Steven Spielberg is a visionary director who is the brain behind many hit franchises. He is often seen as one of the pioneers of the “New Hollywood” era and has won multiple accolades for his work in the world of cinema. One of his biggest hit franchises is Indiana Jones, which just received its last installment but this time was helmed by James Mangold.
The Indiana Jones franchise began in 1981 with Raiders of the Lost Ark, where Steven Spielberg helmed the project alongside George Lucas as a producer. The franchise grew under the two cinematic geniuses with three more installments with Spielberg as the director, all of them did great at the box office. But the process behind the making of such a huge franchise isn’t an easy one. Some ideas make it into movies while some go straight to the trash can.
Steven Spielberg rejected the idea of Star Wars-like treatment for Harrison Ford’s Indy
Steven Spielberg is definitely a visionary but sometimes not all his visions are as great as the ones we get to see in the final cut. And that is the best part because Spielberg is able to reject his bad ideas. This also happened when he came up with a plot idea where in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Harrison Ford would receive a Star Wars-like plot that included Sean Connery playing a character similar to Old Yoda.
In an interview, Steven Spielberg recalled the development of the plot that showcased the bond between Indiana Jones and his estranged father. He revealed,
“The dad thing was my idea. The Grail doesn’t offer a lot of special effects and doesn’t promise a huge physical climax. I just thought that the Grail that everybody seeks could be a metaphor for a son seeking reconciliation with a father and a father seeking reconciliation with a son. It also gave me a chance to suggest Sean Connery. Who else but Bond could have been worthy enough to play Indiana Jones’ dad?”
Harrison Ford also talked about the Yoda treatment for Connery’s character which was supposed to be the initial plot of the film, and the actor thought it wasn’t the best idea,
“There were some other thoughts. There was an early concept of Indiana’s father as a wise old Yoda type. I don’t think that would have worked as well as having somebody of the strength of Sean.”
The director, later, too dropped the Star Wars-influenced idea and focused more on building a plotline that showed the bond between a father and a son. The eventual plot that the hit movie did work out and was liked by the fans. But the possibility of a different plot does intrigue the fans of the franchise, especially considering Geroge Lucas, the creator of Star Wars, himself was attached to the project.
Sean Connery talked about his experience on Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
The late actor, Sean Connery, who is remembered for his role as James Bond, played the role of Sir Henry Jones, the father of Indiana Jones. The two had a tense bond and it was more of the emotional core of the 1989 movie. The actor Sean Connery talked about the time when he was informed that Steven Spielberg wanted to talk to him.
In the same interview, Connery shared,
“I was doing a film with Peter Hyams, The Presidio. Peter knows Steven and said that he wanted to talk to me about a film. I had no idea it was Indiana Jones.”
He further detailed his take on the plot and the planning that went behind creating the movie,
“They had to be very sure what they were going for. A more academic-type casting would have been somebody like Gregory Peck, but you needed somebody that Harrison could bounce off. Henry had to be something pretty special to produce Indy. Also, he had to be something different. When Indy says, “You never talked to me,” I say, “Well, you weren’t interesting until you were 19.” Which is right below the belt, but probably right on the nose.”
The movie helped revive the franchise after the negative reviews received by The Temple of Doom. The movie received mostly positive reviews and earned $474.2 million at the budget against a budget of $48 million.
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is available to stream on Disney+.
Source: Empire
