| Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull |
|
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster |
|
| Directed by | Steven Spielberg |
| Produced by | Frank Marshall George Lucas Kathleen Kennedy |
| Screenplay by | David Koepp |
| Story by | George Lucas Jeff Nathanson |
| Starring | Harrison Ford Shia LaBeouf Cate Blanchett Karen Allen Ray Winstone John Hurt Jim Broadbent |
| Music by | John Williams |
| Cinematography | Janusz Kamiński |
| Editing by | Michael Kahn |
| Studio | Lucasfilm Ltd. |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Release date(s) | May 18, 2008 (Cannes) May 22, 2008 |
| Running time | 122 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $185 million |
| Box office | $786,636,033[1] |
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a 2008 American adventure science fiction film. It is the fourth film in the Indiana Jones franchise, created by George Lucas and directed by Steven Spielberg. Released nineteen years after the previous film, the film acknowledges its star Harrison Ford's age by being set in 1957. It pays tribute to the science fiction B-movies of the era, pitting Indiana Jones against Soviet agents—led by Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett)—for a psychic alien crystal skull. Indiana is aided by his former lover Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) and Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf). Ray Winstone, John Hurt and Jim Broadbent are also part of the supporting cast.
Screenwriters Jeb Stuart, Jeffrey Boam, Frank Darabont and Jeff Nathanson wrote drafts before David Koepp's script satisfied the producers. Shooting began on June 18, 2007 and took place in various locations: New Mexico; New Haven, Connecticut; Hawaii; Fresno, California and on soundstages in Los Angeles. To keep aesthetic continuity with the previous films the crew relied on traditional stunt work instead of computer-generated stunt doubles and cinematographer Janusz Kamiński studied Douglas Slocombe's style from the previous films.
Marketing relied heavily on the public's nostalgia for the series, with products taking inspiration from all four films. Anticipation for the film was heightened by secrecy, which resulted in a legal dispute over an extra violating his non-disclosure agreement and the arrest of another man for stealing a computer containing various documents related to the production. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was released worldwide on May 22, 2008, and was a financial success, grossing over $786 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film of the franchise, the second highest-grossing film of 2008 and the third highest-grossing film ever produced by Lucasfilm when not adjusted for inflation, after Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.
Contents |
In 1957, World War II hero Indiana Jones and his long-time partner George "Mac" McHale are kidnapped by a group of Soviet agents led by the mysterious Colonel Dr. Irina Spalko. The Soviets infiltrate a warehouse labeled "51" in Nevada and force "Dr. Jones" to find a crate containing the remains of an extraterrestrial being that crashed ten years prior near Roswell, New Mexico. After finding the crate—its contents possessing magnetic properties—Mac double-crosses Indiana, having been bought off by the Soviets. After a fight with the Soviets, Indiana manages to escape into the desert (though not before the crate containing the Ark of the Covenant from Raiders of the Lost Ark is revealed in the same warehouse); he then stumbles upon a nuclear test town and survives a nuclear explosion by hiding in a lead-lined refrigerator. He is later debriefed by the FBI because of Mac's Soviet ties. Shortly after returning to Marshall College, Indiana is offered an indefinite leave of absence to avoid being fired because of the incident.
At a train station, Indiana is stopped by greaser Henry "Mutt" Williams, who tells him that his old colleague Harold Oxley was kidnapped after discovering a crystal skull in Peru. Indiana proceeds to tell Mutt the legend of a crystal skull found in the mystical city of Akator, in which whoever returns the skull to the city would be given control over its supernatural powers. Mutt gives Indiana a letter from his mother, who was also kidnapped, containing a riddle written by Oxley in an ancient Native American language, which leads them to the Nazca Lines in Peru. There they discover that Oxley was incarcerated in a psychiatric hospital, having suffered a mental breakdown from the powers of the skull, until he was kidnapped by the Soviets. In Oxley's cell, they find clues that lead them to the grave of Francisco de Orellana, a Conquistador who went missing in the 16th century while searching for Akator. They discover the skull at the grave, with Indiana reasoning that Oxley had hidden it there after finding it.
Shortly afterward, Indiana and Mutt are captured by the Soviets and taken to their camp, where they find Oxley and Mutt's mother, who turns out to be Indiana's old love, Marion Ravenwood, and reveals that Mutt is Indiana's son, Henry Jones III. Spalko believes that the crystal skull belongs to an interdimensional being and holds great psychic power, and reveals that the specimen stolen from the warehouse is also a crystal skull. She also believes that returning the skull to Akator will grant the Soviets the advantage of psychic warfare. Indiana, Marion, Mutt and Oxley manage to escape from the Soviets into the Amazon; however, they are recaptured after Indiana falls into a swamp and Oxley fetches the Soviets for help, and with their hands tied taken to the city temple through the Rainforest. Marion and Indiana argue so much that the Soviet guard finally gags Marion with a cloth. However, Indiana and Mutt manage to overpower him while he does this. Indiana frees himself with a hidden knife of Mutt's. He ungags Marion, then Mutt frees her while Indiana throws out the driver. A fight ensues (displaying Spalko's fencing prowess), but only after evading the Soviets again during a brush with siafu ants, negotiating three waterfalls in a duck, and nearly being killed by an elusive tribe living in the long-abandoned city, are they able to enter the temple. Mac, who claims to be a double agent (to Indiana's bewilderment, questioning his loyalty), secretly leaves a trail for the Soviets to follow.
Inside the temple, they find artifacts from several ancient civilizations. Indiana deduces that the creatures were kindred spirits; they too were "archaeologists" studying the different cultures of Earth. The five enter a chamber containing the crystal skeletons of thirteen interdimensional beings seated on thrones in a circle, one missing a skull. After the Soviets arrive, Spalko places the skull onto the headless skeleton. They begin communicating to the group through Oxley in an ancient dialect, promising to reward them with a "big gift"; Spalko approaches them and demands to "know everything". The skeletons grant her request and psychically transfer their collective knowledge into her mind, activating a portal to another dimension. Indiana, Marion, Mutt and the now-sane Oxley escape the temple, but Mac and the other Soviets are sucked into the portal. The skeletons, meanwhile, combine to form a single living interdimensional being which overwhelms Spalko, causing her to disintegrate; her scattered essence is then drawn into the portal. The temple crumbles and reveals a massive fast-spinning flying saucer slowly rising from the debris (thought to be buried for millennia, the aliens "instructing" the human ancestors to build a city on top of it to hide it from plain sight); the survivors watch as it hovers in the atmosphere, defying the laws of physics and disappears into the cosmos in a split second, the "space between spaces". Indiana, amazed by the spectacle but also overwhelmed by the sudden turn of events, is now happily reconciled with his new family.
Not long afterward, Indiana, now reinstated and made an associate dean at Marshall College, marries Marion. At the wedding's conclusion, a sudden wind bursts through the church doors and blows Indiana's hat onto the floor at Mutt's feet. Mutt picks it up and is about to place it on his head, only to have his father grab and put it on as he and his wife walk down the aisle.
Joel Stoffer and Neil Flynn have minor roles as FBI agents interrogating Indiana in a scene following the opening sequence. Alan Dale plays General Ross, who protests his innocence. Andrew Divoff and Pavel Lychnikoff play Russian soldiers. Spielberg cast Russian-speaking actors as Russian soldiers so their accents would be authentic.[9] Dimitri Diatchenko plays Spalko's right hand man who battles Indiana at Marshall College. Diatchenko bulked up to 250 pounds to look menacing, and his role was originally minor with ten days of filming. When shooting the fight, Ford accidentally hit his chin, and Spielberg liked Diatchenko's humorous looking reaction, so he expanded his role to three months of filming.[31] Ernie Reyes, Jr. plays a cemetery guard.
Sean Connery turned down an offer to reprise his role as Henry Jones, Sr., as he found retirement too enjoyable.[32] Lucas stated that in hindsight it was good that Connery did not briefly appear, as it would disappoint the audience when his character would not come along for the film's adventure.[33] Ford joked, "I'm old enough to play my own father in this one."[5] The film addresses Connery's absence by Indiana mentioning that both Henry, Sr. and Marcus Brody died before the events of this movie. Connery later stated that he liked the film, describing it as "rather good and rather long."[34] John Rhys-Davies was asked to reprise his role as Sallah as a guest in the wedding scene. He turned it down as he felt his character deserved a more substantial role.[35]
The second draft's prologue is set in Borneo in 1949, with Indiana proposing to Dr. Elaine McGregor after defeating pirates. She abandons him at the altar, because the government requests her aid in decoding an alien cylinder (covered in Egyptian, Mayan and Sanskrit symbols) in New Mexico. Indiana pursues her, and battles Russians agents and aliens for the cylinder.
The script featured army ants, a rocket sled fight, Indiana surviving an atomic explosion by sealing himself in a fridge, and a climactic battle between the US military and flying saucers. Henry Jones, Sr., Short Round, Sallah, Marion Ravenwood and Willie cameo at Indiana and Elaine's wedding(s). Indiana is also a former colonel and was assigned to the OSS during World War II.[36]During the late 1970s, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg made a deal with Paramount Pictures for five Indiana Jones films.[37] Following the 1989 release of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Lucas let the series end as he felt he could not think of a good plot device to drive the next installment, and chose instead to produce The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles for TV, which explored the character in his early years.[11] Harrison Ford played Indiana in one episode, narrating his adventures in 1920 Chicago. When Lucas shot Ford's role in December 1992, he realized the scene opened up the possibility of a film with an older Indiana set in the 1950s. The film could reflect a science fiction 1950s B-movie, with aliens as the plot device.[11] Meanwhile, Spielberg believed he was going to "mature" as a filmmaker after making the trilogy, and felt he would just produce any future installments.[12]
Ford disliked the new angle, telling Lucas, "No way am I being in a Steven Spielberg movie like that."[22] Spielberg himself, who depicted aliens in Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, resisted it. Lucas came up with a story, which Jeb Stuart turned into a script from October 1993 to May 1994.[11] (Stuart had previously written The Fugitive, which starred Ford.) Lucas wanted Indiana to get married, which would allow Henry Jones, Sr. to return, expressing concern over whether his son is happy with what he has accomplished. After he learned that Joseph Stalin was interested in psychic warfare, he decided to have Russians as the villains and the aliens to have psychic powers.[38] Following Stuart's next draft, Lucas hired Last Crusade writer Jeffrey Boam to write the next three versions, the last of which was completed in March 1996. Three months later, Independence Day was released, and Spielberg told Lucas he would not make another alien invasion film. Lucas decided to focus on the Star Wars prequels.[11]
In 2000, Spielberg's son asked when the next Indiana Jones film would be released, which made him interested in reviving the project.[39] The same year, Ford, Lucas, Spielberg, Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy met during the American Film Institute's tribute to Ford, and decided they wanted to enjoy the experience of making an Indiana Jones film again. Spielberg also found returning to the series a respite from his many dark films during this period, such as A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, Minority Report, and Munich.[23] Lucas convinced Spielberg to use aliens in the plot by saying they were not "extraterrestrials," but "interdimensional," with this concept taking inspiration in the superstring theory.[12] Spielberg and Lucas discussed the central idea of a B-movie involving aliens, and Lucas suggested using the crystal skulls to ground the idea. Lucas found those artifacts as fascinating as the Ark of the Covenant,[40] and had intended to feature them for a Young Indiana Jones episode before the show's cancellation.[11] M. Night Shyamalan was hired to write for an intended 2002 shoot,[39] but he was overwhelmed writing a sequel to a film he loved like Raiders of the Lost Ark, and claimed it was difficult to get Ford, Spielberg and Lucas to focus.[41] Stephen Gaghan and Tom Stoppard were also approached.[39]
Frank Darabont, who wrote various Young Indiana Jones episodes, was hired to write in May 2002.[42] His script, entitled Indiana Jones and the City of Gods,[11] was set in the 1950s, with ex-Nazis pursuing Jones.[43] Spielberg conceived the idea because of real life figures such as Juan Perón in Argentina, who protected Nazi war criminals.[11] Darabont claimed Spielberg loved the script, but Lucas had issues with it, and decided to take over writing himself.[11] Lucas and Spielberg acknowledged the 1950s setting could not ignore the Cold War, and the Russians were more plausible villains. Spielberg decided he could not satirize the Nazis after directing Schindler's List,[8] while Ford noted, "We plum[b] wore the Nazis out."[22]
Jeff Nathanson met with Spielberg and Lucas in August 2004, and turned in the next drafts in October and November 2005, titled The Atomic Ants. David Koepp continued on from there, giving his script the subtitle Destroyer of Worlds,[11] based on the J. Robert Oppenheimer quote. It was changed to Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, as Spielberg found it more inviting a title and actually named the plot device of the crystal skulls. Lucas insisted on the Kingdom part.[44] Koepp's "bright [title] idea" was Indiana Jones and the Son of Indiana Jones, and Spielberg had also considered having the title name the aliens as The Mysterians, but dropped that when he remembered that was the name of a film.[12] Koepp collaborated with Raiders of the Lost Ark screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan on the film's "love dialogue."[7]
Unlike the previous Indiana Jones films, Spielberg shot the entire film in the United States, stating he did not want to be away from his family.[45] Shooting began on June 18, 2007[15] at Deming, New Mexico.[46] An extensive chase scene set at Indiana Jones's fictional Marshall College was filmed between June 28 and July 7 at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut (where Spielberg's son Theo was studying).[46][47][48] To keep in line with the fact the story takes place in the 1950s, several facades were changed, although signs were put up in between shots to tell the public what the store or restaurant actually was.
Afterwards, they filmed scenes set in the Peruvian jungles in Hilo, Hawaii until August.[48] Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is the biggest film shot in Hawaii since Waterworld, and was estimated to generate $22 million to $45 million in the local economy.[49] Because of an approaching hurricane, Spielberg was unable to shoot a fight at a waterfall, so he sent the second unit to film shots of Brazil's and Argentina's Iguazu Falls. These were digitally combined into the fight, which was shot at the Universal backlot.[48]
Half the film was scheduled to shoot on five sound stages at Los Angeles:[50] Downey, Sony, Warner Bros., Paramount and Universal.[30] Filming moved to Chandler Field in Fresno, California, substituting for Mexico City International Airport, on October 11, 2007.[51] After shooting aerial shots of Chandler Airport and a DC-3 on the morning of October 12, 2007, filming wrapped.[52][53] Although he originally found no need for re-shoots after viewing his first cut of the film,[43] Spielberg decided to add an establishing shot, which was filmed on February 29, 2008 at Pasadena, California.[54]
Spielberg and Janusz Kamiński, who has shot all of the director's films since 1993's Schindler's List, reviewed the previous films to study Douglas Slocombe's style. "I didn’t want Janusz to modernize and bring us into the 21st century," Spielberg explained. "I still wanted the film to have a lighting style not dissimilar to the work Doug Slocombe had achieved, which meant that both Janusz and I had to swallow our pride. Janusz had to approximate another cinematographer's look, and I had to approximate this younger director's look that I thought I had moved away from after almost two decades."[40] Spielberg also hired production designer Guy Hendrix Dyas after admiring his design work for Superman Returns. Spielberg did not want to fast cut action scenes, relying on his script instead for a fast pace,[40] and had confirmed in 2002 that he would not shoot the film digitally, a format Lucas had adopted.[55] Lucas felt "it looks like it was shot three years after Last Crusade. The people, the look of it, everything. You’d never know there was 20 years between shooting."[45] Kamiński commented upon watching the three films back-to-back, he was amazed how each of them advanced technologically, but were all nevertheless consistent, neither too brightly or darkly lit.[2]
While shooting War of the Worlds in late 2004, Spielberg met with stunt coordinator Vic Armstrong, who doubled for Ford in the previous films, to discuss three action sequences he had envisioned.[56] However, Armstrong was filming The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor during shooting of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, so Dan Bradley was hired instead.[57] Bradley and Spielberg used previsualization for all the action scenes, except the motorcycle chase at Marshall College, because that idea was conceived after the animators had left. Bradley drew traditional storyboards instead, and was given free rein to create dramatic moments, just as Raiders of the Lost Ark second unit director Michael D. Moore did when filming the truck chase.[20] Spielberg improvised on set, changing the location of Mutt and Spalko's duel from the ground to on top of vehicles.[2]
The Ark of the Covenant is seen in a broken crate during the Hangar 51 opening sequence. Lucasfilm used the same prop from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Guards were hired to protect the highly-sought after piece of film memorabilia during the day of its use. A replica of the staff carried by Charlton Heston in The Ten Commandments was also used to populate the set to illustrate the Hangar's history.[44]
Producer Frank Marshall stated in 2003 that the film would use traditional stunt work so as to be consistent with the previous films.[58] CGI was used to remove the visible safety wires on the actors when they did their stunts (such as when Indy swings on a lamp with his whip).[20] Timed explosives were used for a scene where Indiana drives a truck through crates. During the take, an explosive failed to detonate and landed in the seat beside Ford. However, it did not go off and he was not injured.[59]
Steven Spielberg stated before production began that very few CGI effects would be used to maintain consistency with the other films. During filming however, significantly more CGI work was done than initially anticipated as in many cases it proved to be more practical. There ended up being a total of about 450 CGI shots in the film, with an estimated 30 percent of the film's shots containing CG matte paintings.[53] Spielberg initially wanted brushstrokes to be visible on the paintings for added consistency with the previous films, but decided against it.[22] The script also required a non-deforested jungle for a chase scene, but this would have been unsafe and much CGI work was done to create the jungle action sequence. Visual effects supervisor Pablo Helman (who worked on Lucas' Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace and Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones as well as Spielberg's War of the Worlds and Munich) traveled to Brazil and Argentina to photograph elements that were composited into the final images. Industrial Light and Magic then effectively created a virtual jungle with a geography like the real Amazon.[60]
The appearance of a live alien and flying saucer was in flux. Spielberg wanted the alien to resemble a Gray alien, and also rejected early versions of the saucer that looked "too Close Encounters". Art director Christian Alzmann said the aesthetic was "looking at a lot of older B-movie designs – but trying to make that look more real and gritty to fit in with the Indy universe." Other reference for the visual effects work included government tapes of nuclear tests, and video reference of real prairie dogs shot in 1080p by Nathan Edward Denning.[61]
John Williams began composing the score in October 2007;[62] ten days of recording sessions wrapped on March 6, 2008 at Sony Pictures Studios.[63] Williams described composing for the Indiana Jones universe again as "like sitting down and finishing a letter that you started 25 years ago". He reused Indiana's theme as well as Marion's from the first film, and also composed five new motifs for Mutt, Spalko and the skull. Williams gave Mutt's a swashbuckling feel, and homaged film noir and 1950s B-movies for Spalko and the crystal skull respectively. As an in-joke, Williams incorporated a measure and a half of Johannes Brahms' "Academic Festival Overture" when Indiana and Mutt crash into the library.[64] The soundtrack features a Continuum, an instrument often used for sound effects instead of music.[65] The Concord Music Group released the soundtrack on May 20, 2008.[66]
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 18, 2008, ahead of its worldwide May 22 release date. It was the first Spielberg film since 1982's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial to premiere at Cannes.[67] The film was released in approximately 4000 theaters in the United States, and dubbed into 25 languages for its worldwide release.[40] More than 12,000 release prints were distributed, which is the largest in Paramount Pictures' history.[68] Although Spielberg insisted his films only be watched traditionally at theaters, Paramount chose to release the film in digital cinemas as part of a scheme to convert 10,000 U.S. cinemas to the format.[69]
Frank Marshall remarked, "In today's information age, secrecy has been a real challenge. [...] People actually said, 'No, we're going to respect Steven's vision." Fans on the internet have scrutinized numerous photos and the film's promotional LEGO sets in hope of understanding plot details; Spielberg biographer Ian Freer wrote, "What Indy IV is actually about has been the great cultural guessing game of 2007/08. Yet, it has to be said, there is something refreshing about being ten weeks away from a giant blockbuster and knowing next to nothing about it."[20] To distract investigative fans from the film's title during filming,[70] five fake titles were registered with the Motion Picture Association of America; The City of Gods, The Destroyer of Worlds, The Fourth Corner of the Earth, The Lost City of Gold and The Quest for the Covenant.[71] Lucas and Spielberg had also wanted to keep Karen Allen's return a secret until the film's release, but decided to confirm it at the 2007 Comic-Con.[72]
An extra in the film, Tyler Nelson, violated his nondisclosure agreement in an interview with The Edmond Sun on September 17, 2007, which was then picked up by the mainstream media. It is unknown if he remained in the final cut.[73] At Nelson's request, The Edmond Sun subsequently pulled the story from its website.[74] On October 2, 2007, a Superior Court order was filed finding that Nelson knowingly violated the agreement. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed.[75] A number of production photos and sensitive documents pertaining to the film's production budget were also stolen from Steven Spielberg’s production office. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department set up a sting operation after being alerted by a webmaster that the thief might try to sell the photos. On October 4, 2007, the seller, 37-year old Roderick Eric Davis, was arrested. He pleaded guilty to two felony counts and was sentenced to two years and four months in prison.[20][76][77]
Howard Roffman, President of Lucas Licensing, attributed the film's large marketing campaign to it having been "nineteen years since the last film, and we are sensing a huge pent-up demand for everything Indy".[78] Paramount spent at least $150 million to promote the film,[79] whereas most film promotions range from $70 to 100 million. As well as fans, the film also needed to appeal to younger viewers.[80] Licensing deals include Expedia, Dr Pepper, Burger King, M&M's and Lunchables.[80] Paramount sponsored an Indiana Jones open wheel car for Marco Andretti in the 2008 Indianapolis 500, and his racing suit was designed to resemble Indiana Jones's outfit.[81] The distributor also paired with M&M's to sponsor the #18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, with NASCAR driver Kyle Busch behind the wheel, in the 2008 Dodge Challenger 500 at Darlington Raceway.[82] Kyle Busch and the #18 team won the race and visited victory lane with Indiana Jones on the car.[83] With the film's release, producer Frank Marshall and UNESCO worked together to promote conservation of World Heritage Sites around the world.[84][85]
The Boston-based design studio Creative Pilot created the packaging style for the film's merchandise, which merged Drew Struzan's original illustrations "with a fresh new look, which showcases the whip, a map and exotic hieroglyphic patterns".[86] Hasbro, Lego, Sideshow Collectibles, Topps, Diamond Select, Hallmark Cards,[87] and Cartamundi all sold products.[88] A THQ mobile game based on the film was released,[89] as was a Lego video game based on the past films.[90][91] Lego also released a series of computer-animated spoofs, Lego Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Brick, directed by Peder Pedersen.[92] Stern Pinball released a new Indiana Jones pinball machine, designed by John Borg, based on all four films.[93] From October 2007 to April 2008, the reedited episodes of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles were released in three DVD box sets.[94]
Random House, Dark Horse Comics, Diamond Comic Distributors, Scholastic and DK published books,[78] including James Rollins' novelization of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,[95] a two-issue comic book adaptation written by John Jackson Miller and drawn by Luke Ross (Samurai: Heaven and Earth), children's novelizations of all four films,[96] the Indiana Jones Adventures comic book series aimed at children,[97] and the official Indiana Jones Magazine.[98] Scholastic featured Indiana and Mutt on the covers of Scholastic News and Scholastic Maths, to the concern of parents, though Jack Silbert, editor of the latter, felt the film would interest children in archaeology.[80]
Disneyland hosted "Indiana Jones Summer of Hidden Mysteries" to promote the release of the film.[99]
The film was released on Blu-ray Disc and DVD in North America on October 14, 2008. This includes a two-disc edition Blu-ray; a two-disc Special Edition DVD; and a one-disc edition DVD.[100] These editions were released in the UK on November 10.[101] Among the collectible editions include; Kmart, which contains four LEGO posters parodying those of the films; Target Corporation, whose DVD has an eighty-page book of photographs; and Best Buy, whose edition contains a replica of a crystal skull created by Sideshow Collectibles.[102] As of March 1, 2009, it has made $109,296,975 in revenue.[103] It made its worldwide television premiere on USA on December 9, 2010.
| Box office revenue | Box office ranking | Reference | |||
| United States | Foreign | Worldwide | All time domestic | All time worldwide | |
| $317,101,119 | $469,534,914 | $786,636,033 | #28 | #35 | [1] |
Indiana Jones is distributed by one entity, Paramount, but owned by another, Lucasfilm. The pre-production arrangement between the two organizations granted Paramount 12.5% of the film's revenue. As the $185 million budget was larger than the original $125 million estimate,[71] Lucas, Spielberg and Ford turned down large upfront salaries so Paramount could cover the film's costs. In order for Paramount to see a profit beyond its distribution fee, the film had to make over $400 million. At that point, Lucas, Spielberg, Ford and those with smaller profit-sharing deals would also begin to collect their cut.[79]
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was released Thursday May 22 in North America and grossed $25 million its opening day.[104] In its opening weekend, the film grossed an estimated $101 million in 4,260 theaters in the United States and Canada, ranking #1 at the box office,[105] and making it the third widest opening of all time.[106] Within its first five days of release, it grossed $311 million worldwide. The film's total $151 million gross in the United States ranked it as the second biggest Memorial Day weekend release, behind Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.[107] It was the third most successful film of 2008 domestically, behind The Dark Knight and Iron Man respectively,[108] and the second highest-grossing film of 2008 internationally, behind The Dark Knight.[109] In February 2010 it was the 25th highest-grossing film of all time domestically, and 35th highest-grossing worldwide, as well as the most financially successful Indiana Jones film when not adjusted for inflation of ticket prices.[110][111]
The film received mostly positive reviews. Rotten Tomatoes reported that 77% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 246 reviews. The consensus was: "Though the plot elements are certainly familiar, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull still delivers the thrills and Harrison Ford's return in the title role is more than welcome."[112] Metacritic reported the film had a score of 65 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews," based on 40 critics' reviews.[113] Yahoo! estimated an average rating of B from 15 reviews.[114] A CinemaScore survey conducted during its opening weekend indicated a general "B" rating.[115]
Roger Ebert gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4, a rating he also gave to The Last Crusade. Ebert argued that the only critical criterion for judging the latest film was comparing it to the previous three. He found it "same old, same old," but that was what "I want it to be."[116] Leonard Maltin also gave the film 3 1/2 stars out of 4, though he had only given 2 stars to Temple of Doom and 2 1/2 to Last Crusade. "After a 19-year hiatus," Maltin wrote, "Indy returns with the same brand of high adventure that marked the original Raiders of the Lost Ark."[117]
The film was nominated for Best Action Movie at the 2009 Critics' Choice Awards.[118] The Visual Effects Society nominated it for Best Single Visual Effect of the Year (the valley destruction), Best Outstanding Matte Paintings, Best Models and Miniatures, and Best Created Environment in a Feature Motion Picture (the inside of the temple).[119] The film ranks 453rd on Empire's 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time.[120] At the 51st Grammy Awards, John Williams won an award for the Mutt Williams theme.[121] It was nominated at the Saturn Awards for Best Science Fiction Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Costumes and Best Special Effects. It won Best Costumes.[122]
However, the Associated Press reported the film received a "respectful – though far from glowing – reception," saying that "some viewers at its first press screening loved it, some called it slick and enjoyable though formulaic, some said it was not worth the 19-year wait," adding that J. Sperling Reich, who writes for FilmStew.com, said: "It really looked like they were going through the motions. It really looked like no one had their heart in it."[123]
USA Today stated reviews were "mixed" and reviewers felt the "movie suffers from predictable plot points and cheesy special effects."[124]
Critic James Berardinelli gave the film 2 stars out of 4, calling it "the most lifeless of the series" and "simply [not] a very good motion picture."[125] Margaret Pomeranz of At the Movies gave the film 2 1/2 stars out of 5, saying that the filmmakers "had 19 years since the last Indiana Jones movie to come up with something truly exciting and fresh, but I feel there’s a certain laziness and cynicism in this latest adventure."[126] Metacritic user ratings for the film (as opposed to critics' ratings) rank at only 5.1 out of 10.[113]
In 2009, the film won the Razzie Award for Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel.[127][128] The film was voted by Comcast as 11th worst movie sequel of all time.[129] Paste magazine ranked the movie 10th on its list "The 20 Worst Sequels to Good Movies."[130] Listverse.com ranked the movie 8th on its list of the "Top 10 Worst Movie Sequels."[131]
Some fans of the franchise who were disappointed with the film adopted the term "nuked the fridge," based on a scene in the film where Indiana Jones survives a nuclear blast by hiding in a refrigerator, which then blows Jones miraculously all the way to safety. To users of the phrase, the phrase denotes the point in a movie series when it has passed its peak and crossed into the level of the absurd, similar to "jumping the shark" on television. This phrase has since appeared across the Internet,[132] and was chosen as #5 on Time Magazine's list of "top ten buzzwords" of 2008.[133] South Park parodied the film in the episode "The China Probrem," broadcast five months after the film's release. The episode parodied the overwhelmingly negative fan reaction, with the characters filing a police report against Lucas and Spielberg for raping Indiana Jones.[134]
The Communist Party of the Russian Federation called for the film to be banned, accusing the production team of demonizing the Soviet Union. Party official Andrei Andreyev said: "It is very disturbing if talented directors want to provoke a new Cold War."[135] Another party official commented, "(I)n 1957 the USSR was not sending terrorists to America but sending the Sputnik satellite into space!"[136] Spielberg responded that he is not unfamiliar with Russia. He explained: "When we decided the fourth installment would take place in 1957, we had no choice but to make the Russians the enemies. World War II had just ended and the Cold War had begun. The U.S. didn't have any other enemies at the time."[137] The film's depiction of Peru also received criticism from the Peruvian and Spanish-speaking public.[138][139]
Historical and geographical inaccuracies are present throughout the movie - like Nazca being apparently located in Cuzco.
The mixed fanbase reaction did not surprise Lucas, who was familiar with mixed response to the Star Wars prequels. "We're all going to get people throwing tomatoes at us," the series' creator had predicted. "But it's a fun movie to make."[140] David Koepp reflects, "I knew I was going to get hammered from a number of quarters [but] what I liked about the way the movie ended up playing was it was popular with families. I like that families really embraced it."[141]
When asked about the infamous "nuke the fridge" sequence, Spielberg replied, "Blame me. Don't blame George. That was my silly idea. People stopped saying 'jump the shark'. They now say, 'nuked the fridge'. I'm proud of that. I'm glad I was able to bring that into popular culture."[142]
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