-kart, the leprechaun terrorizes the group until Ozzie reveals that he and Alex found the gold. Tory recovers the bag from the well and gives it to the leprechaun. Believing the worst to be over, they leave for the hospital. While counting his gold, the leprechaun discovers he is missing the coin that Ozzie swallowed. Thinking that they have tricked him, he menaces them until Ozzie talks about O'Grady, who was taken to a nursing home after his stroke. The group distracts the leprechaun by throwing dirty shoes around, which the leprechaun cannot resist shining, while Tory gets into her Jeep and drives to the home to learn how to kill him.

At the nursing home, the leprechaun pretends to be O'Grady. After chasing Tory to an elevator, the leprechaun throws O'Grady down the shaft as Tory flees. Before dying, O'Grady tells her that the only way to kill the leprechaun is with a four-leaf clover, which happens to grow in a patch outside the farm. Tory returns to the farmhouse and searches for a clover until she is attacked by the leprechaun; Nathan and Ozzie save her. Ozzie reveals that he swallowed the last coin and the leprechaun wounds him trying to get it. Before the leprechaun can kill Ozzie, Alex takes a four-leaf clover Tory has found, sticks it to a wad of gum, and shoots it into the leprechaun's mouth, causing him to melt away. The leprechaun falls into the well, but his skeleton climbs out to continue menacing the group. Nathan pushes the leprechaun back into the well and blows up the well and the leprechaun with gasoline. As the cops arrive in the morning, the leprechaun vows his spirit will not rest until he recovers all of his gold.

Cast

Production

Actor Warwick Davis sits at a table, smiling and holding Leprechaun merchandise.
Warwick Davis signs Leprechaun merchandise at the Norwich Sci-Fi Film, Toy, and Collectors' Fair in 2006.

Mark Jones, the writer-director, had a career in American television shows. Desiring to make a film, he decided that a low-budget horror film was his best opportunity. Jones was inspired by the Lucky Charms commercials to create a leprechaun character, only his twist was to turn the character into an antagonist. Jones was further influenced by the film Critters, which featured a small antagonist. Jones brought the concept to Trimark, who were looking to get into film production and distribution. Leprechaun became the first film produced in-house by Trimark to be theatrically released. Entertainment Weekly quoted the budget at "just under $1 million".[2] In an interview with Fangoria, Jones stated that he began writing the script in 1985 and spent a long time developing the Leprechaun character, which he initially envisioned as a "horrible, murderous creature", but which became a more comedic and developed character before filming began.[4] Warwick Davis, who had experienced a dry spell after playing the protagonist in Willow, liked the script and was excited to play against type. Jennifer Aniston, an unknown at the time, impressed Jones, and he fought to have her cast.[2]

Novelist Armistead Maupin was aware of the production, and included it in his novel Maybe the Moon, focusing on a little person based on his friend Tamara de Treaux.

Shooting occurred from October 28 - December 3, 1991, beginning at Valencia Studios, where Terminator 2: Judgment Day had recently finished production. Several violent scenes were filmed at Big Sky Ranch, where Little House on the Prairie and The Waltons were shot. Davis later said it felt "a little blasphemous".[5] Davis performed most of his own stunts. For the scene where Davis chases Aniston in a wheelchair, Aniston had to run in slow motion so that Davis could keep up with her, as he had trouble manipulating the wheels.[5] The film was initially more of a straightforward horror film, but Davis sought to add more comedic elements. Jones agreed with this tonal shift, and they shot it as a horror comedy.[2] Several scenes had to be re-shot after the producers insisted that the film be made gorier to appeal to older audiences.[5]

Gabe Bartalos performed the make-up effects. Trimark contacted Bartalos to produce a sample. Bartalos's early efforts were not to his liking, and he pushed the design in a more grotesque direction, as that was what he wanted to see on the screen as a horror fan. Bartalos's design impressed Trimark, and he got the account. Applying the make-up took three hours, and taking it off took another 40 minutes.[2] Davis described the experience as "not a pleasant sensation".[6] To pass the time while the make-up was being applied, Davis said he had bizarre conversations with Bartalos, with whom he got along well. Davis was conscious of the need to stay relaxed and not move, and he channeled his confidence that the make-up effects were properly applied to his acting.[6]

Release

Leading up to the film's release, Trimark engaged in an aggressive marketing campaign, partnering with the National Basketball Association, American Stock Exchange, and, after failing to secure deals with either corporate headquarters, individual franchisees of Domino's Pizza and Subway.[7] Leprechaun opened on January 8, 1993, in 620 theatres and took in $2,493,020 in its opening week, ultimately earning $8,556,940 in the United States.[8] Vidmark released it on VHS in April,[9] and it sold over 100,000 copies.[10] The film score was released on March 9 by Intrada Records.[11] The film was released on DVD in August 1998.[12] Lionsgate released a triple feature collection on March 11, 2008.[13] All seven films in the series were released on Blu-ray in a collection in September 2014.[14] The film is often broadcast on cable channels such as Syfy on Saint Patrick's Day.[15][16]

Sequels and reboot

Main article: Leprechaun (film series)

Leprechaun was followed by five sequels: Leprechaun 2 (1994), Leprechaun 3 (1995), Leprechaun 4: In Space (1997), Leprechaun in the Hood (2000), and Leprechaun: Back 2 tha Hood (2003). In 2014, a reboot, Leprechaun: Origins was released.[17] After Leprechaun 2's theatrical gross disappointed Trimark, Leprechaun 3 was released direct-to-video.[18] Origins was theatrically released.[19] Leprechaun Returns was released on DVD on December 11, 2018, serving as a direct sequel to the original film. The film stars Linden Porco as the Leprechaun, and Mark Holton as Ozzie Jones, who reprised the role from the first film, and directed by Steven Kostanski.[20]

Reception

On release, critical reception to the film was negative.[2] Writing for The Deseret News, Chris Hicks said that the film should have been released direct-to-video.[21] Also criticizing Trimark's release of the film, The Austin Chronicle's Marc Savlov called it clichéd, uninteresting, and an "utter waste of perfectly good Kodak film stock".[22] Internet-based critic James Berardinelli called it "unwatchable" and not even enjoyably bad,[23] and Matt Bourjaily of the Chicago Tribune wrote that the film "has brought new meaning to the term 'bad'".[24] At the Los Angeles Daily News, Robert Strauss called it "as witless and worthless a horror film as could possibly be conjured".[25] Pittsburgh Post-Gazette critic Ron Weiskind called the film incompetent and criticized the film's acting, lack of suspense, and production values.[26]

Michael Wilmington of the Los Angeles Times called the cast "the usual all-formula grab-bag",[27] and The Washington Post's Richard Harrington said the human actors are all bland.[28] Berardinelli described the characters as "a group of morons who act like they flunked kindergarten"[23] but said Aniston "might be competent" in a better film.[23] Weiskind instead called Aniston's character a "Beverly Hills brat" who audiences will want to die.[26] Of Davis, Harrington wrote that he "imbues a weak character with a strong presence", saying the film is only interesting while Davis is on-screen. Harrington concludes that the film is notable only for Davis' performance.[28] Vincent Canby of The New York Times called the leprechaun "no more than dangerously cranky" and reminiscent of Chucky from Child's Play;[29] Hicks also described the leprechaun as similar to Chucky.[21] Wilmington wrote that while a killer Leprechaun logically follows a trend of gimmicky antagonists, it is still a bad idea.[27]

Of the film's humor, Wilmington wrote that Leprechaun "isn't dumb enough to be fun".[27] Hicks described the film's humor as "ill-advised slapstick",[21] and Canby wrote that it is "neither scary nor funny".[29] Berardinelli called the leprechaun's one-liners "more idiotic than pithy".[23] Writing in the Chicago Sun-Times, critic Jeff Makos unfavorably compared the film's tone to that of Tremors, which he posited as an influence. Makos said Davis does his best to be funny, but the film has no funny jokes, making audience feedback probably more entertaining than the film itself.[30] The use of Lucky Charms as humor also received commentary. Harrington wrote that Jones is "so bereft of inventive ideas that he refers to Lucky Charms cereal not once but three times",[28] and Bourjaily criticized the Lucky Charms jokes as unfunny.[24]

Berardinelli said director Mark Jones has no style evident in the film.[23] Wilmington described it as a "dingy, drab, pointless little movie ... made without flair or imagination, seemingly enervated by its own bad taste and low intentions".[27] Canby called the screenplay and direction amateurish,[29] and Hicks wrote that Jones is bereft of ideas and should go back to his day job, describing the plot as "by-the-numbers killings with no rhyme or reason".[21] Harrington wrote that the film "has major continuity and credibility problems".[28] Strauss identified the theme as anti-greed but said the writing is "simultaneously prosaic and murky", causing Jones to miss his mark.[25] Wilmington wrote that the leprechaun's cries for his gold reflect the filmmakers' cynical desire for box-office success.[27] Sight & Sound described Leprechaun as a film which seems to have no concept of a target audience: "Jones wants this to be a lively romp for older kids in the mould of Time Bandits...but also wants to corner the lucrative horror market".[31] The review concluded: "Unsuitable for adults or kids, this is ultimately for completists".[31] Harrington called the make-up "quite evil-looking",[28] though Strauss wrote that "effects are strictly so-so".[25]

Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports that 35% of 17 critics gave the film a positive review with an average rating of 4.4/10.[32] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 17 out of 100 based on 7 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike".[33] A 2014 retrospective from Entertainment Weekly identified it as Aniston's worst role to date,[34] and Aniston herself has expressed embarrassment over the film.[35] In 2009, Tanya Gold of The Guardian selected it as one of her ten favorite scary films to watch on Halloween.[36]

Disagreeing with his colleagues in 1993, Luke Y. Thompson of the New Times opined: "The perfect high-concept comedic slasher, and it's still Jennifer Aniston's best film to date".[37]

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INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL (2008)

 


Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a 2008 American action adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg from a screenplay by David Koepp, based on a story by George Lucas and Jeff Nathanson. It is the fourth installment in the Indiana Jones film series and a sequel to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989).[3] Set in 1957, it pits Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) against Soviet KGB agents led by Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett) searching for a telepathic crystal skull located in Peru. Jones is aided by his former lover, Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), and their son, Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf). Ray Winstone, John Hurt, and Jim Broadbent are also part of the supporting cast.

Jeb Stuart, Jeffrey Boam, Frank Darabont, Lucas, and Nathanson wrote drafts before Koepp's script satisfied the producers. The filmmakers intended to pay tribute to the science fiction B movies in the 1950s. Shooting began on June 18, 2007, at various locations in New Mexico, New Haven, Connecticut, Hawaii, and Fresno, California, as well as on sound stages in Los Angeles. To maintain aesthetic continuity with the previous films, the crew relied on traditional stunt work instead of computer-generated stunt doubles, and cinematographer Janusz Kamiński studied Douglas Slocombe's style from the previous films.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull had its premiere at the 61st Cannes Film Festival on May 18, 2008, and was released in the United States on May 22, by Paramount Pictures. It received generally positive reviews from critics but mixed responses from audiences. The film was also a financial success, grossing over $786 million worldwide which makes it the franchise's highest-grossing film (when not adjusted for inflation) as well as the second-highest-grossing film of 2008.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is the last film in the Indiana Jones franchise to be distributed by Paramount, as the Walt Disney Studios acquired rights to future films following the parent company's acquisition of Lucasfilm in October 2012, with Paramount still retaining the rights to the original four films and receiving "financial participation" from any additional properties. It is also the last film in the series for which Spielberg and Lucas are credited with the direction and story, respectively. A sequel concluding the saga, titled Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, was released on June 30, 2023.[4]

Plot

In 1957, Soviet agents led by Colonel Doctor Irina Spalko kidnap American archeologist Indiana Jones and his partner George "Mac" McHale. They infiltrate Hangar 51 in Nevada and use Jones to locate a mummified alien from the Roswell incident. Jones locates the mummy before being double-crossed by Mac, but escapes to a nearby model town at the Nevada Test Site, minutes before an atomic bomb test. He survives the blast in a lead-lined refrigerator in one of the town's mock houses before being rescued and interrogated by the FBI.

Returning to Marshall College, Jones discovers he has been placed on an indefinite leave of absence. Mutt Williams, a young greaser, approaches Jones and informs him that his former colleague, Harold "Ox" Oxley, found a crystal skull in Peru in search of the mythical city Akator. Soviet agents attempt to capture them, but the two escape and travel to Peru. There, they find carvings made by Ox which lead the pair to the grave of Francisco de Orellana, which contains an elongated crystal skull. Leaving the grave, the two are captured by the Soviets and taken to a camp in the Amazon rainforest. They are reunited with Mac, Spalko, an addled Ox, and Mutt's mother, Marion Ravenwood, who informs Jones that Mutt is his son. Spalko tells Jones that the skulls are alien in origin and intends to use them to project Soviet propaganda into the minds of Americans. Jones has a brief telepathic connection to the skull, which commands him to return it to Akator. Jones realizes that Ox is attempting to communicate through automatic writing, discovering a route to the city.

While en route to Akator, Jones retakes the skull from the Soviets and escapes from them alongside Marion, Ox, Mutt and Mac, who claims to be a double agent, all the while leaving a trail for Spalko. Jones and his companions locate Akator, where they learn that the skull belonged to one of thirteen "interdimensional beings" whom the early Ugha tribes worshipped as deities and have since become motionless crystal skeletons. Spalko catches up and places the skull onto the one alien skeleton, who offers Spalko the reward of omniscience. As an interdimensional portal opens above the chamber, abducting Mac and Spalko’s remaining soldiers, the skeletons combine into a reanimated alien, who transfers an overwhelming amount of knowledge into Spalko's mind, disintegrating her. Jones, Ox, Marion and Mutt escape the crumbling city as a flying saucer rises from the ruins and departs for another dimension. As Ox regains his sanity, Jones and his party return to the United States where he is reinstated at Marshall College and promoted to associate dean. Jones and Marion marry each other.

Cast

Harrison Ford during the filming of the movie
  • Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones; To prepare for the role, the 64-year-old Ford spent three hours a day at a gym, practiced with the bullwhip for two weeks,[5] and relied on a high-protein diet of fish and vegetables.[6] Ford had kept fit during the series' hiatus anyway, as he hoped for another film.[7] He performed many of his own stunts because stunt technology had become safer since 1989, and he also felt it improved his performance.[8] Ford felt his return would also help American culture be less paranoid about aging (he refused to dye his hair for the role), because of the film's family appeal: "This is a movie which is geared not to [the young] segment of the demographic, an age-defined segment [...] We've got a great shot at breaking the movie demographic constraints."[8] He told Koepp to add more references to his age in the script.[9] Spielberg said Ford was not too old to play Indiana: "When a guy gets to be that age and he still packs the same punch, and he still runs just as fast and climbs just as high, he's gonna be breathing a little heavier at the end of the set piece. And I felt, 'Let's have some fun with that. Let's not hide that.'"[10] Spielberg recalled the line in Raiders, "It's not the years, it's the mileage,"[10] and felt he could not tell the difference between Ford during the shoots for The Last Crusade and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.[11]
  • Cate Blanchett as Irina Spalko, the Soviet agent who is the main antagonist of the film. Screenwriter David Koepp created the character.[9] Frank Marshall said Irina continued the tradition of Indiana having a love-hate relationship "with every woman he ever comes in contact with".[12] Blanchett had wanted to play a villain for a "couple of years", and enjoyed being part of the Indiana Jones legacy as she loved the previous films.[13] Spielberg praised Blanchett as a "master of disguise", and considers her his favorite Indiana Jones villain for coming up with much of Irina's characteristics.[10] Irina's bob cut was her idea, with the character's stern looks and behavior recalling Rosa Klebb in From Russia with Love.[14][clarification needed] Blanchett learned to fence for the character, but during filming, Spielberg decided to give Irina "karate chop" skills.[15] LaBeouf recalled Blanchett was elusive on set, and Ford was surprised when he met her on set outside of costume. He noted, "There's no aspect of her behavior that was not consistent with this bizarre person she's playing."[8]
  • Karen Allen as Marion Ravenwood (under the married name of Marion Williams). Frank Darabont's script introduced the idea of Marion Ravenwood returning as Indy's love interest.[16] Allen was not aware her character was in the script until Spielberg called her in January 2007, saying, "It's been announced! We're gonna make Indiana Jones 4! And guess what? You're in it!"[17] Ford found Allen "one of the easiest people to work with [he's] ever known. She's a completely self-sufficient woman, and that's part of the character she plays. A lot of her charm and the charm of the character is there. And again, it's not an age-dependent thing. It has to do with her spirit and her nature."[8] Allen found Ford easier to work with on this film, in contrast to the first film, where she slowly befriended the private actor.[18]
  • Ray Winstone as George "Mac" McHale, a British agent whom Indy worked alongside in World War II, but has now allied with the Russians due to his financial problems. The character acts as a spin on Sallah and René Belloq – Indy's friend and nemesis, respectively, in Raiders of the Lost Ark.[19] Spielberg cast Winstone as he found him "one of the most brilliant actors around", having seen Sexy Beast.[15] Winstone tore his hamstring during filming. "I keep getting these action parts as I'm getting older," he remarked.[20] Like John Hurt, Winstone wished to see the script prior to committing to the film. In interviews on British TV[21] Winstone explained that he was only able to read the script if it was delivered by courier, who waited while he read the script, and returned to the US with the script once Winstone had read it. His reasoning for wanting to read the script was, "If I'm gonna be in it, I want to be in it." He gave suggestions to Spielberg, including the idea of Mac pretending to be a double agent.[22] He also stated that once filming was completed he had to return the script, such was the secrecy about the film. He was later presented with a copy of the script to keep.[23]
  • John Hurt as Harold 'Ox' Oxley, Mutt's surrogate father and an old friend of Indiana, whom he lost contact with in 1937. Six months prior to the events of the film, he went insane after discovering the crystal skull, which commanded him to return it to Akator. Frank Darabont had suggested Hurt when he was writing the screenplay.[24] The character is inspired by Ben Gunn from Treasure Island.[15] Hurt wanted to read the script before signing on, unlike other cast members who came on "because Steven—you know, 'God'—was doing it. And I said, 'Well, I need to have a little bit of previous knowledge even if God is doing it.' So they sent a courier over with the script from Los Angeles, gave it to me at three o'clock in the afternoon in London, collected it again at eight o'clock in the evening, and he returned the next day to Los Angeles."[25]
  • Jim Broadbent as Dean Charlie Stanforth, Dean of Marshall College and friend of Indy. Broadbent's character stands in for Marcus Brody, as actor Denholm Elliott had died in 1992.[15] As a tribute to Elliott, the filmmakers put a portrait and a statue on the Marshall College location, and a picture on Indy's desk, saying he died shortly after Henry.
  • Shia LaBeouf as Mutt Williams/Henry Jones III, a young, motorcycle-riding greaser and Indy's sidekick and son. The concept of Indiana Jones having offspring was introduced in The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, in which Old Indy is shown to have a daughter.[26] During development of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, this idea was incorporated into Frank Darabont's script, with Indiana and Marion having a 13-year-old daughter. However, Spielberg found this too similar to The Lost World: Jurassic Park,[16] so a son was created instead.[27] Koepp credited the character's creation to Jeff Nathanson and Lucas.[9] Koepp wanted to make Mutt into a nerd, but Lucas refused, explaining he had to resemble Marlon Brando in The Wild One; "he needs to be what Indiana Jones's father thought of [him]—the curse returns in the form of his own son—he's everything a father can't stand".[16] LaBeouf was Spielberg's first choice for the role, having been impressed by his performance in Holes.[5] Excited at the prospect of being in an Indiana Jones film, LaBeouf signed on without reading the script and did not know what character he would play.[28] He worked out and gained 15 pounds (7 kg) of muscle for the role,[29] and also repeatedly watched the other films to get into character.[30] LaBeouf also watched Blackboard Jungle, Rebel Without a Cause and The Wild One to get into his character's mindset,[5] copying mannerisms and words from characters in those films, such as the use of a switchblade as a weapon.[31] Lucas also consulted on the greaser look, joking that LaBeouf was "sent to the American Graffiti school of greaserland".[10] LaBeouf pulled his rotator cuff when filming his duel with Spalko, which was his first injury in his career, an injury which worsened throughout filming. He later pulled his groin.[32]

Additionally, Igor Jijikine portrays Russian Colonel Antonin Dovchenko, Spalko's second-in-command. His character stands in for the heavily built henchmen that Pat Roach played in the three previous films, as Roach died in 2004 from throat cancer.[15] Joel Stoffer and Neil Flynn have minor roles as FBI agents Taylor and Paul Smith interrogating Indiana in a scene following the opening sequence. Alan Dale plays General Ross, who protests Indiana's innocence. Andrew Divoff and Pasha D. Lychnikoff play Soviet agents Grant and Roosevelt, respectively. Spielberg cast Russian-speaking actors so their accents would be authentic.[11] Ilia Volok and Dimitri Diatchenko play Russian Suit and Spalko's right-hand man Dimitri who battle Indiana at Marshall College. Diatchenko bulked up to 250 pounds to look menacing, and his role was originally minor with 10 days of filming. When shooting the fight, Ford accidentally hit his chin, and Spielberg liked Diatchenko's humorous looking reaction, so he expanded his role to three months of filming.[33] Ernie Reyes Jr. plays a cemetery guard. Chet Hanks plays Student in Library.

Sean Connery turned down an offer to cameo as Henry Jones Sr., as he found retirement too enjoyable.[34] Lucas stated that in hindsight it was good that Connery did not briefly appear, as it would disappoint the audience when his character would not join the film's adventure.[35] Ford joked, "I'm old enough to play my own father in this one."[8] Connery later admitted that his true reason for turning the part down was that it was too small, stating: "It was not that generous a part, worth getting back into the harness and go for. And they had taken the story in a different line anyway, so the father of Indy was kind of really not that important. I had suggested they kill him in the movie, it would have taken care of it better."[36] The film addresses Connery's absence by Indiana implying that both Henry, Sr. and Marcus Brody (played in the previous films by Denholm Elliott, who died in 1992) died before the film's events, and briefly shows Connery as Henry Jones Sr. in a picture in Indiana Jones's office.[37] Connery later stated that he liked the film, praising it as "rather good" but also "rather long."[38] Michael Sheard, who portrayed Adolf Hitler in the third film, expressed interest in appearing in the film, but he died in August 2005.[39]

John Rhys-Davies was asked to reprise his role as Sallah as a guest in the wedding scene. He turned it down as he felt his character deserved a more substantial role.[40]

Production

Development

In 1979, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg made a deal with Paramount Pictures for five Indiana Jones films.[41] Following the 1989 release of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Lucas let the series end as he felt he could not think of a good plot device to drive the next installment. He chose instead to produce the prequel television series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.[16] The following year, Harrison Ford would express his feelings that, while he was uncertain on if the Indiana Jones character had been fully explored or not, he had the impression that Last Crusade would be the final Indiana Jones film and that, as much he enjoyed playing Jones, he felt that a trilogy was enough, though he wouldn't rule out working with Lucas and Spielberg again.[42] Comic book writer Lee Marrs claimed in a 2023 interview with the IndyCast podcast that Lucasfilm Ltd. was considering to make a continuation to the film series by bringing River Phoenix back as a younger Indy, hence why Dark Horse Comics hoped to keep running their Indiana Jones comic book line, though Phoenix's death in 1993 put an end to such possibility.[43]

As Young Indy aired, Ford played Jones in one episode, narrating his adventures in 1920 Chicago from 1950 Wyoming. When Lucas shot Ford's role in December 1992, he realized the scene opened up the possibility of a film with an older Indiana set in the 1950s. The film could reflect a science fiction 1950s B-movie, with aliens as the plot device.[16] Just like how the 1930s Saturday matinée serials inspired the first three Indiana Jones films as well as Star Wars, Lucas felt that B-movies such as The Thing from Another World (1951), It Came from Outer Space (1953) and Them! (1954) could give them a whole new film genre to play with and add a new texture to the story, giving him the idea of using extraterrestrials.[44] Meanwhile, Spielberg believed he was going to mature as a filmmaker after making the trilogy and felt his role in any future installments would be relegated to that of mere producer.[27] Ford told Lucas, "No way am I being in a Steven Spielberg movie like that."[17] Spielberg himself, who depicted aliens in Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), resisted it.[16]

Perceiving that Ford and Spielberg opined that the film was too much an obvious Lucas-Spielbergian idea, Lucas personally felt that Ford and Spielberg didn't fully understand the franchise's malleability; instead of doing the exact same movie all the time, all they had to do was to test different genres with each installment and it wouldn't stop being an adventure of the title character looking after some artifact as long it were a believable MacGuffin with an archaeological or historical background.[44] He came up with a story, which Jeb Stuart turned into a script from October 1993 to May 1994.[16] (Stuart had previously written 1993's The Fugitive, which starred Ford.) Lucas wanted Indiana to get married, which would allow Henry Jones, Sr. to return, expressing concern over whether his son is happy with what he has accomplished. After he learned that Joseph Stalin was interested in psychic warfare, he decided to have Soviets as the villains and the aliens to have psychic powers.[45] Following Stuart's next draft, Lucas hired Last Crusade writer Jeffrey Boam to write the next three versions, the last of which was completed in March 1996. Three months later, Independence Day was released, and Spielberg told Lucas he would not make another alien invasion film. Lucas decided to focus on the Star Wars prequels.[16]

In a 2000 interview, Spielberg said that his children constantly asked when he would make the next Indiana Jones film, and that the project would soon be revived.[46] The same year, Ford, Lucas, Spielberg, Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy met during the American Film Institute's tribute to Ford, and decided they wanted to enjoy the experience of making an Indiana Jones film again. Spielberg also found returning to the series a respite from his many dark films during this period, such as A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), Minority Report (2002), and Munich (2005).[18] Lucas convinced Spielberg to use aliens in the plot by saying they were not "extraterrestrials", but "interdimensional", with this concept taking inspiration in the superstring theory.[27] Spielberg and Lucas discussed the central idea of a B-movie involving aliens, and Lucas suggested using the crystal skulls to ground the idea. Lucas found those artifacts as fascinating as the Ark of the Covenant,[47] and had intended to feature them for a Young Indiana Jones episode before the show's cancellation.[16] M. Night Shyamalan was hired to write for an intended 2002 shoot,[46] but he was overwhelmed writing a sequel to a film he loved like Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), and claimed it was difficult to get Ford, Spielberg and Lucas to focus.[48] Stephen Gaghan and Tom Stoppard were also approached.[46]

Frank Darabont, who wrote various Young Indiana Jones episodes, was hired to write in May 2002.[49] His script, entitled Indiana Jones and the City of Gods,[16] was set in the 1950s, with ex-Nazis pursuing Jones.[50] Spielberg conceived the idea because of real life figures such as Juan Perón in Argentina, who protected Nazi war criminals.[16] Darabont claimed Spielberg loved the script, but Lucas had issues with it, and decided to take over writing himself.[16] Lucas and Spielberg acknowledged the 1950s setting could not ignore the Cold War, and the Soviets were more plausible villains. Spielberg decided he could not satirize the Nazis after directing Schindler's List (1993),[10] while Ford noted, "We plum[b] wore the Nazis out."[17]

Jeff Nathanson met with Spielberg and Lucas in August 2004 and turned in the next drafts in October and November 2005, titled The Atomic Ants. David Koepp continued on from there, giving his script the subtitle Destroyer of Worlds,[16] based on the J. Robert Oppenheimer quote. It was changed to Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, as Spielberg found it more inviting a title and actually named the plot device of the crystal skulls. Lucas insisted on the Kingdom part.[51] Koepp's "bright [title] idea" was Indiana Jones and the Son of Indiana Jones, and Spielberg had also considered having the title name the aliens as The Mysterians (1957), but dropped that when he remembered that was another film's title.[27] Koepp collaborated with Raiders of the Lost Ark screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan on the film's "love dialogue."[9]

Filming

The production crew converting a storefront in downtown New Haven, Connecticut, to be used in a scene set in the 1950s

Unlike the previous films, Spielberg shot the entire film in the United States, stating he did not want to be away from his family.[52] Principal photography began on June 18, 2007, in Deming, New Mexico.[30][53] An extensive chase scene set at the fictional Marshall College was filmed between June 28 and July 7 at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut (where Spielberg's son Theo was studying).[53][54][55] To keep in line with the fact the story takes place in the 1950s, several facades were changed, although signs were put up in between shots to tell the public what the store or restaurant actually was.

Harrison Ford and Shia LaBeouf's stunt doubles during filming in 2007 in New Haven, Connecticut

Afterwards, they filmed scenes set in the Amazon jungle in Hilo, Hawaii until August.[55] Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was the biggest film shot in Hawaii since Waterworld (1995), and was estimated to generate US$22 million to $45 million in the local economy.[56] Because of an approaching hurricane, Spielberg was unable to shoot a fight at a waterfall, so he sent the second unit to film shots of Brazil's and Argentina's Iguazu Falls. These were digitally combined into the fight, which was shot at the Universal backlot.[55]

Half the film was scheduled to shoot on five sound stages at Los Angeles:[57] Downey, Sony, Warner Bros., Paramount and Universal.[25] Filming moved to Chandler Field in Fresno, California, substituting for Mexico City International Airport, on October 11, 2007.[58] After shooting aerial shots of Chandler Airport and a DC-3 on the morning of October 12, 2007, filming wrapped.[59][60] Although he originally found no need for re-shoots after viewing his first cut of the film,[50] Spielberg decided to add an establishing shot filmed on February 29, 2008, in Pasadena, California.[61]

Design

Spielberg and Janusz Kamiński, who has shot all of the director's films since Schindler's List, reviewed the previous films to study Douglas Slocombe's style. "I didn't want Janusz to modernize and bring us into the 21st century", Spielberg explained. "I still wanted the film to have a lighting style not dissimilar to the work Doug Slocombe had achieved, which meant that both Janusz and I had to swallow our pride. Janusz had to approximate another cinematographer's look, and I had to approximate this younger director's look that I thought I had moved away from after almost two decades."[47] Spielberg also hired production designer Guy Hendrix Dyas after admiring his design work for Superman Returns (2006). Spielberg did not want to fast cut action scenes, relying on his script instead for a fast pace,[47] and had confirmed in 2002 that he would not shoot the film digitally, a format Lucas had adopted for Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005).[62] Lucas felt "it looks like it was shot three years after Last Crusade. The people, the look of it, everything. You'd never know there was 20 years between shooting."[52] Kamiński commented upon watching the three films back-to-back, he was amazed how each of them advanced technologically, but were all nevertheless consistent, neither too brightly or darkly lit.[5] Stan Winston helped supervise the special effects that went into the designs of the interdimensional beings.

While shooting War of the Worlds (2005) in late 2004, Spielberg met with the film's stunt coordinator and second unit director Vic Armstrong, who doubled for Ford in the previous films, to discuss three action sequences he had envisioned.[63] However, Armstrong was busy filming second unit footage under Rob Cohen for The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008) during shooting of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,[64] so Dan Bradley was hired as second unit director instead. Bradley and Spielberg used previsualization for all the action scenes, except the motorcycle chase at Marshall College, because that idea was conceived after the animators had left. Bradley drew traditional storyboards instead, and was given free rein to create dramatic moments, just as Michael D. Moore did when directing second unit for the original trilogy, such as the truck chase in Raiders of the Lost Ark.[14] Spielberg improvised on set, changing the location of Mutt and Spalko's duel from the ground to on top of vehicles.[5]

The Ark of the Covenant is seen in a broken crate during the Hangar 51 opening sequence. Lucasfilm used the same prop from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Guards were hired to protect the highly sought-after piece of film memorabilia during the day of its use. A replica of the staff carried by Charlton Heston in The Ten Commandments (1956) was also used to populate the set to illustrate the hangar's history.[51]

Effects

Stunts involving vehicles were shot on location in Hawaii, while CGI was used to add plants to the forest.

Marshall stated in 2003 that the film would use traditional stunt work so as to be consistent with the previous films.[65] CGI was used to remove the visible safety wires on the actors when they did their stunts, such as when Indy swings on a lamp with his whip.[14] Timed explosives were used for a scene where Indiana drives a truck through crates. During the take, an explosive failed to detonate and landed in the seat beside Ford. It did not go off and he was not injured.[66]

Spielberg stated before production began that very few CGI effects would be used to maintain consistency with the other films. During filming significantly more CGI work was done than initially anticipated as in many cases it proved to be more practical. There ended up being a total of about 450 CGI shots in the film, with an estimated 30% of the film's shots containing CG matte paintings.[60] Spielberg initially wanted brushstrokes to be visible on the paintings for added consistency with the previous films, but decided against it.[17] The script also required a non-deforested jungle for a chase scene, but this would have been unsafe and much CGI work was done to create the jungle action sequence. Visual effects supervisor Pablo Helman, who worked on Lucas' Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999) and Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) as well as Spielberg's War of the Worlds and Munich, traveled to Brazil and Argentina to photograph elements that were composited into the final images. Industrial Light and Magic then effectively created a virtual jungle with a geography like the real Amazon.[67]

The appearance of a live alien and flying saucer was in flux. Spielberg wanted the alien to resemble a Grey alien, and also rejected early versions of the saucer that looked "too Close Encounters". Art director Christian Alzmann said the esthetic was "looking at a lot of older B-movie designs—but trying to make that look more real and gritty to fit in with the Indy universe." Other reference for the visual effects work included government tapes of nuclear tests, and video reference of real prairie dogs shot in 1080p by Nathan Edward Denning.[68]

Music

Main article: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (soundtrack)
John Williams, who was the composer of the film's score

John Williams began composing the score in October 2007;[69] 10 days of recording sessions wrapped on March 6, 2008, at Sony Pictures Studios.[70] Williams described composing for the Indiana Jones universe again as "like sitting down and finishing a letter that you started 25 years ago". He reused Indiana's theme (The Raiders March) and also Marion's from Raiders of the Lost Ark, and also composed five new motifs for Mutt, Spalko and the skull. Williams gave Mutt's a swashbuckling feel, and homaged film noir and 1950s B-movies for Spalko and the crystal skull respectively. The movie's first scene is accompanied by Elvis Presley's 1956 version of "Hound Dog", arguably the biggest hit of the movie's era, and an RIAA-certified 4× Platinum recording. As an in-joke, Williams incorporated a measure and a half of Johannes Brahms' "Academic Festival Overture" when Indiana and Mutt crash into the library. The soundtrack features a Continuum, an instrument often used for sound effects instead of music.[71] The Concord Music Group released the soundtrack on May 20, 2008.[72]

Release

The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 18, 2008, a couple of days ahead of its worldwide May 21–23 release. It was the first Spielberg film since 1982's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial to premiere at Cannes.[73] The film was released in approximately 4,000 theaters in the United States, and dubbed into 25 languages for its worldwide release.[47] More than 12,000 release prints were distributed, which is the largest in Paramount Pictures' history.[74] Although Spielberg insisted his films only be watched traditionally using a film projector at theaters, Paramount chose to release the film in digital cinemas as part of a scheme to convert 10,000 U.S. cinemas to the format.[75] The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is also notable for being the last film in the series to be distributed by Paramount, as Walt Disney Studios released the fifth film on June 30, 2023, since its parent company's acquisition of Lucasfilm in 2012.

Secrecy

Frank Marshall remarked, "In today's information age, secrecy has been a real challenge. ... People actually said, 'No, we're going to respect Steven's vision.'" Prior to release, moviegoers on the Internet scrutinized numerous photos and the film's promotional Lego sets in hope of understanding plot details. Spielberg biographer Ian Freer wrote, "What Indy IV is actually about has been the great cultural guessing game of 2007/08. Yet, it has to be said, there is something refreshing about being ten weeks away from a giant blockbuster and knowing next to nothing about it."[14] To distract investigative fans from the film's title during filming,[76] five fake titles were registered with the Motion Picture Association of America; The City of Gods, The Destroyer of Worlds, The Fourth Corner of the Earth, The Lost City of Gold and The Quest for the Covenant.[77] Lucas and Spielberg had also wanted to keep Karen Allen's return a secret until the film's release, but decided to confirm it at the 2007 Comic-Con.[78]

An extra in the film, Tyler Nelson, violated his nondisclosure agreement in an interview with the Edmond Sun on September 17, 2007, which was then picked up by the mainstream media. It is unknown if he remained in the final cut.[79] At Nelson's request, The Edmond Sun subsequently pulled the story from its website.[80] On October 2, 2007, a Superior Court order was filed finding that Nelson knowingly violated the agreement. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed.[81] A number of production photos and sensitive documents pertaining to the film's production budget were also stolen from Spielberg's production office. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department set up a sting operation after being alerted by a webmaster that the thief might try to sell the photos. On October 4, 2007, the seller, 37-year-old Roderick Eric Davis, was arrested. He pleaded guilty to two felony counts and was sentenced to two years and four months in prison.[14][82][83]

Marketing

For a broader view of the franchise's revival in 2008, see Indiana Jones franchise.

Howard Roffman, president of Lucas Licensing, attributed the film's large marketing campaign to it having been "nineteen years since the last film, and we are sensing a huge pent-up demand for everything Indy".[84] Marketing relied heavily on the public's nostalgia for the series, with products taking inspiration from all four films. Paramount spent at least $150 million to promote the film,[85] whereas most film promotions range from $70 to 100 million. As well as fans, the film also needed to appeal to younger viewers.[86] Licensing deals include Expedia, Dr Pepper, Burger King, M&M's, Snickers, Lunchables, and Papa John's.[86] Paramount along with Blockbuster sponsored an Indiana Jones open wheel car for Marco Andretti in the 2008 Indianapolis 500, and his racing suit was designed to resemble Indiana Jones's outfit. Andretti would go on to finish third in the race.[87] The distributor also paired with M&M's to sponsor the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, with NASCAR driver Kyle Busch behind the wheel, in the 2008 Dodge Challenger 500 at Darlington Raceway.[88] Kyle Busch and the No. 18 team won the race and visited victory lane with Indiana Jones on the car.[89] With the film's release, producer Frank Marshall and UNESCO worked together to promote conservation of World Heritage Sites around the world.[90][91] Disneyland hosted "Indiana Jones Summer of Hidden Mysteries" to promote the film's release.[92]

The Boston-based design studio Creative Pilot created the packaging style for the film's merchandise, which merged Drew Struzan's original illustrations "with a fresh new look, which showcases the whip, a map and exotic hieroglyphic patterns".[93] Hasbro, Lego, Sideshow Collectibles, Topps, Diamond Select, Hallmark Cards, and Cartamundi all sold products.[94] A THQ mobile game based on the film was released,[95] as was a Lego video game based on the past films.[96][97] Lego also released a series of computer-animated spoofs, Lego Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Brick, directed by Peder Pedersen.[98] Stern Pinball released a new Indiana Jones pinball machine, designed by John Borg, based on all four films.[99] From October 2007 to April 2008, the re-edited episodes of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles were released in three DVD box sets.[100]

Random House, Dark Horse Comics, Diamond Comic Distributors, Scholastic, and DK published books,[84] including James Rollins's novelization of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,[101] a two-issue comic book adaptation written by John Jackson Miller and drawn by Luke Ross (Samurai: Heaven and Earth), children's novelizations of all four films,[102] the Indiana Jones Adventures comic book series aimed at children,[103] and the official Indiana Jones Magazine.[104] Scholastic featured Indiana and Mutt on the covers of Scholastic News and Scholastic Maths, to the concern of parents, though Jack Silbert, editor of the latter, felt the film would interest children in archaeology.[86]

Home media

The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc in North America on October 14, 2008,[105][106] and in the UK on November 10.[107] This THX certified release includes a two-disc special-edition DVD, a two-disc special-edition Blu-ray, and a single-disc edition DVD.[105][106] The film made its worldwide television premiere on USA on December 9, 2010.[citation needed] On September 18, 2012, it was re-released on Blu-ray as part of Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures.[108]

In 2021, a remastered 4K version of the film was released by Paramount and Lucasfilm on Ultra HD Blu-ray, produced using scans of the original negatives. It was released as part of a box set for the then four films in the Indiana Jones film series.[109]

As of October 16, 2013, the film has made $117,239,631 in revenue through home media.[110]

Reception

Box office

Box office revenue Box office ranking Reference
United States and Canada Other territories Worldwide All time U.S. and Canada All time worldwide
$317,101,119 $469,534,914 $786,636,033 No. 46 No. 58 [2]

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is distributed by one entity, Paramount, but owned by another, Lucasfilm. The pre-production arrangement between the two organizations granted Paramount 12.5% of the film's revenue. As the $185 million budget was larger than initially expected, Lucas, Spielberg and Ford turned down large upfront salaries so Paramount could cover the film's costs. For Paramount to see a profit beyond its distribution fee, the film had to make over $400 million. At that point, Lucas, Spielberg, Ford, and those with smaller profit-sharing deals would also begin to collect their cut.[85]

The film was released on May 22, 2008, in the United States and Canada, playing at 4,260 theaters. At that time, it achieved the third-highest number of screenings, behind Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End and Spider-Man 3.[111] For its opening day, the film grossed $25 million domestically, making it the fourth-highest Thursday opening, behind Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, The Matrix Reloaded and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith.[112] In its opening weekend, it grossed an estimated $101 million and ranked number one at the box office.[113] The film would go on to set opening weekend records for both a Steven Spielberg film and Harrison Ford film, breaking the previous records held by The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Air Force One simultaneously.[114] Within its first five days of release, it grossed $151.1 million, combined with $126 million from the four-day opening weekend. It ranked as the second-biggest Memorial Day weekend release, after Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.[115] During Memorial Day, the film had already generated a total of $26.7 million, becoming the second-highest Monday gross of any film, trailing only behind Spider-Man 2.[116] It was the third-most-successful film of 2008 domestically, behind The Dark Knight and Iron Man, respectively,[117] and the year's second-highest-grossing film internationally, behind The Dark Knight.[118] In February 2010, it was the 25th-highest-grossing film of all time domestically, and 44th-highest-grossing worldwide, as well as the most financially successful Indiana Jones film when not adjusted for inflation of ticket prices.[119][120]

Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 77% of 308 critic reviews are positive and the average rating is 6.9/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Though the plot elements are certainly familiar, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull still delivers the thrills and Harrison Ford's return in the title role is more than welcome."[121] Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 65 out of 100 based on 40 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[122]

Roger Ebert gave the film three and a half stars out of four, the same rating he gave The Last Crusade, finding it "same old, same old", but what "I want it to be", particularly as "a lover of pulp fiction": "What I want is goofy action—lots of it. I want man-eating ants, swordfights between two people balanced on the backs of speeding jeeps, caverns of gold, vicious femme fatales, plunges down three waterfalls in a row, and the explanation for flying saucers. And throw in lots of monkeys."[123] Leonard Maltin also gave the film 3½ stars out of 4, more than he gave Temple of Doom and Last Crusade, and wrote that "Indy returns with the same brand of high adventure that marked the original Raiders of the Lost Ark."[124] Empire's Damon Wise criticized the use of CGI but praised Ford's performance and wrote that "It won't change your life but, if you're in the right frame of mind, it will change your mood: you might wince, you might groan, you might beg to differ on the big, silly climax, but you'll never stop smiling."[125]

James Berardinelli gave the film 2 stars out of 4, calling it "the most lifeless of the series" and "simply [not] a very good motion picture."[126] Margaret Pomeranz of At the Movies gave the film 2½ stars out of 5, saying that the filmmakers "had 19 years since the last Indiana Jones movie to come up with something truly exciting and fresh, but I feel there's a certain laziness and cynicism in this latest adventure."[127] Associated Press reported that J. Sperling Reich, writing for FilmStew.com, said: "It really looked like they were going through the motions. It really looked like no one had their heart in it."[128] USA Today stated reviews were "mixed" and reviewers felt the "movie suffers from predictable plot points and cheesy special effects."[129]

International reaction

The Communist Party of the Russian Federation called for a ban on the film, accusing the production team of "demonizing" the Soviet Union.[130] Spielberg responded: "When we decided the fourth installment would take place in 1957, we had no choice but to make the Russians the enemies. World War II had just ended and the Cold War had begun. The U.S. didn't have any other enemies at the time."[131]

The film's depiction of Peru also received criticism from the Peruvian and Mexican public, as it jumbles elements of Precolumbian cultures from those countries (like references to Maya that never lived in Perù).[132][133]

Audience reception and legacy

Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average rating of "B" on an A+ to F scale, down from the previous film's "A".[134] According to Associated Press, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull received a "respectful" but "far from glowing" reception from Indiana Jones fans, and that "some viewers at its first press screening loved it, some called it slick and enjoyable though formulaic, some said it was not worth the 19-year wait."[128] South Park parodied the film in the episode "The China Probrem", broadcast five months after the film's release. The episode parodied the negative fan reaction, with the characters filing a police report against Lucas and Spielberg for "raping Indiana Jones".[135]

Some disappointed Indiana Jones fans used the term "nuking the fridge", a reference to the scene in which Jones survives a nuclear blast by hiding in a refrigerator, to denote the point when a franchise crosses into the absurd, similar to "jumping the shark". This phrase has appeared across the internet,[136] and was chosen as No. 5 on Time magazine's list of "top ten buzzwords" of 2008.[137] Asked about the scene and phrase, Spielberg said: "Blame me. Don't blame George. That was my silly idea ... I'm proud of that. I'm glad I was able to bring that into popular culture."[138] Lucas denied this, saying Spielberg was "trying to protect" him. According to Lucas, he had assembled a dossier of research data to convince Spielberg; Lucas stated that his research claimed the odds of surviving in the refrigerator are about "50-50."[139]

The mixed fanbase reaction did not surprise Lucas, who was familiar with mixed response to the Star Wars prequels, and predicted that "we're all going to get people throwing tomatoes at us."[140] According to Lucas, fans are "always going to be upset. 'Why did he do it like this? And why didn't he do it like this?' They write their own movie, and then, if you don't do their movie, they get upset about it".[141] David Koepp said: "I knew I was going to get hammered from a number of quarters [but] what I liked about the way the movie ended up playing was it was popular with families. I like that families really embraced it."[142] Although Spielberg said "I'm very happy with the movie. I always have been", he also said "I sympathize with people who didn't like the MacGuffin [the interdimensional beings] because I never liked the MacGuffin."[138] Koepp also disliked the inclusion of aliens and had made a failed suggestion to use a different story idea.[143] Reflecting on the film in 2022, producer Kathleen Kennedy said "we may not have had as strong a story as we wanted".[144]

At the 2010 Cannes Film Festival, LaBeouf told Los Angeles Times he had "dropped the ball on the legacy that people loved and cherished" and felt that "the movie could have been updated ... we just misinterpreted what we were trying to satiate."[145] In 2011, in response to LaBeouf's comments, Harrison Ford said: "I think I told [LaBeouf] he was a fucking idiot ... As an actor, I think it's my obligation to support the film without making a complete ass of myself. Shia is ambitious, attentive and talented—and he's learning how to deal with a situation which is very unique and difficult."[146] LaBeouf said he regretted his comments and their effect on his relationship with Spielberg: "He told me there's a time to be a human being and have an opinion, and there's a time to sell cars. It brought me freedom, but it also killed my spirits because this was a dude I looked up to like a sensei."[147]

Film critic Matt Zoller Seitz praised the film despite its alienation of fans, understanding that the film was "more an ensemble piece" compared to the previous films in the series, but adding that "there was a point to this approach: Crystal Skull was Spielberg's immense and spectacular version of an Old Man movie.... rather like the films Howard Hawks and John Ford were making in the mid- to late '60s".[148] Seitz also considers the "nuke the fridge" scene as one of the series' best, stating that "It brings Indy forward into the world that birthed Steven Spielberg and his Boomer-fueled fantasies of earlier generations. And the construction of it, the shots and cuts, is brilliant. The ramping up. The satirical touches. And the 'nuclear family' pun at the heart of it."[149][150] Rewatching the film 15 years later, Jeff Ames at ComingSoon said his initial like of the film had been because it was an Indiana Jones sequel, but he said it now "feels like a missed opportunity".[151]

Accolades

The film was nominated for Best Action Movie at the 2009 Critics' Choice Awards.[152] The Visual Effects Society nominated it for Best Single Visual Effect of the Year (the valley destruction), Best Outstanding Matte Paintings, Best Models and Miniatures, and Best Created Environment in a Feature Motion Picture (the inside of the temple).[153] The film ranks 453rd on Empire's 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time.[154] It was nominated at the Saturn Awards for Best Science Fiction Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Costumes and Best Special Effects. It won Best Costumes.[155] At the 51st Grammy Awards, John Williams won an award for the Mutt Williams theme.[156]

In 2008, the film won the Razzie Award for Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel.[157] Comcast voted it the 11th-worst film sequel of all time.[158] Paste magazine ranked the movie 10th on its list "The 20 Worst Sequels to Good Movies".[159] Listverse.com ranked the film 8th on its list of the "Top 10 Worst Movie Sequels".[160]

Award Category Recipient Result
British Academy Film Awards Best Special Visual Effects Pablo Helman, Marshall Krasser, Steve Rawlins Nominated
Critics' Choice Awards Best Action Movie Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Nominated
Golden Raspberry Awards Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel Won
MTV Movie Awards Best Summer Movie So Far Nominated
Saturn Awards Best Science Fiction Film Nominated
Best Director Steven Spielberg Nominated
Best Actor Harrison Ford Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Shia LaBeouf Nominated
Best Costume Design Mary Zophres Won
Best Special Effects Pablo Helman, Daniel Sudick Nominated
Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Nominated
Visual Effects Society Awards Best Single Visual Effect of the Year Stephanie Hornish, Pablo Helman, Jeff White, Craig Hammack Nominated
Outstanding Matte Paintings in a Feature Motion Picture Richard Bluff, Barry Williams, Yannick Dusseault, Yusei Uesugi Nominated
Outstanding Models and Miniatures in a Feature Motion Picture David Fogler, Craig Hammack, Brian Gernand, Geoff Herson Nominated
Outstanding Created Environment in a Feature Motion Picture Michael Halsted, David Fogler, Steve Walton, David Weitzberg Nominated

Lawsuit

In late 2012, the director of the Institute of Archaeology of Belize, Dr. Jaime Awe, sued Lucasfilm, Disney, and Paramount Pictures on behalf of the country Belize for using the Mitchell-Hedges skull's "likeness" in the film. (Awe claimed that if the Mitchell-Hedges skull was actually found in Belize, then it had been stolen from his country, and the defendants were profiting off its likeness.)[161]

Sequel

Main article: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

On March 15, 2016, Walt Disney Studios announced that Spielberg and Ford would both return for a fifth Indiana Jones film, initially scheduled for release on July 19, 2019.[162] After multiple delays, this was finally changed to June 30, 2023.[163] In February 2020, it was revealed that Spielberg had stepped down as the film's director and that James Mangold had entered negotiations to direct.[164] The fifth film, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, was released by Disney on June 30, 2023.


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