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?
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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!
Count me in. I loved Raiders, the other two were so so, but good fun.
Go Buchwald….brilliant.
And I’ll be there for this movie – Harrison will be fine, so long as they move the timeline of the character along….say battling the Soviets in the early 60s as opposed to the Germans in the 40s? Introduce Indy’s son (hopefully from Marian) as a foil for the old man?
Mr Ford is in his mid-sixties, so the idea of casting a leading lady in her 40’s might seem radical to some – but I’d like to point out that he’d still be old enought to ber her father, which I personally find kind of icky. I think Meryl Streep could be kick ass and damned funny . . .
I’m not so excited. still it will do a mint at the box office, I eagerly await to put it on my netflix list.
I think as long as they acknowledge his age it could work. Although now Connery doesn’t look as old compared to Ford, where as in Last Crusade they could conceivably be father and son. And ABW I see no reason to stick with the Nazis since Temple of Doom was set in the 30’s and had nothing to do with Nazis (purposely) and it was really good.
Since he supposedly has eternal life after drinking from Grail, why not set the movie in the far distant future, where robot Nazi’s have hijacked the remains of the burning bush and it’s up to Indy (Harrison Ford) a sassy female forensic scientist (Paris Hilton or Judi Dench, whichever will agree to go topless), Indy’s father (a brain in a jar wearing a kilt voiced by Sean Connery, or Darrell Hammond if Connery asks for too much money), and their telepathic dog, Butterscotch, (French Stewart).
“Was Obi-Wan too old? Was Bill from Kill Bill too old?”
Are you kidding? Those characters started off as old characters, so of course there’s no stretch of the imagination to see them as older men. We first saw Indy during the WWII period as a man in his mid 30’s. For him to be in his mid-60’s in the 1940’s would mean he had to grow 30 years in the span of half a decade. That’s why the concern. It’s not an anti-old people problem- it’s a continuity issue.
GT, when did I say anything about Nazis, let alone sticking with them??? I only mentioned that the original films took place in the WWII era, which is indisputably true.
Jane, did I miss something? Did it say anywhere when this movie was going to be taking place?
My point is that Bill and Obi-Wan were still believable action characters despite being a little long in the tooth. How does it stretch the imagination to see Harrison Ford playing the same character, but older?
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I don’t want to see Karen Allen anymore than I am excited about Maggie G replacing Kim and the other lovlies in the next Batman. Let’s scrap the bottom of the barrel some moore GEEEZZ………….Couldn’t they find real women somebody would want to watch?
Speaking of Karen Allen, I wrote an unsolicited script for a Starman sequel back in 1998. It was my first script and I quit college to finish it. It’s been gathering dust ever since. I sent it to Jeff Bridges and John carpenter, although I would prefer if Carpenter didn’t direct a sequel. I wrote some good f/x sequences and some interesting characters. I’m pretty sure I’ll never be involved, but I’d to see the f/x scene from the beach being incorporated, (Jeff’s manager Neil will know the one, totally plagiarised from another movie, but it would look great on film today). If anyone has any questions, email me at hansenfilm@yahoo.ie and I’ll answer them. (Although I won’t give away any plot points. And yes there is a son and indeed, I actually have the perfect casting suggestion!!