Thompson On Hollywood

Cannes Watch: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Hits the Croisette

The official schedule for the Cannes Film Festival will be available online as of May 10. Here's the sked for Indy 4:

INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL Out of Competition (USA)

Press screening: Sunday 18 May / 1.00pm / Grand Théâtre Lumière

Photo-call: Sunday 18 May / 3.00pm / Palais des Festivals

Press conference: Sunday 18 May / 3.30pm / Palais des Festivals

Official screening: Sunday 18 May / 7.30pm / Grand Théâtre Lumière

Film-team:
Steven Spielberg / director
Harrison Ford / actor
Shia LeBeouf / actor
Karen Allen / actor
Cate Blanchett / actor
Ray Winstone / actor
John Hurt / actor
Jim Broadbent / actor
George Lucas / producer
Frank Marshall / producer
Kathleen Kennedy / producer

Running time: 125 minutes

INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL will be released worldwide by Paramount Pictures.

Cannes has announced its classics program, including Richard Schickel's tribute to Warner Bros., narrated by in-house star/director/producer Clint Eastwood. Early buzz on Cannes competition entry Changeling (Universal), a mystery Eastwood directed from TV writer-turned-screenwriter J. Michael Straczynski's script based on real events unfolding in the 20s, is quite good.

Summer Movies: May Boxoffice Could Surge

The 2008 boxoffice has been dismal so far, and has dipped from last year. But May is looming and with it the promise of some light and nifty summer movie nourishment. Pam McClintock predicts a boffo May boxoffice, launched by what promises to be a mighty Iron Man.

Indy 4 Advance Gossip

Don't believe anything you read about Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull based on people who have actually seen it because as far as I know, Steven Spielberg has only shown it to the Cannes Film Festival (read Todd McCarthy's story here). Yes, the movie will show in Cannes, as we initially reported, on May 18. It will screen in the states that same day, just before its global opening May 22. There will be no junket. (Jeffrey Katzenberg will also debut Kung Fu Panda in Cannes, on May 15, in the traditional DreamWorks Animation slot.)

Jeffrey Wells' source for Indiana Jones being 140 minutes is impeccable, he says: composer John Williams. Besides, Spielberg's films have been running long lately. Terminal ran over two hours at 128 minutes; Catch Me If You Can was 141 minutes; and Munich was 164 minutes long. So at least he's going backwards! Slashfilm reports the running times on the Indy films-- "Previous installments ran 115, 118, 127 minutes respectively (and in order from Raiders to Last Crusade)." UPDATE: Wells has run a correction. Producer Frank Marshall has informed Paramount that the movie is just over two hours, including credits.

This amazingly speculative Indy 4 blog post from New York's Vulture fancifully cobbles together the mere suggestion that George Lucas is downplaying the movie, so it must be as bad as Star Wars: Episode 1--The Phantom Menace. This inspires the idea that Shia LaBeouf will prove to be Indy's Jar Jar Binks! Jesus. A headline in search of a story.

By comparison, this item at CHUD is based on actual reporting. The advance buzz on Indy is getting damaging enough that Lucas and Spielberg may want to reconsider the current strategy of waiting until May 18 to show the film to everyone at once. That's a long way off.

Remember, all the controlling behavior on Munich PR only backfired. Spielberg has an old-fashioned view of marketing. He doesn't like how fast-moving everything is now. Saving up for the big reveal can backfire in a huge way, as last year's The Da Vinci Code proved at Cannes. (At least Indy 4 is not slated for opening night.) In other words, you better have the goods. UPDATE: EW talks to Lucas and Spielberg about their take on all things Indy.

Indiana Jones is Mostly CGI Free

This cool site has a feature on the production design of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which has been filmed with largely real world, as opposed to CGI, visual effects.

Polling Summer 2008: Indy 4 and Dark Knight Lead the Pack

Fandango pollsters report that their filmgoers most want to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Dark Knight during the summer of 2008.

Here are the results of Fandango.com's online nationwide survey, conducted from March 13 to March 30:

Most Anticipated Summer 2008 Movie:

1. INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL (82%)

2. THE DARK KNIGHT (42%)

3. IRON MAN (38%)

4. THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN (37%)

5. THE MUMMY: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR (30%)

6. GET SMART (29%)

7. THE INCREDIBLE HULK (22%)

8. THE UNTITLED X-FILES SEQUEL (20%)

9. SPEED RACER (19%)

10. SEX AND THE CITY (19%)

Indy 4: Good for All Indiana Jones DVD Sales

Over the spring break, my college freshman daughter Nora watched Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. And she wants to catch up with all the Indy Jones pics. Raiders of the Lost Ark came out in 1981, long before she was born. So she wants to be up to speed when the highly anticipated first installment in 18 years comes out.

Paramount is well aware. They sent to press around the country a mailer full of posters of all the Indiana Jones movies. They also sent out leather whips. Boomers saw these movies as they came out. They are fond of them, and will take their kids to the new one. Folks all over the world will be ordering the three-pic Indiana Jones DVD set before the May 22 opening --many of them from Lucasfilm's handy-dandy Indy Jones store on the Indiana Jones site, which offers the Young Indiana Jones series on DVD as well.

Paramount has posted the latest Indy 4 TV spot at the Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull website.

Tearing their hair out at Lucasfilm

The folks at Lucasfilm run a pretty tight ship when it comes to the media. But every so often Mr. Lucas himself gets loose in front of a microphone. This about "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull":

"It's just a movie. Just like the other movies. You probably have fond memories of the other movies. But if you went back and looked at them, they might not hold up the same way your memory holds up."

I can hear the groans from the Presidio all the way down here on Wilshire.

Given his comments to Entertainment Weekly last week...

... we didn't make it bigger and better, we made it exactly the same. So if you loved the other ones, you'll love this one. But if you expect to have F-14s flying under freeways — that isn't there. It's just another period adventure movie with this wacky archaeologist.

... I'm starting to wonder if it's going to be better than "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom." But hey, our intern Libby lists that as one of her three films that mean a lot to her. Kids these days. (D. Cohen)

Summer Movies: Will Indy 4 and Speed Racer be Prescription for Recession Blues?

Hollywood has historically been recession-proof. According to Time, summer popcorn movies like Indy 4 and Speed Racer will be just what America needs as it slides into recession. So why am I, the most ardent moviegoer, making more dates with friends to watch DVDs at various well-appointed home viewing rooms? It's partly because the kid I used to go to weekend movies with is in college. It is also the time of year. I have already seen most of the well-reviewed movies in release. I will be as hungry as everyone else for the big summer pics when they finally arrive, and will see them in theaters.

Sequels: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Indy 4, Dark Knight

Here's a new photo from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, due in theaters November 21.

Here's more on the final two Harry Potter movie installments and Hollywood's love affair with the sequel from CBS News:

John Hurt gives some scoop on Indiana Jones and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

At ShoWest, Christian Bale talks about The Dark Knight and Heath Ledger:

And the NYP looks into George Lucas's move into TV with Star Wars and Clone Wars, which is also going to be an animated movie.

ShoWest: Summer Preview

Every year ShoWest screens an honor reel of movies that grossed over $100-million the year before. Which of the 2008 ShoWest promo pics will be on next year's reel?

Based on what I saw and reactions gleaned, here's my best guess:

Movie that could pass $300 million: the sequel The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, which will likely improve on its predecessor with more action and more mature protagonists.

Movies that could go well past $200 million: sequels The Dark Knight, starring Christian Bale and Heath Ledger, Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, starring Harrison Ford and Shia LeBeouf, Rob Cohen's China-shot Mummy 3: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, starring Brendan Fraser, Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh, and Guillermo del Toro's epic-scale actioner Hellboy II: The Golden Army; plus non-sequels Wanted, starring Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman as assassins training rookie James McAvoy, the invulnerable Will Smith as a homeless hero in Hancock, Judd Apatow's dumb male comedy Step Brothers, starring Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly, Marvel's Iron Man, which boasts femme appeal via Robert Downey Jr. and co-star Gwenyth Paltrow, and animated family originals Kung Fu Panda (DreamWorks Animation) and Wall-E (Disney/Pixar).

Movies that could break $100 million: a remake of Marvel's The Incredible Hulk, starring Edward Norton as a thinking man's Bruce Banner; for the femme audience, a remake of the HBO classic Sex and the City, a remake of the boomer TV show Get Smart, starring Steve Carell and Ann Hathaway, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler's surrogate nightmare comedy Baby Mama, and a movie version of the Broadway musical Mamma Mia (also for musical fans); Judd Apatow factory comedies Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Pineapple Express; Ben Stiller's starry R-rated action comedy Tropic Thunder, starring Stiller, Downey, Jack Black and Steve Coogan; the frere Wachowski's adaptation of the anime classic Speed Racer, starring Emile Hirsch and Christina Ricci; and George Lucas's animated sequel Star Wars: The Clone Wars. (Am I the only one who feels a shock that the film is going out through Warners? Even though Lucasfilm controls and markets the movies and collects the lions' share of the take, I feel like all Star Wars movies are supposed to have the Fox fanfare in front of them.)

ShoWest, Young Man

I'm off to the annual exhibitor's convention in Las Vegas, ShoWest, to explore the latest in digital projection and 3D and sour candy and summer trailers and much, much more. Will Indy 4 or the Wachowskis' Speedracer (see trailer below) save the summer? Will report back.

UPDATE: The Reeler is reporting that WB's Speedracer may close Tribeca on May 6, right before its May 9 opening.

Here's Variety's ShoWest coverage. Michael Speier covers how four studios' trailers played at Monday's International Day.

Boll vs. Spielberg

Never one to resist a challenge, maverick filmmaker and headline-grabber Uwe Boll is taking on Steven Spielberg with his next release, Postal, opening the film against Indy 4 on May 23.

Indiana Jones: Three DVDs on May 13

It's no surprise that on May 13, just days before the opening of Indy 4 on summer screens, Lucasfilm and Paramount Home Entertainment will release all three Indiana Jones pics as special edition individual DVDs in a new box set. The Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) special editions boast new bonus features delving into the making of these classics and showcasing the characters, action and VFX.

All three films were originally restored and remastered in 2003. Directed by Steven Spielberg from stories by exec producer George Lucas, the three Indiana Jones movies earned six Oscars and nearly $1.2 billion worldwide. Previously available only in a trilogy box set, the three Indy Jones adventures were restored and remastered with new bonus content from Spielberg, Lucas and others who also hint about what to expect in the new installment.

The NYT breathlessly details the success of the Indy 4 trailer online. Lucasfilm and Paramount are pushing the pic on a younger generation. Boomers are already hyped.

More details on the discs are on the jump:

Indy 4 Goes to Cannes

Word is, Steven Spielberg and his cast will unveil the new Indy installment at the Cannes Palais four days before it opens worldwide.

Trailer Watch: Indy 4: The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

I'm as fond of the Indiana Jones franchise as anyone, and Harrison Ford making fun of his age when he is obviously in superb condition could be a fun running gag for boomers like me. But Lucas and Spielberg are smart enough to know that you have to throw in some new stuff to keep a series like this alive. Bringing back Karen Allen and adding Shia LaBeouf, Ray Winstone and Cate Blanchett is a good start, but....

Stallone, Willis, Ford: The Non-Aging Action Star

Think Clint Eastwood. Getting older is OK, guys.

I suspect that boomer nostalgia plays a role in the phenom of the non-aging action star, which the NYT's Dave Kehr explores with his usual elegance and insight. At a Los Lobos concert at UCLA Friday night, I was amused to recognize the club of which I was clearly a member: the jaunty middle-aged rocker in jeans and leather.

Indy 4 Photo

Here's a new scene still from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull of Ray Winstone, Shia LaBeouf, and Harrison Ford. The movie opens May 22.

Preview of 2008

Tis the season for previews of 2008.

Here's this weekend's annual LAT sneak preview of 2008.

Reelz Channel.

Jeff Sneider.

The Vanity Fair cover story on Indy 4, plus follow-up blog.

[Vanity Fair photo by Annie Leibovitz.]

Indiana Jones and the Online Marketing

Wander over to indianajones.com and you will see 1) a sophisticated Lucasfilm on-line marketing apparatus crammed with images like this new poster (complete with alien face) and video promoting the new movie, and 2) a fun assemblage of Indy wrap videos featuring Spielberg calling it quits on each of the Indy movies and offering hugs all around.

Indiana Jones: Comic-Con Live Feed

Here's a clip of the live Comic-Con feed from the set of Indiana Jones 4: this is how Spielberg announced that Karen Allen was returning to the movie, in front of 6000 fans.

Comic-Con: No One Draws Like Struzan

[Posted by Peter Debruge]
OK, for the last 48 hours, I've been pretending like I'm not really a geek, that the guys in Stormtrooper costumes are the weird ones here at Comic-Con. But yesterday, I found myself clapping loudest on the "Mist" panel for Drew Struzan, poster artist extraordinaire — and yes, that makes me a geek.

Drew's having a good Con. Earlier this week, a friend and I were bemoaning the fact that Hollywood hardly ever uses the guy who designed the iconic hand-painted posters for "Star Wars," "Indiana Jones" and "Goonies" any more. We even decided that many of "Stardust's" marketing woes (Paramount doesn't seem to know how to pitch this incredible 21st-century "Princess Bride" to audiences) would disappear if they would only hire Drew to do their poster.

So imagine our delight when, on Thursday morning, the main goodie at the Paramount panel proved to be an 8-page booklet of Drew Struzan Indiana Jones art. Granted, the most recent painting was dated 2003, but it signifies that — after Harrison Ford, the bullwhip and the fedora — Spielberg and Lucas are bringing back the most important element of the franchise. (The new "Blade Runner" turbo edition will also feature Drew Struzan art.)

And the good news only got better at that panel for "The Mist," where Drew himself shared the dias with director Frank Darabont, actors Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden and Laurie Holden, and creature effects wizards Greg Nicotero and Everett Burell. Lately, Darabont's been the one keeping the Struzan tradition alive (he painted the special-edition DVD covers for "The Shawshank Redemption" and "The Green Mile"), and he arranged for Drew to design an exclusive Comic-Con painting.

Let this be a lesson to Hollywood: Yes, we know PhotoShop can solve all your one-sheet design problems, but nothing can breathe light and life into the very idea of a movie like Drew Struzan.

Comic-Con: Karen Allen Returns to Indiana Jones 4

IndianaJones.com isn't going to let Comic-Con go by without a few major announcements:

MARION RAVENWOOD RETURNS: Actress Karen Allen is joining the cast of the upcoming "Indiana Jones" movie, reprising her role as spirited Marion Ravenwood, it was announced today during Comic-Con International in San Diego. The new movie is in production under the direction of Steven Spielberg, who is pictured here with Allen during a break in shooting in Hawaii. The upcoming "Indiana Jones" adventure is a Lucasfilm Ltd. production and is being distributed by Paramount Pictures. Frank Marshall returns as producer, with Kathleen Kennedy joining George Lucas as executive producer. It is planned for worldwide release on May 22, 2008. (Photo by David James, courtesy Lucasfilm Ltd.)

Stars Online: Willis, DiCaprio, Moore Use Web to Sell Movies

Leonardo DiCaprio, Bruce Willis, Michael Moore, Joss Whedon, Peter Jackson, Kevin Smith, Zach Braff, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg have all figured out that talking directly to the fans sells movie tickets.

Here's Michael Moore's infamous rant against CNN's Wolf Blitzer and medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta. In case you missed any of his many recent media appearances, he has helpfully posted them all on YouTube.

UPDATE: MichaelMoore.com">Moore's 7/14 Letter to CNN is on the jump:

Transformers: LaBeouf Does Vanity Fair

He's very good in Transformers. And Harrison Ford is passing the torch to the next generation in Indiana Jones 4. Here's our next every man boy star: Shia LaBeouf. I hope Hollywood doesn't spoil him too much. You have to have a good head on your shoulders to stay above the madness.

Indiana Jones 4: Spielberg Starts Shooting

The Indy 4 website posted this cool photo of Harrison Ford on the set as Indiana Jones, taken by his director, Steven Spielberg.

Sequels: Lucasfilm Lines Up Indiana Jones Promos

Lucasfilm posted this release on their Indiana Jones website on Monday morning--but they sent it to their mailing list for posting to the outside world:

Upcoming Indiana Jones Adventure to be Backed by Major Companies in Global Licensing and Promotional Program SAN FRANCISCO (June 18, 2007) – Indiana Jones, the world’s greatest action hero, returns to theaters May 22, 2008, and his newest on-screen adventures will be supported by an impressive array of leading companies as part of a broad global licensing and promotional campaign across a wide range of product categories designed to appeal to all ages. In the toy category, Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE-HAS) will develop a broad line of action figures, vehicles and role play as well as games. LEGO, the world’s best-selling construction toy brand, has also come on board as the exclusive licensee for building sets. Hallmark is on board in the greeting cards, party goods and ornaments categories, and Random House, Scholastic and DK Publishing will provide the foundation for a robust publishing program. Following their string of best-selling titles, LucasArts will support the franchise with breakthrough Indiana Jones video games that will allow players to “live” all-new Indy adventures. In addition, the upcoming Indiana Jones movie will also be supported by a strong slate of major promotional partners, including Burger King and MARS North America, with more partners to be announced soon.