Commentary
DisneyBizJournal.com
July
23, 2018
Why
is it so difficult to get an Indiana Jones script done in timely fashion? Going
all of the way back to Indiana Jones and
the Last Crusade (1989), script delays have plagued this beloved franchise.
Director
Steven Spielberg and executive producer George Lucas waded through an
assortment of story ideas and scripts for a third movie, after Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(1984) met with mixed reviews, especially when compared to the monster hit Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). (By the
way, Temple of Doom is an excellent
movie.) It took five years to get Last
Crusade, but as it turned out, it was well worth the wait.
But
if Indy fans thought that was a long time between whip-cracking adventures, it
would be another 19 years until Indiana
Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) hit theaters. Many
thought that wait was not exactly worth it. My take is that, yes, it is the
worst of the four Indy movies, largely due to it being wildly uneven, with some
high points and a variety of lows, and a clear need for another round of edits
(including putting Mutt and the monkeys on the cutting room floor, and an
ending that was too drawn out). The long delay between films covered myriad
story ideas and scripts being kicked around and rejected.
But
Disney bought Lucasfilm in 2012, and with it, the intellectual property to
Indiana Jones, and in the following year, the distribution and marketing rights
for future Indiana Jones films were secured from
Paramount. Surely, Disney would make a new Indy film happen,
and with greater speed given their considerable investment in buying Lucasfilm.
After
all, keep in mind that each Indy movies has been a nice moneymaker at the box
office. On an $18 million production budget, Raiders made $390 million, Temple
of Doom ranked in $333 million on a budget of $28 million; Last Crusade earned $474 million with a
budget of $48 million; and even Crystal
Skull pulled in $787 million on a $185 production budget, according to
BoxOfficeMojo.com.
Yet,
here we are still waiting for a new movie, with a recent announcement that a
movie that was supposed to be released in 2019, and then 2020, is now
rescheduled for 2021. The problem? As reported by
Variety, it’s once again script issues, with Jonathan Kasdan
reportedly being brought
on to take a crack at a new script. Kasdan co-wrote Solo: A Star Wars Story with his father, Lawrence Kasdan, who wrote
the script for Raiders.
Meanwhile,
as time passes, it must be noted that Harrison Ford just turned 76 this month,
and therefore, would be roughly 78 when filming Indiana Jones 5, that is, if there are no further delays. Time is
not exactly a friend for Ford portraying this action hero – though it’s hard
for me to doubt the seemingly ageless Ford.
Make
no mistake, I’m a huge Indiana Jones fan. And like so many others, I want to
see Harrison Ford don the fedora and leather jacket, and pick up the whip one
more time. But jeez, let’s go people. Can’t anyone in Hollywood pen a quality Indy
script on a deadline? After all, millions of fans around the world stand
willing to hand over money at the box office, for blu-rays and digital copies,
and for merchandise.
Ray
Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com, and
author of the Pastor Stephen Grant novels, with the two latest books being Reagan
Country: A Pastor Stephen Grant Novel and Heroes and
Villains: A Pastor Stephen Grant Short Story. He can be
contacted at raykeating@keatingreports.com.
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