When Indy rode off into the sunset in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" (1989) I sat in my seat hoping for more. "Last Crusade" was a fitting end to the Indiana Jones trilogy. The movie adhered to the old entertainment axiom, "Leave'em wanting more." And for almost twenty years Indy fans did just that - we waited for another fix of our favorite archaeologist.We endured rumors every several years that a new Indy adventure was in the works. All the principles - Ford, Lucas, and Spielberg - kept saying they were "in" for another movie, if a suitable script appeared from somewhere. Anticipation grew further when news leaked out that Frank Darabont (screenwriter of "The Green Mile" and "The Shawshank Redemption") was working on Indiana Jones IV. Talk about finding great riches - Darabont collaborating with George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, the next Indy movie would certainly be as good if not better than "Last Crusade".
1989 marched on to 1999 that crawled to 2008. Somewhere in those 19 years, Darabont's script for Indy IV ended up buried along with the Ark of the Covenant - never to be seen by human eyes ever again. What we got was "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" (2008). Sure the movie earned 787 million dollars in worldwide box office (according to Box Office Mojo), which only goes to prove how forgiving Indy fans truly are - we had waited so long that we were willing to accept whip cream on crap as a sundae. "Crystal Skull" had such an inferior storyline, it made "Temple of Doom" look good. Not even bringing back Karen Allen (as Marion Ravenwood from the original "Raiders") for a romantic reunion with Indy felt right. It was George Lucas, who didn't like Darabont's script and insisted on the alien storyline. The fridge and the nuclear blast - what a mess.
So imagine my surprise when I saw a small item on Monday (9/14/09) that was reported by Access Hollywood. Harrison Ford gave an interview to a French magazine recently in which he says another Indiana Jones movie is possible. Ford said that, "The story for the new 'Indiana Jones' is in the process of taking form." Well hopefully it takes "form" soon... Ford isn't getting any younger (he's all ready 67). If it takes as long as "Crystal Skull" did, we might see Indy using his whip to pull his wheelchair. I'll keep my fingers cross that the next Indy movie will be a better outing for one of my favorite characters and become the ultimate do-over movie. Oh, here's hoping that George Lucas decides only to produce this film. Nuff said!
