INDIANA JONES Updates
New photos from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. But, abandon all hope of avoiding spoilers, ye who enter here...
This spring, everyone's favorite whip-cracking gravedigger returns to the big screen. And, all things considered, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull has been a low key project. But the last week has seen a number of new photos loaded onto the web--some fairly tame, others...not.
Later in the year, Official Pix Blog will be releasing a collectible 11x14 print of Doctor Jones, of which there will be only 50 numbered pieces available, all personally signed by star Harrison Ford. The print comes, bagged and boarded, at the bargain price of only $459.99.
"Seriously?" asked BRAD BREVET at Rope of Silicon. "Do people give two $h!t$ about autographs anymore to spend that kind of money? If so, more power to yah."
Available at a much lower price (free) is a shot from Empire Magazine, of Ford's Indy with Cate Blanchett's dastardly (-coiffed) Agent Spalko.
From this point, we wander into more spoilery territory. MTV has unearthed a production photo from Indiana Jones IV, depicting Indy apparently in the secret government warehouse that last was seen at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark.
This isn't as big a spoiler as most seem to think. Annie Leibovitz's Vanity Fair pic of Karen Allen & Shia LeBeouf set them in the warehouse. However, the new image set MTV's SHAWN ADLER to wondering.
"Will the Ark be the only instrument capable of destroying whatever new threat arises? Will something IN the Ark be of use to Indy in his quest? More likely, will Indy seek it out merely to protect it from falling into the hands of the villainess Cate Blanchett?"
Fans had more basic questions when LeBeouf quietly slipped the film's title to millions of TV viewers: What is it about? Which prized archaeological relic is the Crystal Skull?
"Until now we've had to guess what the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is," stated Screen Rant's NIALL BROWNE. "I must tell you though, I'm not stupid, and I was able to deduce that it involves a skull that is made of crystal. You can be amazed at my genius later..."
Meanwhile, though an official synopsis still hasn't been released, there now is some photographic evidence to support certain theories about the plot.
Two graphics floating around the 'Net feature the titular skull. They are images that Paramount and Lucasfilm don't want you to see.
"How could a photo of a crystal skull possibly be a spoiler [for] a film called Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull?" inquired an incredulous SILAS LESNICK at The IESB.
Still, consider yourself warned: the skull itself is a MAJOR plot spoiler.
JULIUSMARX at Action Figure Insider managed to get hold of a promotional poster from Takara Neduke, a Japanese company that produces necklaces and trinkets. The promo shows the upcoming "Treasures of Indiana Jones" collection, which features 1.5 inch mini PVC figures of props, relics and treasures from the movie series, including the Hovitos Fertility Idol, the Staff of Ra Headpiece, and the Ark of the Covenant from Raiders of the Lost Ark; the Sankara Stone, Indy Voodoo Doll, and Urn of Nurhachi’s Ashes from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom; the Holy Grail from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade...and what looks like an alien crystal skull.
"So obviously this has to confirm the Crystal Skull will have an alien origin like many including myself have predicted," KENT1985 at Fused Film Blog commented flatly. "What this tells me about the movie is nothing I haven’t heard already..."
But that's not all. Movieweb followed up the leaked promo pic with a shot of the "actual Crystal Skull" straight from the film.
Niall Browne suggested that, "If you think [the skull] looks human, please drop us a line here at Screen Rant so that we can: a) Try and get you some extra biology lessons, b) Make fun of you, c) Figure out where your family tree leads."
Human skull or not, is the image legit? ALEX BILLINGTON at First Showing thinks so. "MovieWeb just pulled this out of nowhere, but it looks pretty authentic. I guess we'll find out...after the first trailer is revealed."
But if the skull photo was not real, would Paramount have sent in the lawyers? MovieWeb took the pic down "by request of the studio," and Action Figure Insider removed the Japanese promo for the same reason. Screen Rant didn't even wait for the call before pulling the image, because "other sites are posting that the studio has contacted them asking them to remove it." CanMag's RYAN PARSONS posted only a portion of the skull shot, "to avoid Paramount's anvil of pain."
However, Paramount's actions are a trifle odd, since George Lucas himself pretty much confirmed the sci-fi theme in his Vanity Fair interview.
At any rate, the most controversial images still were available HERE at the time of this posting.
Among the few known facts concerning the crystal skull's role in the movie is the quest of the intrepid Doctor Jones to find the mystical item in the jungles of South America before the Soviets reach it.
Directed by Steven Spielberg from a screenplay by David Koepp & Jeff Nathanson (rumored to be based on the original script by Frank Darabont), Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull co-stars Ray Winstone, John Hurt and Jim Broadbent. It swings into a theater near you on May 22nd.
[Thanks to JARROD SARAFIN at Mania, LIAM at Empire Movies, PARM MANN at Hexus.lifestyle, and MOVIEEEFANNN at MovieWeb.]