Thompson On Hollywood

Trailer Watch: Eagle Eye

What do the movies Wanted and Eagle Eye have in common? They're fish-out-of-water scenarios that posit that an everyday schmuck --James McAvoy in one, Shia LaBeouf in the other--gets caught up in something exciting and scary involving a lot of action and danger and guns. It's the oldest trick in the book.

But the commercial recipe here is also to take a star with cred with the young male demo that opens movies (In Wanted's case, it's actually Angelina Jolie) and add them to the thriller genre mix with an older star (Wanted's Morgan Freeman, Eagle Eye's Billy Bob Thornton).

DreamWorks took this story idea by Steven Spielberg, got it written by John Glenn & Travis Adam Wright, Hillary Seitz and Dan McDermott, and when Spielberg didn't want to direct, added their Disturbia star-on-the-rise LaBeouf to the mix with his director, D. J. Caruso.

Here's the trailer for Eagle Eye, due in September.

DreamWorks should only dream that Eagle Eye does as well as Wanted--a great match of strong narrative and fab visual style that raises it above the ordinary--otherwise it's just another formula thriller.

DreamWorks Deals Are Fluid

As DreamWorks continues to seek financing for its planned reincarnation as a standalone independent company, two scenarios for the company’s future are emerging. Here's my Variety story.

Word is, DreamWorks is trying to raise $1 billion in equity and another $1 billion in debt so they can produce eight pictures a year. That would give Stacey Snider a bigger slate. And Dreamworks could allocate pictures to more than one studio, likely Paramount and Universal, so there'd be no nasty custody battle over the pics that were developed at Paramount.

What will happen, for example, to The 39 Clues, the new book DreamWorks just acquired, possibly for Spielberg to direct?

After Viacom bought DreamWorks SKG in early 2006 for $1.6 billion, Paramount and DreamWorks squabbled over credit for such hits as Dreamgirls, Norbit and Transformers. A sequel to the Michael Bay film is currently shooting, scheduled for release in summer 2009.

Raising more money would also mean that DreamWorks would not be solely involved with Indian company Reliance, whose topper, Anil Ambani (son of the industrialist on whom the Bollywood hit Guru was based), has expressed a desire for hands-on involvement with his Hollywood interests. That $500-600 million deal has not been closed. Some wonder if wily negotiator David Geffen has something else up his sleeve.

“Now India is owning DreamWorks?” asks one skeptical agency head, who questioned the idea that Spielberg would ever be willing to discuss his work with a Hollywood outsider.

Lucas is Not Returning to Directing with Red Tails

[Posted by David Cohen]

Yesterday's AP story on George Lucas's Red Tails, which is in pre-production, focused on the Tuskegee Airmen who will be the subject of the film, revealing that John Ridley is writing the script. There's been some speculation that Lucas might be returning to the director's chair.

According to Lucasfilm, Lucas is NOT directing Red Tails. As originally reported by Variety, he is an executive producer, with Rick McCallum and Charles Floyd Johnson producing. (Variety first mentioned the project back in 2006.) Ridley is writing. No other attachments yet, they say.

They have not started talking to distributors and aren't yet talking about their plans for financing. Lucas could pay for the whole thing out of his own pocket and barely miss it, but that doesn't mean he will.

Like so many other projects, they will push production back if there is a SAG strike.

And for those who are asking if a story about World War II airmen facing racism might appeal to a certain Lucas pal named Spielberg, known to have made movies that touch on African-American history and the Second World War now and then, be assured, we checked with Lucasfilm and he's never been involved with the project.

DreamWorks Looks to India, GE Loses Value

DreamWorks is nearing a financing deal with deep-pocketed Indian company Reliance, which has been looking to get into bed with Hollywood. Hollywood had expected Universal to be DreamWorks' likely future studio home, where partner Steven Spielberg has kept offices for decades.

On June 2, Peter Bart reported on his blog that DreamWorks was looking to leave Paramount and raise financing. Patrick Frater reports on Reliance and the sixth richest man in the world, Anil Ambani. Here are the LA Times and The Wall Street Journal.

The question is, who is going to be the future owner of Universal? GE's low stock price leaves the stability of Universal, which is well-run by Ron Meyer, Marc Shmuger and David Linde, in question. The studio is expecting a strong summer (led by Mummy 3, Hellboy 2 and Wanted). But that's irrelevant to Wall Street; analysts are rumbling that GE has lost so much value that the multi-conglomerate should shed some assets. Universal is the appendage that sticks out and looks like it doesn't belong with the electronic giant's other core businesses. It could be tough for Jeffrey Immelt to resist the tide of stockholders and investors who want the stock to surge again.

Immelt's the guy who lost DreamWorks in the first place by dragging his feet when Meyer could have made a deal. David Geffen then hastily took the deal to Paramount. DreamWorks was an excellent fit with Universal, which also lost Stacey Snider, then chairman of the studio under Meyer, when she followed Spielberg to Paramount. She's expected to be made a DreamWorks partner.

UPDATE: Some think that DreamWorks wants to buy Universal. But if Geffen wants to leave the business, why would he buy a major studio? Peter Bart weighs in.

Paramount Hits Overseas $1 Billion Mark

Paramount sent out a press release today (it's on the jump) proclaiming their billion dollar international gross at the the b.o., after only six months, which is a studio speed record.

But Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was a Lucasfilm production; Iron Man was Marvel; and Kung Fu Panda was DreamWorks Animation. Paramount did a great job distributing and marketing these pics, but did not make them. They will share a sliver of the rewards.

And while Nickelodeon's The Spiderwick Chronicles, Cloverfield and No Country for Old Men generated some modest returns overseas, most of the Brad Grey management team's other biggest hits have come from the DreamWorks side of the ledger--Michael Bay's Transformers and its follow-up, currently filming, are co-productions. And Mike Myers' Love Guru is not likely to be a huge overseas performer.

What happens when Spielberg and Geffen raise their big bucks (I'm hearing they're courting global funds as we speak) and split? Then it will be up to John Lesher and Brad Weston to soldier on.

Cannes Wrap: Best of Fest

1. Paolo Sorrentino's Il divo (Italy): concise, focused, accessible, fascinating and entertaining despite arcane Italian political setting, this portrait of Giulio Andreotti won the jury prize. I can't wait to see Sorrentino's next. (Il divo has no stateside distributor.)

2. Charlie Kaufman's Synecdoche, New York (USA): utterly disciplined, Kaufman did what he set out to do, brilliantly, with humor. (Still for sale in North America; Sidney Kimmel may not make back his $20 million.)

3. Steve McQueen's Hunger (UK): this masterful directorial debut deservedly won the Camera d'Or and pushes Michael Fassbender toward stardom. (IFC will distribute.)

4. Ari Folman's Waltz with Bashir (Israel): authentic and emotional, this hybrid docu-drama shows that there's a future beyond Persepolis for stylized animation in service of powerful story-telling. (SPC will release.)

5. James Gray's Two Lovers (USA): this director-on-the-rise is back on track and elicits one of Joaquin Phoenix's best perfs. (If 2929 Entertainment doesn't get the deal it's seeking, its own distrib Magnolia will release.)

6. Clint Eastwood's Changeling (USA): the only potential best picture Oscar contender at Cannes this year (among many likely foreign film candidates); Angelina Jolie should land a nom. (Universal will likely take it on the fall fest circuit.)

7. Kim Jee-Woon's The Good, The Bad and the Weird (Korea): this stunning Oriental Western homage to Eastwood and Leone boasts high-speed action like you've never seen before: think Stagecoach meets Jackie Chan meets The Road Warrior. This broad action comedy could be hugely commercial.

8. Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona (USA): thanks to Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz's entertaining hijinks, this is Allen's best film since 1997's Deconstructing Harry. With Harvey at her back, Cruz is on her way to a supporting Oscar nod.

9. James Toback's Tyson (USA): this psychologically intimate interview with an iconic figure who is not all that he seems is not just for fight fans. (SPC will release.)

10. Atom Egoyan's Adoration (Canada): yet again, brainy auteur Egoyan explores the faulty fiction of family, history and memory. (SPC picked it up before Cannes.)

11. Barry Levinson's What Just Happened? (USA): as expected, this edgy Hollywood comedy showcasing Robert DeNiro's best role in ages (channeling writer-producer Art Linson) played better in Cannes, where it should have debuted all along. (2929's own Magnolia will most likely distribute.)

Mainstream commercial triumphs:
Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (USA): Spielberg and Co. took the gamble that the movie would score at Cannes and sure enough, it did.
John Stevenson and Mark Osborne's Kung Fu Panda (USA): DreamWorks and Paramount launched yet another global animation juggernaut out of the Cannes fest, which loves Jolie and Jack Black.

Noble Failure?
Steven Soderbergh's Che (Spain): there's a potential masterpiece buried within this sprawling, unfinished bio-epic (in which Benicio del Toro delivers a subtle, non-showy performance which was rightly rewarded with the best actor Prix). Whether Soderbergh will try to find it is another question. At this point HBO would be best suited to handle the film at its current four-hour, 18-minute length.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is Good Enough

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull had its world premiere at Cannes at 1 PM May 18; the press anxiously streamed into the Lumiere early, afraid they would be shut out--and many were. Spielberg insisted on holding off so he could show the movie to the world's press all at once, which created additional pressure. Here's Tim Gray in video and in print.

But unlike The Da Vinci Code two years ago, the Cannes press were psyched to see it, whooping and whistling before the screening started. The movie unspooled without the usual Cannes logo. The first hour plays like gangbusters and is really fun. Harrison Ford has Indy down, even as a grizzled "gramps" dealing affectionately with Shia LaBeouf as a 50s greaser with a pompadour.

The answer to the question of whether Indy and Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) spawned a son is answered pretty early on and is just what you'd expect. As a femme viewer, I'd have liked more of the bicker-banter from the first installment. And the movie goes pretty much where you expect it to go--the ending is bombastic and pixilated, even if most of the fast-moving stunts are as live as Spielberg could make them. The film is directed with expert, Spielbergian precision and panache. All of the cast were fine, but I particularly enjoyed Ford and his fearsome nemesis, Cate Blanchett as a Elsa Klench Rosa Klebb-style Russian Colonel.

UPDATE: Many press left the movie early so that they could get into the press conference, where Spielberg said he was happy to come back to Cannes for the first time since E.T. in 1982, and that E.T. and Indy were the only films the fans kept asking him to do sequels to. He was the last one in, he admitted, after George Lucas and Harrison Ford, but only after the last script came in and made him see the movie that could be.

Indy 4 movie will do blockbuster boxoffice, and whatever critical brickbats are still to come, the media clapped and was polite at the press conference, which I live-streamed with a qik phone and should be somewhere on variety.com/cannes:

View As Web Page

Here's Todd McCarthy's review and Greencine's early reactions. UPDATE: Here's A.P. and Reuters.

Cannes Day Four: Vicky, Woody, Indy, Harvey and Lola

After mounting a full day of press on the 7th floor of the Carlton, Paramount threw a small press cocktail party at the Cote for Indy 4 and brought the "talent" through to meet and greet. (There will be no press at the official dinner Sunday night.) Shia LaBeouf was in no mood to share, having given non-stop round table interviews all day, up since 6 AM, he said. He did Access Hollywood on a boat, but hadn't had a chance to experience his first Cannes, really. His work wasn't over either: he was steeling himself for the Vanity Fair dinner.

Paramount took full advantage of this turbo-junket opportunity. Harrison Ford did Access Hollywood on the beach. And they got E.T., Extra and GMA, too. Karen Allen said she'd been inside rooms all day, too, except for a little walk around. Her last Cannes was for The Glass Menagerie in 1987. Here's some video.

Producer Kathleen Kennedy explained why Spielberg wanted to do all the press before they had seen the film. He really wants to try to preserve the experience for the audience, so they don't know everything before they see the movie, like it was on the first three Raiders pics. "If you learn everything, no one can get surprised anymore," said Kennedy. "You can't discover this movie until we let them discover it."

Later I took a break by going to see Technicolor's stunning digital restoration of Max Ophuls' Lola Montes as he originally intended it to be seen. His cut was restored in 1968, but Technicolor used modern technology and the help of Marcel Ophuls to bring it back to vivid, rich, saturated life. It was a delicious escape from all the Cannes madness.

On the way out the door it was pouring rain so I looked like a bedraggled mess by the time I arrived at the Weinsteins' Vicky Cristina Barcelona party on the soggy 3.14 plage, as Woody Allen and Penelope Cruz and Rebecca Hall and Bono huddled in a corner banquette. Harvey was in good spirits; this movie might catch the zeigeist right, as it delivers a light divertissement during dark times.

Cannes Watch: Indiana Jones

I saw it coming. Ever since Paramount announced that Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Kingdom of the Crystal Skull would not screen for anyone before its May 18 unveiling at Cannes (in advance of its worldwide launch May 22), I felt that Spielberg and Co. might be setting themselves up. The anticipation of this film is too great, the pressure for information is wrecking havoc on the internet. As the NYT reports, several exhibitor screenings have added to the din surrounding this film. So far the PR strategy has been to dole out interviews to press who have not yet seen it; Vanity Fair, EW, the LAT and others have played ball.

And at Cannes, select press are being invited to do interviews before the official press screening at 1 PM on May 18. This will add more pressure to the press conference that day. UPDATE: Paramount is also not throwing a party, instead sticking to a small exclusive film dinner. That's not winning them any popularity contests.

Sony learned the hard way the power of a roomful of 4000 critics waiting to find a movie wanting at Cannes with the Da Vinci Code. Moviegoers ignored their complaints and made the film a worldwide blockbuster. But the filmmakers had hoped to score a prestige win at Cannes. Ron Howard and Brian Grazer left Cannes with their egos badly bruised.

Spielberg, who is staying in one of the big yachts in the harbor, may be hoping to return to the site of his early career triumphs with Sugarland Express and E.T., which was such a huge smash at Cannes that it burnished Spielberg's profile as a star director with a special place in filmgoers' hearts. Indiana Jones is a favorite franchise returning after 18 years. It may fulfill all that is hoped for; it will certainly score a huge global opening. That's not the issue. It will be fascinating to see if Cannes gives back to Spielberg what he may be hoping to get from it.

If the audience skews older, as I suspect it will, I wonder if Paramount might not have lured more of the key younger demo by waiting to open the film after they get out of school. It's early summer days yet.

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.

Cannes Fest Lineup Includes Americans Eastwood, Soderbergh and Kaufman

The Cannes Film Fest announced its lineup Wednesday, and lo and behold, Steven Soderbergh's two Che films were included in the competition after all, as one four-hour entry. There had been some question if Soderbergh could finish the pics in time. Clint Eastwood's The Changeling and Charlie Kaufman's directorial debut Synecdoche, New York are the three American films in the competition. Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and DreamWorks Animation's Kung Fu Panda will show out of competition. Spielberg will return to the Croisette for the first time since The Color Purple in 1986. New films from Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Walter Salles, Wim Wenders and Atom Egoyan will also be in competition. The opening and closing films have not been announced--Fernando Meirelles' Blindness, an Agnes Varda doc and Barry Levison's What Just Happened? were expected to be in the line-up.

Sean Penn will lead the main jury, comprised of Sergio Castellitto, Natalie Portman, Alfonso Cuaron, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Alexandra Maria Lara, and Rachid Bouchareb. UPDATE: Penn has programmed a U.S. film by Alison Thompson, The Third Wave, as a special jury president presentation. Interestingly, Penn won an Oscar for Mystic River under the direction of competition director Eastwood, so that complicates the jury/competition dynamic just a tad.

Americans Abel Ferrara, Kelly Reichert and James Toback have films in the official Un Certain Regard selection, while David Lynch sprig Jennifer Lynch of Boxing Helena fame is in the midnight category.

The full line-up is on the jump:

Stateside, the Tribeca Film Fest kicked off Wednesday night in New York with Tina Fey's comedy Baby Mama. Still to unspool are David Mamet's jujitsu drama Redbelt, Errol Morris's Abu Ghraib doc Standard Operating Procedure and the Wachowski's family FX adventure Speed Racer.

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.

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.

Spielberg To Direct First Tintin?

According to Gollum actor Andy Serkis, Steven Spielberg is planning to direct the first Tintin adaptation, while Peter Jackson would do the second.

They had planned on three back-to-back features based on Georges Remi's beloved Belgian comic-strip hero Tintin for DreamWorks. Pics will be produced in full digital 3-D using performance capture technology.

Spielberg May Reunite with Semel

Ex-Yahoo chief Terry Semel has long been close with Steven Spielberg, ever since the studio exec's long tenure running Warner Bros. with Bob Daly. So it makes sense that he and Spielberg would co-venture on a tech start-up like Ghosts, Spielberg's planned social network centered around UFOs, paranormal activity and extraterrestrials, per Tech Crunch.

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....

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.]

Spielberg Will Wait A Year for Globes Kudos

As part of the fallout from the cancelled Golden Globes award banquet, Steven Spielberg will sit this one out and accept his Cecil B. DeMille award from them a year from now.

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.

DreamWorks, Universal Spin Stories

The reaction to Saturday's NYT story about DreamWorks negotiating to move to Universal is fascinating. If you look beyond the question of who's spinning who, obviously someone with an agenda tipped Sharon Waxman (who has been on book leave and is scheduled to return to the NYT's metro desk in January). But her story (co-bylined with Brooks Barnes) did little to advance the DreamWorks cause. Here's Variety's take.

Mssrs. Spielberg, Geffen and Katzenberg don't want to be perceived as beggars going around from studio to studio with hats in hand. They see themselves as mighty and powerful players. But the day they sold DreamWorks, library and all, they stopped being owners and became another top-of-the-line production entity not unlike Universal's own Imagine Entertainment. (The word studio gets thrown around a lot these days. It used to mean a lot with soundstages and if you were a "major," you owned theaters.) My sense is that DreamWorks would rather be back at Universal, where Spielberg still keeps his offices, than anywhere else, although Geffen has been talking to both Fox and Universal. But DreamWorks is asking for a studio to give them hundreds of millions of dollars with which to make movies. (And is there room for two 500-pound gorillas on the Universal lot? Here's the latest puff piece on Brian Grazer, riding high off American Gangster, in the NYT.)

So why not raise their own production funding? That would give DreamWorks more of the autonomy they so seriously crave. These men are beyond wealthy, and are accustomed to living large at the top of the Hollywood pyramid (without spending their own money). The question is, who's going to be willing to pay them to do that?