Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a 2008 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg and the fourth installment in the Indiana Jones series. Released and taking place nineteen years after the previous film, it is set in 1957, pitting Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) against Soviet KGB agents led by Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett)—searching for a telepathic crystal skull. Jones is aided by his former lover, Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), and their son, 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, George Lucas and Jeff Nathanson wrote drafts before David Koepp’s script satisfied the producers. The filmmakers intended to pay tribute to the science fiction B-movies of the 1950s era. Shooting began on June 18, 2007, at various locations in New Mexico, New Haven, Connecticut, Hawaii, and Fresno, California, as well as on sound stages in Los Angeles.
To maintain 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.
The film premiered at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival on May 18, 2008, and was released worldwide on May 22, 2008. It received generally positive reviews from critics but mixed responses from audiences. Critics praised the film for its cast, pulpy tone, action sequences, John Williams’s musical score, and the costume design, but criticized the dialogue, storyline, pacing, and overuse of CGI. It was also a financial success like the previous three films in the series, grossing over $790 million worldwide, becoming the franchise’s highest-grossing film when not adjusted for inflation, as well as the second-highest-grossing film of 2008.
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Plot.
In 1957, Soviet KGB agents working under Irina Spalko kidnap Indiana Jones and his partner George “Mac” MicHale. The Soviets infiltrate a secret government warehouse, located in Nevada, labeled “Hangar 51”, and force Jones to locate a mummified alien corpse from the Roswell UFO incident, which he was forced to work on ten years earlier. Shortly after retrieving the corpse, Mac reveals he has become a double agent on the KGB’s payroll. Jones unsuccessfully attempts to steal the body, and fights with Spalko’s henchman Dovchenko, before escaping to a nearby model town right before an atomic bomb test. He takes shelter in a lead-lined refrigerator, and FBI agents eventually rescue, decontaminate, and interrogate him,
suspecting him of working for the Soviets. Though eventually freed, Jones is put on an indefinite leave of absence from Marshall College, and dean Charles Stanforth resigns to spare Jones from being fired.
Greaser Mutt Williams approaches Jones, notifying him that Jones’ former colleague, Professor Harold Oxley, found a crystal skull in Peru, but has since been kidnapped along with Mutt’s mother, Marion, who went after him. Jones tells Mutt of the legend of crystal skulls found in Akator, and Mutt gives Jones a letter from his mother, which contains a riddle from Oxley in an ancient language. Two Soviet agents attempt to capture them, but Jones
and Mutt escape and, following the riddle’s meaning, reach Peru. At the local psychiatric hospital, carvings on the walls and floor of Oxley’s cell lead them to the grave of Francisco de Orellana, a Conquistador who searched for Akator. They find the skull at the grave, and Jones reasons that Oxley had returned it there. While the two are departing the tomb, Mac and the Soviets take them hostage and deliver them to the Soviet camp in the Amazon jungle. There, the pair find an addled Oxley and Marion, who is actually Marion Ravenwood, an old partner of Jones’; she reveals to Jones that Mutt is his son.
Filming.
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. Shooting began on June 18, 2007, in Deming, New Mexico. An extensive chase scene set at the 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). 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 Amazon jungle in Hilo, Hawaii until August. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was the biggest film shot in Hawaii since Waterworld, and was estimated to generate US$22 million to $45 million in the local economy. 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.
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Box office.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull 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, 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. The film was released on May 22, 2008, in North America, playing at 4,260 theaters. Within its first five days of release, it grossed $151.1 million, combined with $126 million from the four-day opening weekend. grossing over $790 million worldwide, becoming the franchise’s highest-grossing film when not adjusted for inflation, as well as the second-highest-grossing film of 2008.