Hey, good lookin’! What you got cookin’? Got any plans for Memorial Day 2008? Wanna go to the movies with me that day? You do? Great! Because I know what I want to see: the next Indiana Jones movie. If you’re really in, lemme know, because I think we should probably buy our tickets early.
Oh, I jest — though maybe not the part about reserving seats in advance. Certainly, the film (which Paramount calls The Fourth Installment of the Indiana Jones Adventures) is going to be a white-hot ticket when it opens on May 22, 2008. That’s the Thursday before Memorial Day, a.k.a. the same day on which highly anticipated blockbusters with words like Star Wars and Matrix in their titles have debuted in recent years. Considering the two-decade wait and all the starts and stops and, you know, Harrison Ford’s 64th birthday, fans everywhere are clamoring to see what happens to Indy in his advanced years. Maybe the Nazis poison his Centrum Silver. (Oh, if Paramount actually uses that, I’m going to go all Buchwald on their ass!)
But will The Fourth Installment of the Indiana Jones Adventures crack a whip on the competition? I mean, I’m psyched, but the franchise is awfully old: Folks born when Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade premiered are now entering college. And, amazingly enough, we already know that Speed Racer is due the same weekend, while Iron Man and The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian are set to open in the preceding weeks. Will they keep our hero from tracking down his latest treasure at the box office?
While I have some concerns there’s been too long an interval, I want to know who all of you think should be the new “Indy” leading lady? I know we don’t know anything about the plot, but who should/could follow in the footsteps of Karen Allen, Kate Capshaw, and the too-little used, but absolutely stunning, Alison Doody?
Since there’s no avoiding that Indy is 20 years older, the whole WWII-era environment of the original trilogy will by necessity be shot to hell. Maybe they’ll go for some kind of divided Germany/cold war kind of thing. Or dump Indy in the jungles of Vietnam.
To get things rolling, I suggest maybe Catherine Zeta-Jones or Monica Bellucci as the next “Indy” leading lady. Again, who knows what the part calls for and the filmmakers have in mind, but they’d be a “little” more age appropriate for Harrison than the likes of, say, Keira Knightley or Eva Green or Scarlett Johansson.
Noodles, all of the damsels in the first three films weren’t big-name stars. With Ford and (likely) Connery back to hog the spotlight, I think Spielberg and the producers would be wise to continue in that casting tradition.
There’s this scene in Indy 3 when Harrison Ford has to run on a dock and turn a corner. Instead of taking long strides, he took baby steps, as if he was trying to protect his knees or his hip. That’s the moment I realized that he was too old to play to play the part. They can’t hide the fact that he’s retirement age, so when are they going to set this thing? In the 60′s? Indy in modern times would be too strange, but pretending he’s only in his 40′s is an insult to people who have eyes. I want to see a new Indy with Ford in it, but how are they going to pull it off, while keeping all the things we love about the franchise and not just hoping that the audience can suspend disbelief to a ridiculous level?
There are some movies I’m NOT looking forward to and Indy 4 is one of them, simply bec. of Harrison Ford. As for leading ladies – Catherine Zeta Jones is a good choice; Salma Hayek anyone?
OH MY GOD I’M SO THERE. Can you all stop saying that Indy is too old? Was Obi-Wan too old? Was Bill from Kill Bill too old? No!
Harrison Ford is FUNNY. This movie is going to take advantage of the humor in this situation and it will be great.
I am so looking forward to the 4th installment! I just hope it isn’t too late for Harrison Ford to be convincing. How about an actress in her early 40′s or so for the love interest? I’d hate to see Ford looking like his lovers grandfather like, say in his real life!
I for one cannot WAIT for this to come out! I loved the whole series (could have done w/o the monkey brains in the 2nd one though). Harrison Ford is one of my favorite actors & it will be refreshing to see him a decent movie for a change.
Wait…what about Short Round? What’s he been up to?
As far as leading ladies go, weren’t there recent rumors about Karen Allen or Kate Capshaw coming back. Personally, I’d kill to see Marion Ravenwood (the greatest movie female of all time) again.
I love Indy! But have huge reservations due to his age. The worst thing they could do is introduce a son to take over or something, but there is no way around Harrison Ford being up there.
I am sure everyone has there own funny title for this. Mine is:
Indiana Jones and Why did I come in this room again?
I am positively giddy with anticipation. Indiana Jones and Star Wars have been my movie obsessions since I was a child and as I shed a tear for no more movies of the latter, I can at least look forward to Indy now. Those movies inspired my career choice. Can’t wait.
The only good one was Raiders (which was awesome!) both sequals sucked. After the Phantom Menace debacle there’s no reason to think this will be anything but craptacular on a monumental scale. Hopefully I will be proved wrong but I’m not betting on it.
In movie time 2008 isn’t really a long time away. We’ll be hearing about this movie from the time they first start writing the script till the last scene is shot. Case in point, Dreamgirls. Altough this movie didn’t take too long to create we knew every move that happened on the set.
Take that!