I Knew You’d Come Walking Back Through My Door.

If you didn’t already know, a new Indiana Jones movie is currently being filmed and is set to be released on Memorial Day 2008. This franchise is my favorite of all time, and the news was like an old friend coming back into my life. Which is probably why I have so few. Yes, yes – my nerdery is on full display today – but I’m not ashamed and I don’t apologize. By all accounts this film is being taken very seriously by the original directors and cast, and I will be very surprised if Spielberg drops the idol. As I have maniacally scanned the interwebnets looking for Indy 4 Rumors and news, I collected them all in one place. If you’re curious, have a read, and here are a few highpoints:

– Shia Lebouef plays Indy’s son.
– There will be very little computer animation to keep the film visually congruent with the first three Indy films.
– I’m 99% certain the official title will be “Indiana Jones and the City of Gods”.
– Marion (Karen Allen) returns and has a big role.
– Indy’s sidekick is played by one of my favorite actors, Ray Winstone.
– Area 51 and alien artifacts play a big role in the plot, and the villainous Nazis are all but replaced by the more appropriate (the film is set in 1957) Russians.
– Cate Blanchett plays a Russian adversary.
– Sallah and Henry Jones are not returning.
– Filming has so far taken place in Hawaii (doubling for South America), Connecticut (Yale) and Nevada (Area 51).
– The story is rumored to come full circle with Raiders, even eventually involving the Lost Ark of the Covenant.
– I may never sleep with a woman again.

Several videos have been released from the set, one of which was a live feed for attendees of ComicCon this past month. Most of the principal actors join Spielberg in costume for a chat about the new film. This was also the first time it was officially announced that Marion Ravenwood would be making her return…

18 years after the Last Crusade the principals have finally managed to get their schedules in order, and a script they’re all happy with. There were half a dozen rewrites and many arguments between Ford, Lucas and Spielberg along the way. I always paid attention to the movie geek rumor sites, and never thought they’d get it underway. That tells me that the pieces are in place for something special, and I’m going to stay excited and optimistic until I’m proven otherwise. If you’d have told me a couple of years ago that the Pixies were going to reunite, and there’d be a 4th Indy film, I think my head would have pulled a Belloq.

If Indiana Jones 4 proves as popular and as well made as Raiders, Temple of Doom and Last Crusade – we’ll be witness to a very cool piece of movie history. I am sick to death of CGI and haven’t wanted to go to the theater (with the possible exception of Die Hard 4) for many moons. Ford will be 66 years old by the time this is released, and very probably the star of the most profitable summer action movie of all time. Think about that for a second – It’s simply fantastic.