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George Lucas Promises 'Indiana Jones 5' With More Unified, Progressive Spirit of Audience- Loathing
Posted by STV at 7:00 AM on July 30, 2008
Look, just because we want to see the guy locked up for crimes against our (and most others') childhoods doesn't mean we despise George Lucas. We're getting there, of course, but there's no denying that beneath that wavy tuft of white hair and sprawling wattle is a thoughtful, brilliant, self-made billionaire whose accomplishments as a single father aren't far behind those of the Star Wars franchise he clearly so yearns to destroy.
Which is why a revealing London Times profile of Lucas has us so torn today. Yes, we can accept Lucas's preoccupation with raising a female cagefighter by himself as a likely contributor to Howard the Duck's downfall. Fine. But, no — no, no, no — we cannot believe he actually thinks Indiana Jones 5 is an idea worth squabbling over with anyone, let alone Steven Spielberg:
Really, though, [Indiana Jones 4] was a challenge getting the story together and getting everybody to agree on it. Indiana Jones only becomes complicated when you have another two people saying 'I want it this way' and 'I want it that way', whereas, when I first did Jones, I just said, 'We'll do it this way' -- and that was much easier. But now I have to accommodate everybody, because they are all big, successful guys, too, so it's a little hard on a practical level.
"If I can come up with another idea that they like, we'll do another. Really, with the last one, Steven wasn't that enthusiastic. I was trying to persuade him. But now Steve is more amenable to doing another one. Yet we still have the issues about the direction we'd like to take. I'm in the future; Steven's in the past. He's trying to drag it back to the way they were, I'm trying to push it to a whole different place. So, still we have a sort of tension. This recent one came out of that. It's kind of a hybrid of our own two ideas, so we'll see where we are able to take the next one."
Wow. Just as we think that's a thinly veiled acknowledgment of the film's inarguable awfulness, we know it portends a billionaire battle royale between Spielberg's hoary throwbacks and Lucas's planned '70s-era LeBeouf showcase Indiana Jones and the Doomed Left At LaBrea. With another trillion at stake (give or take; according to the still-active Indiana Jones PlunderWatch Ticker™), here's hoping for an inevitable resolution we can all tolerate through nubby, ground teeth.
- George Lucas: Mr. Emperor strikes back [Sunday Times]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
Lapinot
Posted 9:25 AM 30/7/08
@Lapinot: Which isn't to say there weren't things I'd have changed. But for me it was a hugely enjoyable (enjoyable in italics) film and I was humming the theme and smiling to myself for days afterwards. Typing this I am again.
Duuuh-duh-duuh-DUUUUUUH-duuuh-duh-duuuh...
Lapinot
Cam/ron
Posted 9:23 AM 30/7/08
Sorry:
+ Watch video
Cam/ron
Cam/ron
Posted 9:22 AM 30/7/08
@Mel Gibstein: "That being said, what happened to Lucas doing "small art-house films that no one wants to see", which is what he said in every press interview for Revenge of the Sith?"
+ Watch video
Cam/ron
Lapinot
Posted 9:19 AM 30/7/08
I thought that most of those who didn't like Indy 4 were those who'd forgotten what they'd seen in the first three.
Lapinot
Huge Tracts of Land
Posted 9:04 AM 30/7/08
@WGARefugee: Mmmmm delicious future-Statham-sex. Lucas doesn't have it in him to be so awesome.
Huge Tracts of Land
WGARefugee
Posted 8:55 AM 30/7/08
Personally, I'd prefer a THX 1138 remake with Jason Statham. I can't even bring myself to watch Indy 4 on DVD.
WGARefugee
Mel Gibstein
Posted 7:50 AM 30/7/08
Indy 4 was a steaming pile of monkey shit. It was lazy, recycled garbage. I thought that in the hands of Spielberg at the helm, it would at least be solid. It ended up being far worse than any of the Star Wars prequels. I can't see anyone liking it unless they had not seen the previous three.
That being said, what happened to Lucas doing "small art-house films that no one wants to see", which is what he said in every press interview for Revenge of the Sith?
Mel Gibstein
Cam/ron
Posted 7:46 AM 30/7/08
"There will even be a scene where HIS alter-ego picks up a hot stranger off the street."
Damnit, is it 5pm yet?
Cam/ron
kookla
Posted 7:45 AM 30/7/08
@Benovite: Hear, hear!!
But, part of me would like to see Mutt Lange and his bionic hand fight the Nazis. I'm just sayin...
kookla
Cam/ron
Posted 7:44 AM 30/7/08
I look forward to the straight-to-DVD sequel about Indy's adventures with the CGI monkey gang that helped him beat the Ruskies. It'll be the "Ewok Adventure" of the 00's!
@Benovite: Lucas actually wrote a fine script that'll be based on his Modesto childhood about high school grads who come of age during their last night of cruising. There will even be a scene where this alter-ego picks up a hot stranger off the street.
Cam/ron
Huge Tracts of Land
Posted 7:37 AM 30/7/08
Ha, I was just perusing the "facts" on G. Lucas on IMDB. This cracked me up: "Conceived Indiana Jones while on vacation with his friend Steven Spielberg in Hawaii. Lucas decided to produce while Spielberg would direct."
It makes it sound like they had nerdboy relations.
Huge Tracts of Land
Lapinot
Posted 7:33 AM 30/7/08
I argue that Indy 4 was a delight.
I like the sound of the F1 film, too, although the only way for it to be on a par with Grand Prix is if Françoise Hardy is in it (the addition of Jacques Dutronc would make it superior).
Lapinot
Benovite
Posted 7:11 AM 30/7/08
"If I can come up with another idea that they like, we'll do another."
How about getting off your fat creative glut and making a movie that has nothing to do with Star Wars or Indiana Jones.
(I wanna see Lucas make a formula 1 racing movie on par with 1966's Grand Prix)
Benovite
Huge Tracts of Land
Posted 7:08 AM 30/7/08
Oh what I wouldn't give for a lead-lined refrigerator and some atomic testing for this thickly jowled uninspired manboy.
Huge Tracts of Land
raincoaster
Posted 6:42 PM 30/7/08
What about an Indiana Jones/Fort Apache, The Bronx kind of mashup thingy? Indy and Snake?
raincoaster
regisgoat
Posted 10:05 PM 30/7/08
Maybe Indiana Jones 5 should be made out of animated zwinkies, just like this upcoming and utterly crap Star Wars movie.
regisgoat
Benovite
Posted 1:26 AM 31/7/08
@Lapinot: No, I agree with Mel Gibstein. It was pretty much an old farts version of a wannabe Indy movie. Certainly a compilation of previous Indy moments.
I'm a big fan of Lucas and Spielberg and I still maintain that I like the Star Wars prequels(and I like A.I.).
But what I saw in Indy was unadulterated crap. The ONLY moment I enjoyed was when Indy was brought into the 1950's house that was about to be nuked because we finally saw Indy in a new environment. Everything else was downhill.
I mean the opening sequence where he's blowing gun powder and such to find the magnetized box? Are you fucking kidding me?
I got tired of looking at his old ass sagging mug on the big screen too. Waaay too many close-ups.
Indy 4 markes a sad milestone for me. It'll be the first Lucas/Spielberg movie I genuinely don't care to download and/or own.
Benovite