It’s not easy producing a new Indiana Jones party. The burden of the almost cultivated original trilogy, a failed fourth installment in the eyes of many fans and the urge to land a blockbuster: none of this is definitely the work on “Indiana Jones and the Call of Destiny”. just relieved. However, this is not a phenomenon that would only affect the latest installment in the series. already after”Hunter of the Lost Treasure“, which appeared in cinemas in 1981, the pressure to succeed was already noticeable after the successful first part.
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All of this pressure has led to a large number of ideas for new Indiana Jones movies being coined over the years and then scrapped for fear that they either didn’t live up to the franchise or didn’t meet the expectations of the audience that came with it. were battle. and would therefore not bring the desired financial success.
We want to introduce you to some of those “Indiana Jones” ideas that ended up not being implemented.
Indiana Jones and the haunted castle
Work on a sequel to the hit movie “Hunters of the Lost Ark” has already revealed some curious ideas about how to continue the story of the whip-wielding archaeologist. The brainstorming process between Steven Spielberg and George Lucas at the time showed that the character played by Harrison Ford was nowhere near as defined at the time as it was during subsequent adventures.
Probably the most unusual was George Lucas’ idea of having an indie adventure in a Scottish haunted castle. However, the trip to the scary corner was quickly scrapped, as Spielberg had reservations about using a similar theme in this story as in the horror hit “Poltergeist,” which he produced and which was released to theaters in 1982. Spielberg’s suggestion that the new film be moved to India eventually led to the final cut of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
Indiana Jones and the Monkey King
Incidentally, the idea of sending Jones on a haunted house adventure was considered again after the completion of “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” – but this time the archaeologist’s horror adventure again failed due to Spielberg’s veto. Gremlins author Christopher Columbus was hired to write a draft script for a possible sequel, which would see Indiana Jones meet the mythological Monkey King in Africa – but the drafts weren’t convincing…
In hindsight you must be lucky that the meeting with the Monkey King was unconvincing, in the end Lucas and Spielbergs finally agreed on the Holy Grail as MacGuffin of the third film and sent Indie along with his father – a feat of legend to the today Sean Connery – in search of the legendary artifact. The resulting “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”, in our opinion, is not only a real masterpiece of entertainment cinema, but also considered by many fans to be the best part of the series.
Aliens, goodbye and a long break
How can you top such a wild ride as “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”? Not at all, thought Spielberg, Lucas and Ford and let the franchise rest for years – after all, the adventurer’s third outing with the trademark fedora hat was a pretty good conclusion to the series.
However, in 1993, George Lucas regained his thirst for adventure and presented a concept for another film in the series, which would see the academically titled warhorse take on aliens. Lucas presented several versions of the idea, including a screenplay titled Indiana Jones and the Saucermen from Mars. However, Lucas, Spielberg and Ford could not agree on a unified creative version of a fourth film and so the popular movie character disappeared from theaters for years and only returned to cinemas around the world in 2008 in “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the crystal skull”. to return.
Rebooting with a new indie actor?
Even though “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” was not well received by all fans and critics, this sequel also made the box office ring loudly. The action-adventure grossed nearly $790 million worldwide. Not a bad catch – and so it was only a matter of time before speculation began about another sequel to the hit series, which took on new fire when Lucasfilm was bought by Disney in 2012.
What would the House of Mouse do with the popular franchise? The idea of a restart did the rounds and numerous candidates, among other things Bradley Cooper and Chris Pratt were thrown into the ring as a possible replacement for the Adventure Professor. However, these reboot plans with a new cast never materialized as Steven Spielberg announced that Harrison Ford was the only man he would consider playing Indiana Jones for as long as he directed.
Though Spielberg eventually resigned his directing post for James Mangold, Harrison Ford will swing his whip one last time in “Indiana Jones and the Call of Fate,” stepping into the role of the leather-jacketed adventurer.