Moviefone Editorial

Tag: george-lucas

  • Indiana Jones TV Spin-Off in Early Development

    Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones in 'Raiders of the Lost Ark.'
    Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones in ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark.’

    Disney+ has been a place for the company to extend the already wide-reaching tentacles of the various franchises under its umbrella.

    We’ve had a bevy of ‘Star Wars’ shows (which continues with the likes of ‘The Acolyte’, now in production under the leadership of Leslye Headland), a raft of Marvel TV series introducing new characters to the MCU or continuing the adventures of some such as Hawkeye and all sorts of other offerings for family audiences from Pixar, Disney Animation and others.

    One notable exception – at least so far – has been Lucasfilm’s ‘Indiana Jones’, which in recent years, been confined to the big screen.

    That, it would appear, is set to change. According to Variety, Disney and Lucasfilm are in the very early stages of exploring a new series set in the world of Dr. Jones, though given that they are only now meeting with writers to explore concepts, nothing is known about what this could be.

    Given how much use Disney tends to get out of its various titles, it’s not out of the question that other writers and directors could re-cast Indy, even though that would meet with plenty of online backlash – as with the rumors that Chris Pratt could be taking over the role. He’s since said he won’t do it.

    Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones in 'Raiders of the Lost Ark.'
    Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones in ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark.’

    It would seem nigh-on impossible for any series to be built around Harrison Ford as Indy, since the actor has firmly stated that he’s done slapping on the famous fedora and handling the whip. So, we are once again facing the possibility that someone else will play Indiana Jones.

    It has happened in the past on TV – ‘The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles’, which ran for two seasons between 1992 and 1993 saw Sean Patrick Flanery playing, as the title suggests, a young Indy. The shows were retooled into TV movies later.

    But the history of the franchise stretches back to the late 1970s, when George Lucas and Steven Spielberg hatched an idea for a movie about an adventurer inspired by the radio and movie series they loved when younger.

    The result was the second iconic movie character for Ford after ‘Star Wars’ Han Solo. ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’, directed by Spielberg, debuted in 1981 and was a big success. Spielberg followed it with ‘Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom’ in 1984, ‘Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade’ in 1989 and ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’ in 2008.

    Incoming is a fourth entry, this time directed by James Mangold. It has yet to announce a title or plotline. But we do know it’ll feature Ford in what is likely to be his final appearance in the role (unless tempted back by a good offer to cameo in any possible series) and also stars Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Mads Mikkelsen, Thomas Kretschmann, Boyd Holbrook, Toby Jones, Antonio Banderas and John Rhys-Davies, who returns to his role as Sallah from both ‘Raiders’ and ‘Last Crusade’.

    The new movie will be in theaters on June 30th next year.

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  • Star Wars Celebration: ‘Light & Magic’ Presentation

    Ron Howard, Lynwen Brennan, Phil Tippett, Rose Duignan, Joe Johnston and Dennis Muren
    (L-R) Ron Howard, Lynwen Brennan, Phil Tippett, Rose Duignan, Joe Johnston and Dennis Muren attend the “Light & Magic” presentation at Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim, California on May 27, 2022. The ILM documentary series premieres exclusively on Disney+ July 27, 2022. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney).

    Day two of Star Wars Celebration continued on Friday at the Anaheim Convention Center as fans staggered into the big hall for the ‘Light & Magic’ presentation to hear more about the upcoming Disney+ documentary series that will take viewers behind the scenes at Industrial Light & Magic.

    On hand virtually was the documentary’s director Lawrence Kasdan, who also wrote ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ and ‘Return of the Jedi.’ Kasdan was supposed to appear in person but tested positive for COVID just before the event. However, taking the stage were ‘Star Wars’ filmmakers Ron Howard (‘Solo’), and Joe Johnston (‘A New Hope’), as well ILM veterans Dennis Muren, Phil Tippett, and Rose Duignan, and the GM of Lucasfilm Lynwen Brennan.

    The new series, which was directed by Kasdan, will explore the history of Industrial Light & Magic or ILM, and their impact on the history of cinema. Kasdan began by saying, “I’ve known ILM for 40 years I but didn’t know how it happened. It’s the greatest effects house in the world.”

    “What I did know was ILM is a house of geniuses and somehow George Lucas had the vision to bring these people together,” Kasdan continued. “He was somehow, with John Dykstra, able to bring these people together and create a place that has been unmatched in these 45-50 years. At first, nobody knew exactly how it was going to work and there was a lot of improvising that lead to a lot of communication. When someone needed help, they would go to someone else and they always would try to help. It’s been that kind of environment where geniuses help geniuses.”

    Lawrence Kasdan (via video)
    Lawrence Kasdan (via video) attends the “Light & Magic” presentation at Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim, California on May 27, 2022. The ILM documentary series premieres exclusively on Disney+ July 27, 2022. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney).

    Director Ron Howard is an executive producer on ‘Light & Magic’ and has quite the history with George Lucas, which goes all the way back to ‘American Graffiti.’ Howard spoke about the first time he saw ‘Star Wars.’ “It was mind-blowing,” he said. “I saw it opening weekend, and I left the theater and said to my wife, do you want to see it again? So, we saw it twice on opening day.” The director also talked about how Lucas explained to him on the set of ‘Graffiti’ that he wanted to apply what Stanley Kubrick did in ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ on a ‘Flash Gordon’ type serial, which of course became ‘Star Wars.’

    Joe Johnston, who began his career as a Visual Effects artist on the original ‘Star Wars’ trilogy and has since gone on to direct movies like ‘The Rocketeer’ and ‘Captain America: The First Avenger,’ discussed how he came to work with Lucas. “I was working as an industrial designer when I saw this add on the wall that they were looking for painters on a space movie,” explained Johnston. “When I found out what this job was, I realized that I could design things that look great but don’t need to work. I felt like a fish out of water until I realized I was part of this family like everyone else.”

    “I wish Larry would had sent me a list of the questions he was going to ask,” Johnston joked about his interview for the documentary. “He asked me things that I had forgotten about, and it brought back those memories. What a fantastic achievement he’s made with this series. It really tells the story of ILM.”

    “Larry did a fantastic job,” Lucasfilm’s Lynwen Brennan said of the project. “But the series is really about the people. We have an amazing team, and I have the greatest job in the world. The thing that unites us is that ‘we can do anything’ spirit. There is no hoarding of the secrets, everyone works together and there is always a sense that anything is possible. I’m really standing on the shoulders of giants.”

    Joe Johnston
    Joe Johnston attends the “Light & Magic” presentation at Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim, California on May 27, 2022. The ILM documentary series premieres exclusively on Disney+ July 27, 2022. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney).

    Visual Effects supervisor Phil Tippett said of watching the completed documentary, “I binge watched the thing and Larry did a fantastic job. It made me wistful for that time. It’s very meaningful and he did a great job.” Tippett also discussed some of his early character designs and that he would give them strange names like “Calamari Man,” who eventually became Admiral Ackbar. “I had no idea who Admiral Ackbar was,” he said. ‘We were just coming up with stupid names!”

    ILM’s Rose Duignan told a funny story about being confused regarding who was going to interview her for the documentary. “I was told someone named Larry was going to interview me. I asked him how I knew him, and he said, ‘I wrote ‘The Empire Strikes Back.’ Oh, that’s how I know you, you’re Lawrence Kasdan!”

    Duignan also told an amusing story of ILM’s early days and how ILM founder John Dykstra would amuse himself by using a crane to drop refrigerators into a hot tub. One day, George Lucas and several 20th Century Fox executives pulled up in a limo and once they saw what was going on, turned around and left. They never even got out of the limo.

    Visual Effects artist Dennis Muren talked about his experience working with George Lucas on the first ‘Star Wars.’ “We wanted to please him,” Muren said. “I could look at those things and imagine them in motion. There’s nothing like being given great stuff. I knew how to bring those together in front of the camera. The last four or five months, it all kind of came together. To have it be a success was unbelievable.”

    Ron Howard
    Ron Howard attends the “Light & Magic” presentation at Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim, California on May 27, 2022. The ILM documentary series premieres exclusively on Disney+ July 27, 2022. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney).

    Howard not only directed ‘Solo’ but his daughter, Bryce Dallas Howard, has directed episodes of both ‘The Mandalorian’ and ‘The Book of Boba Fett,’ and he talked about how ‘Star Wars’ has become a Howard Family business. “Bryce has been working on ‘Mandalorian’ and that makes me a proud dad. The breakthroughs keep coming and its always about ideas first. It all goes back to George saying, here’s what is in my head so how do we do it?” The crowd then began shouting ‘Solo 2,’ to which Howard replied, “I’m not in charge of that.”

    Finally, Kasdan discussed his hopes for the upcoming documentary series. “Not only did I want to tell the story of this group, but there was a secret desire I had for this show, as I was making it, I was inspired about creativity and my desire was to make this for my grandchildren. I think that is at the heart of this thing. I want people to know that problems can be overcome, and people will support them in that. If they get that out of this I will be happy.”

    The ‘Light & Magic’ documentary series will premiere on Disney+ in July.

    Rose Duignan, Dennis Muren, Phil Tippett, Joe Johnston, Ron Howard, and Lynwen Brennan
    (L-R) Rose Duignan, Dennis Muren, Phil Tippett, Joe Johnston, Ron Howard, and Lynwen Brennan attend the “Light & Magic” presentation at Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim, California on May 27, 2022. The ILM documentary series premieres exclusively on Disney+ July 27, 2022. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney).

  • ‘Star Wars’ Series ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Debuts in May

    ‘Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Poster Courtesy of Disney+
    ‘Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Poster Courtesy of Disney+

    Obi-Wan Kenobi. Now that’s a name we’ve not heard in a long, long time. At least not properly on screen in a ‘Star Wars’ movie or show. But we’re about to be hearing it a lot more as the series named for him, Disney+ show ‘Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi’ has an official start date of May 25th.

    If that date sparks memories for you, chances are you know that’s the day (in 1977) that ‘Star Wars’ launched in theaters, changing the face of cinema forever.

    The series, which stars Ewan McGregor as the venerable Jedi master, will be set nearly a decade after the events of ‘Revenge of the Sith’, and finds Obi-Wan still grappling with the betrayal he suffered from former pupil Anakin Skywalker.

    Anakin – or more likely, the part-man, part machine Sith lord he became, Darth Vader – also seems likely to show up here, with Hayden Christensen in the cast. Christensen, of course, played Anakin in all three of the ‘Star Wars’ prequel movies and ended up suited the dark lord. Whether he shows up in full Vader costume or in flashback as Anakin remains to be seen. Why not both?

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    This new Lucasfilm/Disney+ show has been in the works for a while now, hitting something of a speed bump in January 2020 when original writer Hossein Amini left the project over creative differences and script issues. ‘King Arthur: Legend of the Sword’s Joby Harold was brought into replace him and, after another delay because of the pandemic, the series started shooting in January last year.

    “I think the scripts are great. They’re in really good shape. They want them to be better. I think we keep our same airdate. All good. Everybody is going, ‘Oh, my god!’” McGregor told Variety when asked about the script issues. “But it’s not really as dramatic as it might seem.”

    Deborah Chow, who won praise for her work directing fellow ‘Star Wars’ show ‘The Mandalorian’, has made all six episodes of this one.

    And besides McGregor and Christensen, the cast includes ‘Eternals’ Kumail Nanjiani, ‘Hitman: Agent 47’s Rupert Friend, ‘Fast & Furious’ franchise veteran Sung Kang, ‘Straight Outta Compton’ star O’Shea Jackson Jr, and Maya Erskine, probably best known for co-creating and co-starring in ‘Pen15’.

    Returning to the ‘Star Wars’ galaxy alongside McGregor and Christensen is Joel Edgerton, who played “Uncle” Owen Lars, the ill-fated moisture farmer whom Obi-Wan entrusts to raise an infant Luke Skywalker. He appeared in both ‘Attack of the Clones’ and ‘Revenge of the Sith’. Given all the talk of a de-aged Luke Skywalker in ‘The Mandalorian’ and ‘The Book of Boba Fett’, we can’t help but wonder what a 10-year-old Luke might look like. Perhaps there are things the human brain should not comprehend.

    ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ will launch, then, in May. Disney has yet to reveal whether it’ll kick off with more than one episode and of course, what we all want to see now is a trailer.

    ‘Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Poster Courtesy of Disney+
    ‘Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Poster Courtesy of Disney+

  • Marvel, Star Wars, & Pixar Updates from the Disney+ Day Announcements

    On Friday, November 12th, Disney+ celebrated its second anniversary with Disney+ Day, where they announced literally dozens of upcoming series from Marvel, Lucasfilm, Pixar and more. The presentations, which include some new clips, first looks, and upcoming announcements, can currently be viewed on Disney+, but Moviefone is here to break it all down for you.

    MARVEL

    The Marvel video presentation, which is now available on Disney+, begins with recaps of all the 2021 Marvel series that have been released so far including ‘WandaVision,’ ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,’ ‘Loki,’ and ‘What If…?’ Then we get an extended trailer for ‘Hawkeye,’ which drops on November 24th. We also got to see a full scene from the show, which involves Jeremey Renner’s Hawkeye and Hailee Steinfeld’s Kate Bishop stealing a car and then getting into a chase while Hawkeye teaches Kate how to use his trick arrows. The sequence is one continuous shot, ending with the two heroes swinging off of a bridge on to a moving train.

    The official synopsis for the series confirms that it is set in a post-blip New York City and follows Clint Barton on a seemingly simple mission to get back to his family for Christmas. But when a threat from his past shows up, Hawkeye reluctantly teams up with 22-year-old skilled archer Kate Bishop to unravel a criminal conspiracy. In addition to Renner and Stanfield, the series also features Vera Farmiga (‘The Departed’), Brian d’Arcy James (‘Spotlight’) and Florence Pugh reprising her ‘Black Widow’ role as Yelena Belova.

    The video presentation also includes fans first look at Oscar Isaac in ‘Moon Knight.’ The series will follow the story of this complex vigilante who suffers from dissociative identity disorder. The multiple identities that live inside him find themselves thrusted into a deadly war of the Gods against the backdrop of modern and ancient Egypt. The clips basically show Isaac’s Marc Spencer being tortured by his dreams, with the character’s voice-over explaining that to the audience. We only get very quick glimpses of Isaac in the Moon Knight outfit, but the presentation ends with him in full costume jumping off of rooftops with the Moon lit full behind him. Actor Ethan Hawke is also set to appear as the show’s big bad.

    We also got new footage from the upcoming series, ‘She-Hulk.’ The teaser is narrated by Tatiana Maslany as Jennifer Walters/She-Hulk, as she explains that she is a lawyer but also, something else. There is a quick body shot of Jennifer fully-green with her comic book accurate costume, although it cuts away before we see She-Hulk’s face. We also get two glimpses of Mark Ruffalo, who returns as Jennifer’s cousin, Bruce Banner/Hulk.

    The first scene shows Bruce experimenting on Jennifer when she is just a child, presumably in a flashback, but what is interesting is that he is Smart Hulk in this scene. Since ‘Shang-Chi’ gave us an end-credit scene that revealed that at some point after the events of ‘Avengers: Endgame,’ Smart Hulk reverted back to Bruce, it makes you wonder if this scene takes place between ‘Endgame’ and ‘Shang-Chi.’ If that is the case, and Jennifer was a child during that time period, it makes you wonder if the bulk of the series itself will make a time jump and take place decades after ‘Endgame’? We also get a clip that looks more like a commercial, with Jennifer and Bruce dressed in retro clothes and Jennifer saying, “”Don’t make me angry, you wouldn’t like me when I’m angry,” which is clearly a nod to the 1970’s series, The Incredible Hulk.

    The last series to get new footage in the video presentation was ‘Ms. Marvel,’ which stars Iman Vellani as 16-year-old Kamala Khan. A Pakistani American and a fan-girl of the Avengers, Kamala is overjoyed when she discovers she has superpowers, and now must use them to find her place in the world. The footage shows her revealing her iconic mask for the first time and ends with Kamala standing on a New Jersey rooftop wearing a Captain Marvel Halloween Costume and preparing to use her powers to fly for the first time. Vellani is set to reprise her role, along with Teyonah Parris from ‘WandaVision’ and Brie Larson, in the upcoming feature film, ‘The Marvels.’

    But that’s not it! Marvel also announced a slew of new upcoming shows, some of which had been rumored, and also confirmed that ‘Loki’ and ‘What If…?’ will be getting second seasons. In fact, ‘What If…?’ will also be getting a spinoff with the new animated series ‘Marvel Zombies,’ which imagines a world where Marvel’s heroes have been turned into the undead. Staying with animation, Disney+ also announced a sequel to the classic 90’s animated X-Men series entitled ‘X-Men ’97,’ as well as ‘Spider-Man: Freshman Year,’ which will look at Peter Parker’s first year in high school, and ‘I Am Groot,’ a series of original shorts starring everyone’s favorite sentient tree.

    On the live-action side, ‘Secret Invasion’ was confirmed, which is based on the popular Marvel Comics series. The show will bring Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury and Ben Mendelsohn’s Talos back together to fight a faction of shape-shifting Skrulls who have been infiltrating Earth for years. Also confirmed were ‘Echo,’ which will star Alaqua Cox as Maya Lopez, who will be introduced in ‘Hawkeye,’ and James Gunn will write and direct ‘The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special.’

    Marvel also announced two new series based on the Iron Man franchise. First is ‘Armor Wars,’ which will star Don Cheadle reprising his role as War Machine. The second is ‘Ironheart,’ a series that will star Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams, a genius inventor who creates the most advanced suit of armor since Iron Man. Finally, Marvel confirmed the recent rumor that Kathryn Hahn will reprise her ‘WandaVision’ role as Agatha Harkness in her own series, which will be called ‘Agatha: House of Harkness.’

    LUCASFILM

    While there was no new footage included, fans got their first look at the making of the upcoming Star Wars series, ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi.’ The video is narrated by director Debbie Chow and actor Ewan McGregor and explains what fans can expect from the new series. “For this character to come back, the fans have been waiting long enough,” said McGregor. Chow explained that this is a “dark time,” for Kenobi and that it is “not safe” for him with “Jedi hunters” on the rise. McGregor said that his character has one task, which is “to keep Luke safe,” but Chow explained how that is just a starting point for the series.

    “The most beautiful thing of all is that it has brought me back together with Hayden,” McGregor said about the return of Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader. “We couldn’t tell the story of Obi-Wan Kenobi without addressing Anakin or Darth Vader,” added Chow. We are then given some behind the scenes shots of McGregor at rehearsal practicing his lightsaber skills. “To have another swing at each other, might be quite satisfying for everybody,” the actor teased in closing.

    Disney+ also released a Boba Fett documentary called ‘Under the Helmet: The Legacy of Boba Fett.’ It is mostly a “history of the character” video and does not include any new footage from the upcoming series ‘The Book of Boba Fett,’ which premieres on December 29th.

    Finally, the presentation included a video from the set of the new series ‘Willow,’ which is based on the 1988 Ron Howard-directed and George Lucas-produced movie. The film’s star, Warwick Davis returns as the title character, and introduced the cast that includes Ruby Cruz (‘Mare of Easttown’), Erin Kellyman (‘The Falcon and The Winter Soldier’), and Tony Revolori (‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’). The video was done “tongue in cheek” with Davis playing a version of his arrogant ‘Life’s Too Short’ character and getting upset when the younger cast can’t remember the original film and begin to question why anyone would want a sequel series!

    PIXAR

    Unfortunately, Pixar did not have a lot to announce outside of a Cars-based animated series called ‘Cars on the Road,’ which will feature Owen Wilson and Larry the Cable Guy reprising their roles as Lightning McQueen and Mater, respectively. Other announcements from the animation company included behind the scenes documentaries for the upcoming feature films ‘Turning Red’ and ‘Lightyear,’ as well as a new series called ‘Win or Lose,’ which is an animated show that will highlight the perspectives of different characters as a middle school coed softball team prepares for their championship game.

    DISNEY STUDIOS AND NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

    On the Disney Studios side, a remake of ‘Cheaper by the Dozen’ was announced, which will star Gabrielle Union (‘Bad Boys II’) and Zach Braff (‘Oz the Great and Powerful’) and is set to premiere in March 2022. ‘Enchanted’ fans will be happy to learn that the long-awaited sequel, ‘Disenchanted’ will hit the streaming network in the fall of 2022 and once again star Amy Adams and Patrick Dempsey. It was also announced that comedians John Mulaney and Andy Samberg will star in the new live-action/CG animation film entitled ‘Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers,’ which is based on Disney’s popular chipmunk characters and will premiere in the spring of 2022.

    Director Robert Zemeckis’ ‘Pinocchio,’ based on the Disney animated classic, will bow in the fall of 2022 as well, and stars Tom Hanks, Cynthia Erivo, and Luke Evans, with the voices of Benjamin Evan Ainsworth, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Keegan-Michael Key and Lorraine Bracco. Also premiering in the fall of 2022, just in time for Halloween, is ‘Hocus Pocus 2,’ which is a sequel to the cult classic 1990’s movie. Returning stars Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy are all set to reprise their roles as the Sanderson sisters in the new sequel. A new clip from Peter Jackson’s upcoming documentary, ‘The Beatles: Get Back’ was also released featuring the legendary band performing “I Got a Feeling” in rare behind the scenes footage. The three-part documentary launches on Disney+ November 25th.

    Disney also announced a new series based on the beloved best-selling novels ‘The Spiderwick Chronicles,’ as well as animated spinoff series from some of their most popular films, including Baymax from ‘Big Hero Six,’ Tiana from ‘The Princess and the Frog,’ and’ Zootopia+,’ which opens up the world of ‘Zootopia.’ They also announced ‘The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild,’ which will star Simon Pegg as his ‘Ice Age: Collision Course’ character.

    Finally, National Geographic announced a new six-part series for 2022 called ‘Limitless’ with Chris Hemsworth. The series will follow the ‘Thor’ actor as he helps viewers discover the full potential of the human body. Nat Geo also announced a series called ‘Welcome to Earth,’ which is set to premiere on Disney+ next month. The series will be hosted by Will Smith as he encounters Earth’s greatest wonders.

  • 15 Things You Never Knew About ‘Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade’ on its 30th Anniversary

    15 Things You Never Knew About ‘Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade’ on its 30th Anniversary

    Lucasfilm

    It’s been 30 years since “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” hit theaters. Or as some fans refer to it, “The only good Indiana Jones sequel.” Wherever this blockbuster hit falls on your Indy rankings,  celebrate this big anniversary by learning more about the making of “The Last Crusade.”

    1. When Steven Spielberg and George Lucas first began discussing ideas for a third Indiana Jones movie, Lucas suggested using a haunted mansion as a major set piece. However, Spielberg rejected the idea, having recently completed work on 1982’s “Poltergeist.”

    2. Chris Columbus wrote a very different sequel screenplay in 1985 called “Indiana Jones and the Monkey King,” which revolved around Chinese folk hero Sun Wukong and the fabled Garden of Immortal Peaches.

    20th Century Fox

    3. Spielberg was once slated to direct both “Big” and “Rain Man” but had to drop out of both projects due to his work on “The Last Crusade.”

    4. River Phoenix was Harrison Ford’s personal choice to play the young Indy, as Ford had previously worked with Phoenix on 1986’s “The Mosquito Coast.”

    Lucasfilm

    5. Similarly, Spielberg always envisioned Sean Connery playing Henry Jones, Sr. Spielberg has long held a desire to direct a James Bond movie, and casting Connery as the elder Jones was a way of reflecting the Bond franchise’s influence on Indiana Jones.

    6. In another Bond tribute, the gun used to shoot Henry Sr. in the temple is a Walther PPK, Bond’s trademark weapon.

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    7. Connery didn’t play Henry Sr. in the prologue sequence. The character was instead played by Alex Hyde-White, with Connery later dubbing over his lines.

    8. Spielberg also wanted legendary British actor Laurence Olivier to play the Grail Knight, but Olivier had become too ill by the time of filming and passed away not long after “The Last Crusade” hit theaters.

    Lucasfilm

    9. While the treasure hunter who gives Indy his trademark fedora is only listed as “Fedora” in the credits, the original screenplay reveals him to be Abner Ravenwood, father of Karen Allen’s character Marion Ravenwood.

    10. The Nazi uniforms used in the book-burning sequence are actually authentic WWII relics. Designer Joanna Johnston discovered a cache of old uniforms while scouting in Eastern Europe.

    Lucasfilm

    11. The thousands of rats used in catacombs scene are a mix of live creatures and animatronic props. The production team had to specially breed the live rats in order to ensure none of them would be carrying communicable diseases.

    12. In the scene where Donovan’s wife appears and reminds him he’s neglecting his guests, a character can be heard in the background playing “The Imperial March” from “The Empire Strikes Back” on the piano.

    13. Donovan’s iconic death sequence is the very first all-digital composite sequence in film.

    Lucasfilm

    14. The horses used in the final scenes outside the temple were loaned by none other than King Hussein of Jordan.

    15. While Spielberg admitted he made “The Last Crusade” for less than glamorous reasons (including the need to complete a three-picture deal with Lucas), he’s also named the sequel as his favorite movie in the series.

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  • 20 Years Later, ‘Star Wars: The Phantom Menace’ Is Still Terrible

    20 Years Later, ‘Star Wars: The Phantom Menace’ Is Still Terrible

    Lucasfilm

    Fandom, these days, has become toxic and icky, and a cultural once synonymous with the celebration of under-appreciated works of art, has mutated into something like a pitchfork-and-torch-wielding villager headed for Frankenstein’s castle. One of the more baffling responses of the torch-and-fork crowd happened in the wake of “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” a movie that is, objectively, brilliant and beautiful and touching. The response to that film, hated for reasons I still can’t wrap my head around, was that the prequels were way better. The thinking from that group makes their prequel-appreciation understandable; they wanted tons of unnecessary backstory about Rey’s parentage, Snoke, and probably those fish nuns on the island. The prequels were nothing but backstory; three movies that explained tons of stuff that you never questioned in the first place. But it’s also important to remember one thing, on the 20th anniversary of “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace,” the film that started the prequel trilogy and made countless audiences go, “huh?,” And that thing is “The Phantom Menace” is still awful.

    Seriously.

    Have you re-watched it lately? Have you re-watched it ever in the last 20 years?

    This thing is a cringe-fest from the beginning, from the horrid opening scrawl (first lines: “Turmoil has engulfed the Galactic Republic. The taxation of trade routes to outlying star systems is in dispute.” Exciting!) to the awkward pacing to the painfully offensive Asian accents of the evil aliens to, well, just about everything else. Even as far as table-setting goes, it’s turgid and uninteresting.

    Please remember that, at the time, we hadn’t had a new movie since 1983. Sixteen years is a long time to wait, especially since many of us had to stand outside the theater in rapt anticipation for hours before the first screenings (this was the dark time before assigned seating). And once the theater darkened this is what we’d been waiting for? Sure, “Solo: A Star Wars Story” was disappointing, but at least we hadn’t been frothily speculating about it for the better part of two decades.

    From there, things get worse. We’ve all seen “The Phantom Menace” so I probably don’t have to recount them for you, but the whole movie looks flat and unconvincing, the retrograde animation (cutting edge at the time) is blurry and ugly. Jar-Jar Binks is an abomination, equally annoying and offensive (seriously nobody spoke up about this during production?) Jake Lloyd is maybe the worst child actor of all time (“I’ll try spinning, that’s a good trick”). Midichlorians. And the plot mechanics, lumbering from one joyless, overlong set piece to another (yes, this includes the unnecessarily lengthy pod race sequence), never find momentum or excitement. Instead, they’re like a bunch of poorly realized videogame tableaus, occasionally pretty but never emotionally engaging. Never is this truer than in the climax of the film, which unwisely splits its time between four locations/set pieces – the Gungan/battle droid battle, Anakin’s inadvertent space adventure, the castle break-in, and the lightsaber fight with Darth Maul – for maximum eye-rolling banality.

    Sure, it’s a product of its time, particularly when it comes to its performances. This was an era, after all, when actors weren’t used to acting alongside imaginary characters, and most of the very good performers (among them: Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor) seem genuinely lost or, worse yet, indifferent, when it comes to dealing with Jar-Jar Binks or other assorted CGI-creations. Writer/director George Lucas has never had much sympathy when it came to his actors and he makes that painfully obvious here, both in the dialogue he saddles them with and with his lack of caring when it comes to having them play endless scenes with computerized aliens or stunt people in rubber masks. (The fact that several of the visual effects, including the bargain basement Yoda puppet, have been rejiggered since the movie’s release, is a testament to how unconvincing they were.)

    The fact that anyone would claim any of these movies, much less “The Phantom Menace,” are preferable to “The Last Jedi” is laughable, even as these sentiments grow with the glittery glow of anniversary-triggered nostalgia. In the years since the film’s release, elements of it have grown in importance and stature, appearing on Star Tours and in various cartoon spin-offs (and, with that weird Maul cameo, in “Solo: A Star Wars Story”). It has certainly become a thread in the overall tapestry of “Star Wars,” but if that thread was removed from the tapestry, the overall saga wouldn’t be affected. Little kid Anakin, racial and cultural stereotypes aplenty, a CGI parade sequence that would have looked outdated in 1982 EPCOT Center, if they could be deleted forever and nobody would care. Except, I guess, those that took issue with “The Last Jedi.”

  • 7 ‘Star Wars’ Prequel Characters Who Got Better After the Movies

    7 ‘Star Wars’ Prequel Characters Who Got Better After the Movies

    Lucasfilm

    Not all “Star Wars” fans were thrilled with the execution of George Lucas‘ prequel trilogy. While those movies were praised for their special effects and epic battle sequences, they were also criticized for wooden acting and some very underdeveloped characters.

    The good news is that the “Star Wars” saga is about more than just movies now. There’s an entire universe of animated TV series, novels and comics that expand on the source material. Many characters who weren’t given their proper due in the prequels got a second chance at life elsewhere. Here are seven prequel favorites who got better after “Revenge of the Sith” capped off the trilogy. And no, Jar Jar Binks isn’t one of them. Meesa sorry.

    Darth Maul

    Lucasfilm

    Darth Maul is truly the Boba Fett of the Prequels. He may have looked cool, but he didn’t get a chance to actually do much before dying a grisly death at the end of “The Phantom Menace.”

    Though as many viewers of “Solo: A Star Wars Story” were surprised to learn, Maul didn’t die on Naboo at all. The animated series “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” revealed that Maul’s hatred of Obi-Wan Kenobi kept him alive long enough to be reunited with his long-lost brother, Savage Opress, and healed by a sorceress named Mother Talzen. Maul became a recurring antagonist in “The Clone Wars,” forming an army of his own and seeking vengeance against both Obi-Wan and Darth Sidious.

    Maul’s story continued in the followup series “Star Wars Rebels,” showing that his feud against Obi-Wan continued until surprisingly close to the events of “A New Hope.” “Rebels” capped off Maul’s story on a wonderfully emotional note, transforming Maul into one of the more tragic figures in the “Star Wars” mythos.

    Jocasta Nu

    Lucasfilm/Marvel Comics

    “Attack of the Clones” introduced Jocasta Nu as the stern librarian in charge of the Jedi archives. She was never given much attention beyond that, and most fans probably assumed she was among the first to die during the Jedi Purge.

    As it turns out, Jocasta is far tougher than we ever gave her credit. Marvel’s recent “Star Wars: Darth Vader” comic revealed that Jocasta managed to survive the Purge and go underground. She resurfaced only to carry out a dangerous mission to prevent Vader and the Emperor from uncovering secret records indicating the locations of Force-sensitive babies across the galaxy.

    That series showed that Jocasta is every bit the badass warrior the rest of the Jedi were, and it also allowed her to play a crucial role in defeating the Empire and ensuring the Jedi would one day return.

    The Clonetroopers

    Lucasfilm

    In the movies, the Clonetropers were basically just cannon fodder, identical grunts designed to fight a war whose outcome was predetermined. The goal was never to explore the inner lives of clones or how they felt about fighting or dying for the Republic.

    That’s where shows like “The Clone Wars” and “Rebels” come in. These projects fleshed out the Clonetroopers in a way the movies never could. Fans got a chance to connect with individual soldiers like Captain Rex, Commander Cody, Echo and Fives and experience the war from the ground level. These shows proved that not all clones were blindly loyal to their creators, and some even went rogue and joined the Rebel Alliance.

    Darth Plagueis

    Lucasfilm/Del Rey

    Emperor Palpatine’s mysterious Sith mentor is only ever mentioned in the Prequels. Palpatine offers an intriguing account of the Sith Lord so gifted in the ways of the Dark Side that he could create life. But if you actually want a sense of who Darth Plagueis was, what motivated him and why Palpatine murdered his mentor, you need to read James Luceno’s novel “Darth Plagueis.” That book offers a full accounting of Plagueis’ career as a Sith Lord, while also offering fans a more detailed origin story for Palpatine than they had ever seen before.

    Technically, this novel is no longer part of Disney’s official “Star Wars” continuity. And with Palpatine apparently making his return in “The Rise of Skywalker,” we may get a very different account of his history with Plagueis. Even so, this book helps shed light on one of the most mysterious and compelling figures in the franchise.

    Auura Sing

    Lucasfilm

    The enigmatic bounty hunter Aurra Sing was one of several new characters to catch the eyes of fans when the buildup to “The Phantom Menace” began. Unfortunately, her actual role in the movie amounted to a “blink and you’ll miss it” cameo during the podrace sequence.

    Fortunately, Aurra took on new life in the Expanded Universe fiction, and she also played a key role in “The Clone Wars.” Several episodes of that series show Aurra mentoring a young Boba Fett, showing just how crucial she was in helping the son of the legendary Jango Fett become the most feared bounty hunter in the galaxy. That almost makes up for her off-screen death in “Solo: A Star Wars Story.”

    Mace Windu

    Lucasfilm/Del Ray

    Samuel L. Jackson‘s Mace Windu got a few cool scenes in the Prequel Trilogy, were he beheaded Jango Fett and nearly defeated the mighty Darth Sidious. But the movies never give much sense of who Mace is, where he came from or what makes this particular Jedi Master tick.

    That’s where the books, comics and novels come in. Mace plays a recurring role in “The Clone Wars” and recently starred in his own Marvel Comics series. But for anyone who truly wants to know more about the character, you’ll find no better outlet than Matthew Stover’s novel “Star Wars: Shatterpoint.” This book chronicles one of Mace’s most important missions during the Clone Wars and offers compelling insight into his relationship with the Force.

    Count Dooku

    Lucasfilm

    It’s easy to forget just how little Christopher Lee’s Count Dooku actually appears in the Prequels. He only shows up in the last act of “Attack of the Clones” and is killed off early into “Revenge of the Sith.” Who is this man who once numbered among the greatest Jedi Masters before falling to the Dark Side and helping Palpatine orchestrate the war?

    While Dooku’s past remains shrouded in mystery even now, he did experience some much-needed growth thanks to “The Clone Wars.” The series showed the many encounters Dooku had with the Jedi that we never saw on the big screen. It also greatly expanded on the relationship between Dooku and Palpatine, showing that Dooku had his own Sith apprentices and his own designs for the galaxy. Had Palpatine not brought about Dooku’s death, he may have been faced with a worthy challenger to his throne.

  • 17 Things You Never Knew About ‘Apocalypse Now’ on its 40th Anniversary

    17 Things You Never Knew About ‘Apocalypse Now’ on its 40th Anniversary

    United Artists

    It’s now been 40 years since Francis Ford Coppola gave us one of the greatest and most mind-bending war movies of all time. “Apocalypse Now” has lost none of its power over the decades. So strap on your helmet and head up-river to learn some interesting trivia about the background and infamously troubled production of “Apocalypse Now.”

    1. Writer John Milius listened exclusively to music by The Doors and Richard Wagner while he worked on the screenplay. Milius said he believed The Doors to be “the music of war,” a fact which greatly upset the members of the band.

    2. The majority of the dialogue had to be re-recorded during post-production, as the jungle environments and heavy background noise made much of the original dialogue impossible to use.

    3. Coppola originally offered the role of Captain Willard to “The Godfather” star Al Pacino. Pacino declined, telling Coppola he had no interest in spending months shooting in a swamp.

    Paramount Pictures

    4. Pacino was also one of several actors Coppola considered as a potential replacement for Marlon Brando, who repeatedly threatened to quit.

    5. Harvey Keitel was originally cast as Willard and was fired after two weeks of filming. At least one shot of Keitel’s Willard made it into the final version of the film.

    6. Martin Sheen largely improvised the scene where Willard has a meltdown in his hotel room. Sheen was heavily intoxicated and actually cut his hand when he punched the mirror.

    United Artists

    7. Sheen’s brother Joe Estevez plays an essential but uncredited role in the movie. Estevez served as a stand-in for his brother while Sheen was recuperating from a heart attack, and also provided the voice-over work for a large portion of Captain Willard’s narration.

    8. Coppola opted to frame Colonel Kurtz in shadow for most of his scenes, mainly to hide the fact that Brando arrived on-set extremely overweight.

    United Artists

    9. The friction between Brando and Coppola became so great that Assistant Director Jerry Ziesmer eventually took over filming for Brando’s scenes.

    10. Harrison Ford specifically chose his character’s name, “G. Lucas,” in tribute to “Star Wars” and “American Graffiti” director George Lucas. Lucas was once slated to direct “Apocalypse Now” himself, which he envisioned as a faux-documentary.

    11. The film’s famously disaster-ridden production is chronicled in the 1991 documentary “Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse.” The production went so far over budget that Coppola was forced to mortgage his house and winery in order to finish filming.

    Triton Pictures

    12. Widespread drug abuse was another major problem during filming. Dennis Hopper reportedly caused a teenage Laurence Fishburne to become addicted to heroin.

    13. Because the film includes no opening title card or credits, Coppola needed to include the shot of the graffiti tag “Our Motto: Apocalypse Now” in order to ensure the film could be copyrighted.

    United Artists

    14. The American Humane Association slammed the film with an “Unacceptable” rating after it was discovered the scene where the water buffalo is slaughtered was actually real.

    15. Coppola repeatedly struggled with his vision for the ending of the movie. Originally, the screenplay ended with Kurtz convincing Willard to join him and both men dying in a military airstrike, but Coppola opted for a less depressing finale.

    United Artists

    16. There are several alternate versions of the film in existence. 2001’s “Apocalypse Now Redux” adds 49 minutes of deleted footage, including the lengthy sequence where Willard and his crew encounter the French plantation owners. A bootleg workprint cut includes even more deleted footage, such as a death scene for Hopper’s character.

    17. 2019 will see the release of “Apocalypse Now: The Final Cut,” a 4K restoration that cuts roughly 20 minutes of footage that was added to “Redux.”

  • A Last Minute Appreciation of Michael Jackson’s ‘Captain EO’ Before the HBO Documentary Ruins It Forever

    A Last Minute Appreciation of Michael Jackson’s ‘Captain EO’ Before the HBO Documentary Ruins It Forever

    Disney

    This weekend the two-part Michael Jackson documentary “Leaving Neverland” airs on HBO (it starts on Sunday and concludes on Monday) and if the reaction out of Sundance is any indication of what we can expect from the controversial documentary, well, come Tuesday it’s probably going to be very difficult to listen to any Michael Jackson song again. Or watch any of his music video or movie projects, either. Which is why we’d like to take the time to appreciate “Captain EO,” his 3D marvel for the Disney Parks, while we still can.

    First, a bit of background: “Captain EO” was part of an initiative by newly-instated Disney CEO Michael Eisner to make Disneyland and Walt Disney World hipper and more appealing to kids. Considering Disney’s live-action film output had, since Walt’s death in 1966, not exactly been stellar, he turned to George Lucas to assist in this endeavor. Together, they came up with Star Tours and “Captain EO,” a “4D” film directed by Francis Ford Coppola (who needed a big commercial moment after a string of disappointments) and starring Michael Jackson. Jackson had been in Disney’s orbit for a while at this point and was well known for visiting Disneyland and Walt Disney World frequently. Also, he almost starred in a “Mary Poppins” sequel (yes, really). But that’s a story for another time.

    The storyline for “Captain EO,” about a ragtag group of space adventurers who bring peace (through music, of course) to a cold and hostile world, was one of several ideas Walt Disney Imagineers brought to Jackson. Another was a kind of updated version of “Thriller,” with Jackson traveling around the park and bringing various characters to life. (They even spoke with “Thriller” director John Landis about the project.) Finally, the “Captain EO” concept was decided upon, since it combined a different storyline that featured a “Peter Pan”-like set-up (which Jackson loved) and the movie’s futuristic theme park setting of Tomorrowland (in Disneyland) and Futureworld (in EPCOT Center at Walt Disney World). Coppola chose the title “Captain EO,” naming after Eos, the Greek goddess of dawn.

    Production was notoriously problematic, with Coppola and cinematographer Vittorio Storaro struggling with the cumbersome 3D cameras and visual effects and Lucas, who was thought to be a more hands-on producer thanks to his extensive knowledge of this type of production, taking a backseat role. As comedian Doug Benson, who served as a back-up dancer on the film, recalled on the podcast “I Was There Too,” at some point the production ran out of money completely, with trained professionals replaced by cheap extras. The final budget for the 17-minute extravaganza was a whopping $23.7 million, at the time the most expensive per-minute movie ever made (that stat would be eclipsed, a few years later, by James Cameron and his theme park attraction “T2 3D: Battle Across Time”). A popular rumor from the production’s extensive reshoots had the team replacing the head of robot character Minor Domo with a toilet’s ballcock because they couldn’t locate the original prop. Disney brass was apparently troubled by the amount of hip thrusts and crotch grabs, which is why there are moments during the movie that seem extra grainy; it’s because they had to be zoomed in to avoid the offending area. (Some thrusts still made it in.)

    When the movie premiered at Walt Disney World and Disneyland in 1986, more than a year after it was supposed to (they had to shove essentially a “proof of concept” film called Magic Journeys into the theaters specifically built for “Captain EO” after the delay), it was met with the full-court Disney marketing blitz, including an hour-long making-of television special (hosted by Whoopi Goldberg, who called the film “a 17-minute miracle of a movie”) and another hour-long grand opening celebration from Disneyland that featured some truly incredible of-the-moment celebrities Valerie Harper, Debra Winger and, um, OJ Simpson. The special was hosted by Patrick Duffy and Justine Bateman with performances by The Moody Blues, Robert Palmer and Starship (they performed on the Tomorrowland stage!) That grand opening celebration is also notable for a weird children’s choir version of Jackson’s “We Are Here to Change the World,” a song written for “Captain EO” and not officially released until a 2004 box set (and even that was a truncated version).

    As for the attraction itself, it opened on the same week in Florida and California in September 1986, a coordinated effort that seems downright incredible, even for the modern-day Disney machine, and came festooned with dazzling in-theater effects that earned its “4D” moniker.

    Disney

    And honestly, “Captain EO” was an expertly choreographed thrill ride. The story is pretty basic, with Jackson and his ragtag band of misfits crashing on a planet full of designs liberally borrowed from H.R. Giger (Anjelica Huston’s Supreme Leader make-up is particularly egregious), but the song-and-dance numbers are literally out-of-this-world and the movie’s message of peace and hope in technologically troubled times resonated at both theme parks. Putting on those plastic purple shades and walking into that theater, you felt like you really were being transported along on some intergalactic voyage. Disney allowed for a television broadcast of the movie once; it aired on MTV in the promotional lead-up to Jackson’s “HIStory” album release. It was just as amazing at home.

    Of course, all good things come to an end, and after the child molestation charges were first leveled against Jackson in 1993, it quietly closed in EPCOT the following year (and remained open in Tokyo Disneyland until 1996, Disneyland until 1997 and in Disneyland Paris until 1998). Associating a potential pedophile (even if he was never convicted) with the Disney brand was just too much. Of course, after Jackson’s untimely death, Disney started screening the film for members of Jackson’s family and friends and the decision was reached that the attraction would return for a limited time under the title “Captain EO Tribute” (this undoubtedly had to do with some legal reasons). And while the theater had gone through some changes and many of the effects didn’t return (more were back in California than Florida), it was still a blast to see Captain EO liberate a gloomy planet through the power of 1980s pop. This resurrected EO was a surprise smash, playing to packed houses and selling tons of merchandise. This iteration of “Captain EO” ended up running for 5 years in most parks, which is truly incredible.

    Now, it seems like the time to sunset both our warm feelings of the attraction and a healthy appreciation of Michael Jackson in general. We haven’t seen the two-part documentary yet but early reports say that it is scathing and really compelling and will fundamentally alter your view of the artist forever. It’s a shame, but knowledge is power. Captain EO himself would probably agree.

  • George Lucas Surprises Jon Favreau on ‘The Mandalorian’ Set

    George Lucas Surprises Jon Favreau on ‘The Mandalorian’ Set

    Jon Favreau/Instagram

    That’s quite a birthday surprise: “Star Wars” creator George Lucas stopped by the set of “The Mandalorian” to wish show runner Jon Favreau a happy birthday. (The “Iron Man” director turns 52 today.)

    Especially since we don’t recall seeing Lucas stopping by other recent “Star Wars” productions to say hello.

    Favreau shared the photo on Instagram, which prompted fans to speculate that Lucas might be directing an episode of the upcoming series.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/BpIRkFABs8W/?taken-by=jonfavreau

    Just yesterday, Favreau shared a group pic of the talent behind the upcoming “Lion King” remake. Hey, he’s almost as busy as Matthew Broderick!

    Lucasfilm previously announced that although Favreau is creating and writing the “Star Wars” spin-off, the show will have numerous directors, including Taika Waititi, Bryce Dallas Howard (the Force is strong in her family), Dave Filoni, Deborah Chow, and Rick Famuyiwa.

    At this point, we don’t know any cast members. And since the only photos we’ve seen have been of props and a helmeted character, the mystery remains.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/BoiNmUsBI1D/?taken-by=jonfavreau

    Here’s the official synopsis: “After the stories of Jango and Boba Fett, another warrior emerges in the ‘Star Wars’ universe. The Mandalorian is set after the fall of the Empire and before the emergence of the First Order. We follow the travails of a lone gunfighter in the outer reaches of the galaxy far from the authority of the New Republic.”

    The show is set to premiere on Disney’s upcoming streaming service sometime in late 2019.

    [Via Collider]