Son of Indiana Jones? Indy IV
February 20th, 2007 by EoinSo it appears the Indiana Jones IV project is to start filming in 2007 and looks like it’s going to happen. While I’d happily watch another film as good as the original trilogy, I doubt a 4th film can do anything but take from the memories of the originals in much the same way as the Star Wars Prequels took from the original trilogy. For starters Harrison Ford isn’t getting any younger and who wants to see anyone else play the part?
To add to my fears for this project there has been a persistent rumour that Indy is to get another family member. The most persistent of these rumours has been that he has a son by Marion, his love interest in 1981’s Raiders Of The Lost Ark. There was talk at one point that Karen Allen would reprise her role. No casting has been confirmed or even openly negotiated so nobody really knows yet.
Moriarty at Ain’t It Cool says he read a recent draft of Indy IV and that there were no additional family members in it. He goes on to say that the draft he read has since been thrown out and that David Koepp has written a new one that Dreamworks are happy with (the Indy franchise was always a LucasFilm project so I wonder about the Dreamworks link. Maybe it’s both?).
The son rumour has gathered credibilty now and Shia La Beouf has been strongly linked to the part. I had no idea who he was either but he’s working on a few high-profile projects (two of which are Spielberg productions) at the moment so it looks like somebody likes him. At 20 going on 21 he’s about the right age for the part.
Hopefully either Ford, Spielberg or Lucas will have scheduling problems and the project will be terminated. After all, Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade was called that for a reason!
Entries (RSS)
February 20th, 2007 at 12:34 pm
I just cant belive they haven’t even started it yet, I mean with all the talk about it . I love Harrison Ford but I saw him in a film with Ann Heche? Two nights and two days or something like that and he was awfull .Just badly cast , too old to be a love interest for Ann Heche. Anyway it was cringey and that was about five years ago. So as long as he plays the old man that he is I’ll be happy to watch. Thats what I love about Jack Nicholson, he keeps it real.
February 21st, 2007 at 1:45 am
Ya, the once VERY bankable Harrison Ford is going through a bit of a rough patch at the moment. It probably is time he accepted the limitations of his age, but with Sean Connery to learn from and another Indiana Jones movie in the pipeline it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen any time soon.
He should do a political thriller (one that doesn’t involve him running). That’d kick-start his career.
March 9th, 2007 at 2:47 am
You heard it here second.
April 7th, 2007 at 9:59 pm
[...] As a follow up to my previous post - and apologies for being slow with this news - Cate Blanchet and Ray Winston are to star in the new Indiana Jones movie. Having recently seen Sexy Beast and knowing for some time that Cate Blanchet is an excellent actress, I am now feeling a bit more positive about the whole project. Of course George Lucas saying that Harrison Ford would play his age was good news too. [...]
April 10th, 2007 at 4:14 pm
Shia LaBeouf has been talking to Ain’t It Cool. He says the talk of him being in Indy 4 is just a rumour but he’d be into it if he was offered the part.
April 11th, 2007 at 5:22 pm
Harrison is definitely too old. But maybe, just maybe, it SHOULD be recast. Anyone else feeling Sean Bean as Indy?!? He could do it!! SJ
April 11th, 2007 at 6:29 pm
Sorry Sara Jane, but NO! The part should not be re-cast. If Ford is too old, and I agree he probably is, the whole project should be scrapped.
No way could I see Sean Bean doing it if they did re-cast it.
April 12th, 2007 at 1:54 pm
Yes but how many people reacted like that when they first talked about replacing Sean Connery as James Bond. If there was a modern, non-superhero, character that is franchiseable then surely it’s Indiana Jones. Hard to swallow at first but, in the end, a good film is a good film and people would get used to it.
April 12th, 2007 at 7:43 pm
The difference here is though that it’s been 8 years since the last Indiana Jones movie. Roger Moore took over right on the back on Sean Connery’s films and so the public were still in a ‘James Bond’ place. This Indiana Jones film will have to convince the public that they still want to see an Indiana Jones movie and convincing them they want to see someone else playing the part on top of that would be too much. Also the ability of James Bond franchise to continue with new actors is unique in the history of cinema.
Either way there’s no talk of Spielberg or Lucas considering anyone other than Ford and he’s already signed his contract to reprise the role. All that remains to be seen is if they can pull it off after what will by then be a 9 year break. If they ditch the son idea they’ve got a shot.
April 13th, 2007 at 12:50 am
Yes or they could think it’s been 8 years so we can start thinking about winning over a whole new audience - easier to do with a lead character that has the vibrance of the original movies than a 60 year old playing his age. Yes, the James Bond franchise is unique but the point I was making is that if any character was capable of doing the same it’s Indiana Jones. And remeber there was, I believe, a couple of times where the Bond franchise went on fairly prolonged hiatus.
April 13th, 2007 at 12:57 am
Yes the 8 year break does give them that option but they might as well come up with a new character and tell Indiana Jones style stories with him.
If you were to re-cast Indiana Jones though who would it be?
April 13th, 2007 at 2:18 pm
What? Like The Mummy? Because, obviously, it’s the difference between creating a franchise and making an unimaginative rip-off.
Sean Bean might actually work but, importantly, whoever you choose should not be more famous than the role. Maybe look to television, the guy who plays Jack on Lost has potential.
Damn you for asking. I’ll be thinking about it now for the whole weekend.
April 13th, 2007 at 6:53 pm
I would argue that the big difference between The Mummy and Indiana Jones is Harrison Ford and that re-casting it would turn Indiana Jones into a poor imitation of itself. I know it’s got a great director too but I think at this stage Ford, Spielberg and Lucas are a package deal when it comes to Indiana Jones.
I can’t see Sean Bean pulling it off, but then I can’t see him making very many parts work. I agree that it needs to be a lesser known name or complete unknown. I just feel that Harrison Ford IS Indiana Jones and without him what would be the point.
Sorry for interfering with your weekend plans! ;P
April 13th, 2007 at 7:06 pm
Shia’s in
April 14th, 2007 at 1:08 am
No, the big difference between The Mummy and Indiana Jones was the script.
Your argument is entirely valid if all you want to do is make the last Indiana Jones movie - in which you keep Ford because you’re playing, largely, to a particular familiar audience. It is, by the way, almost certainly doomed to failure but that’s not the point. What I’m saying is Indiana Jones is a character, set in a historical quasi-mythological comic book boys own realm, that has the potential to be franchised. It would call, almost entirely, for the complete neglect of the pre-conceptions of afficianados like yourself.
It won’t happen and it would be a huge risk if they did try it but since they’ve already flahed the idea up the ass by now, why not give it a shot.