Just how did the “Indy” visual effects team make the effects look so real?  What exactly did they do to create the world of “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”?

The Hollywood Reporter’s article Indiana Jones and the Digital FX by Carolyn Giardina answers those questions and more in her short piece about the sophisticated techniques Industrial Light & Magic applied to the picture.

 

 

“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” continues mining the box office with an estimated $126 million since its opening on Thursday.

The total brought in so far includes an estimated $101 million in Friday-Sunday box office revenue, which followed a first-day Thursday total of $25 million. Monday looks like another $25 million. thus giving first Indy sequel in 19 years a five-day total of $151 million.

 

“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” excavated $31 million on its second day at the box office generating a two-day gross of $56 million.

As mentioned here on Friday, “Indy” opened Thursday to $25 million, giving a rise to an opening day record for both director Steven Spielberg and headliner Harrison Ford according to Rentrak Theatrical via Variety.

Disney’s “Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” placed second on Friday after registering a 66% wane from its opening day a week ago. “Caspian” collected $6.6 million off 3,929 raising its eight-day total to $74.6 million.

It’s a monumental thing to do, reviving a long gone and successful franchise. And while if anyone could do it, it was Spielberg, the initial opinion of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was wary. What do you expect when the producer announces that people should have low expectations for the film? Indeed, when the first “amateur” review came out blasting the film, things weren’t looking good. And yet, the film received a standing ovation at Cannes. There is without doubt a split over the film, but is it nostalgia that is making people love it more than they should, or hate it as if it’s blasphemy.

Well, Indiana Jones 4 is by no means an awful film. There are some exciting action sequences (especially the car chase through Indy’s campus), and a few visual gags. Harrison Ford starts off a little uncomfortable but settles back into the role nicely. But, to those of you who regard the other films as some of the best ever made (and they are), there’s going to be some level of disappointment. Disregarding the plot, which may put some people off, there’s some scripting issues that really stand out, plus an excessive use of CGI, that will certainly spoil the experience for die-hard fans. If you’re interested in a more in-depth analysis (involving a plot spoiler or two), read on. READ ON »

 

“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” started the weekend on Thursday at 12:01 a.m. Thursday and brought in $25 million in its first day of release.

The return of the swashbuckling, wisecracking archaeologist who hates snakes will open up to more than 12,000 screens internationally, possibly hitting 16,000 theaters including the US.

According to Hollywood Reporter, Spielberg’s sequel is unlikely to beat the record five-day opening of buddy and “Indy” creator/executive producer George Lucas’ “Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith,” which bowed on Memorial Day weekend in 2005 to $173 million, according to Nielsen EDI. (“Sith” also holds the record for the biggest Thursday opening, with $50 million on 600 fewer screens than “Indy.”)

 

Entertainment Weekly posted a wonderful interview with Shia LaBeouf about his turn opposite Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Shia LaBeouf has risen to become a certifiable It Boy in Hollywood. The 21-year-old former Disney Channel star (who scored hits last year with Disturbia and Transformers) is anchoring not just the next Transformers film, but possibly further Indy sequels as well – movies that could make him less a sidekick and more a full-blown adventurer in his own right. (Not that anybody’s doing anything but talking speculatively at this point.) EW.com caught up with LaBeouf to talk about working with Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, the unique perils of cigarette smoking, dirty on-set pranks, and what it’s like playing a 1950s greaser…when you weren’t even born until 1986.

 

In the Vanity Fair article about “Indian Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” George Lucas and Steven Spielberg agreed that the critics would not like their movie.  It appears that they were correct; yet, the critics at Cannes are much kinder than Lucas and Spielberg imagined.  Take a look at the Hollywood Reporter’s review by Kirk Honeycott and Variety’s review by Todd MCCarthy.

Honeycott seems to dislike the movie more than McCarthy.  To me McCarthy clearly likes the film while offering praise to Karen Allen, which I think she deserves.

Read the reviews for yourself and please post your thoughts. 

I am sure, as I know you are, “Indiana Jones” is going to score big time next week at the box office.   

 

While on tour promoting “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” Steven Spielberg told German magazine FOCUS, he plans to put his attention on a huge project about President Lincoln and the Civil War. Filming could start early next year.

However, Spielberg plans to shoot “Tintin” in early fall first. It looks like back-to-back projects.

Keep in mind that the director has another project in the wings as well. He been prepping the Aaron Sorkin-scripted “The Trial of the Chicago Seven,” but, according to Variety, that became sketchy after he could not get rewrites during the writer’s strike. Spielberg had enlisted Sacha Baron Cohen and talked to other high profile actors about starring in a drama about the trial of anti-Vietnam war protesters at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. That film will have to wait.

The Lincoln project looks like a sure thing after “Tintin” and could be ready for an early 2009 shoot because of several variables: Spielberg has proved adept at shooting back-to-back films, which he did most memorably when he made “Jurassic Park” and the Oscar-winning “Schindler’s List” in 1993. Also, his Lincoln project — informed by the biography by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin’s “The Uniter: The Genius of Abraham Lincoln” — has a strong script by “Angels in America” playwright Tony Kushner (who rewrote “Munich” for Spielberg).

Spielberg also has Liam Neeson –who played Oskar Schindler — ready to play Lincoln. Neeson agreed more than three years ago to play the role for Spielberg, and has been waiting for a start date.

Variety’s article about Karen Allen’s return to “Indiana Jones” franchise by David S. Cohen is quite charming, warm and entertaining. It’s hard to believe that 19 years has gone by since the last “Indiana Jones” movie.  Karen Allen was in the first, “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” creating a Tracy-Hepburn feel to the serial genre of Lucas and Spielberg.  At the time, no one was aware of the huge impact of the film, looking back, its quite magical.

With the May 22nd opening of “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” I recommend reading this article to reflect on the formative years of “Indiana” and the new and more wise renewal of “Indiana” today.