The Indiana Jones franchise recently saw a revival with Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. The Harrison Ford starrer was the first film that was not directed by Steven Spielberg, with Ford v Ferrari and Logan director James Mangold sitting on the chair this time around. The film underperformed at the box office, earning only a meager $360 million against a $300 million budget.
While the latest Indy film is the first flop in the series, it was not nearly as controversial as its predecessor. The fourth film of the franchise, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was notorious for its deviation into sci-fi territory and opened to mixed reviews. On top of that, a new report has indicated that an extra from the film was blacklisted from Hollywood after he did one grave mistake.
Indiana Jones’ Return To Glory
Before Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the Harrison Ford starring franchise received its last entry in 1989. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade starred Ford along with Sean Connery as his father. The film was the highest-grossing film of 1989, earning over $470 million against a $48 million budget. The film also opened to extremely positive reviews.
The franchise created by George Lucas and directed by Steven Spielberg went on a hiatus, with the latter not sure about his return to the franchise. While Lucas was planning on a shift to sci-fi territory with the franchise, Spielberg and Ford were not entirely sold on that idea. By the time Lucas had finished a script with Last Crusade writer Jeffrey Boam in 1996, Roland Emmerich’s Independence Day had been released and Spielberg told Lucas that he would not do an alien invasion film.
The film was finally greenlit and started filming in 2007 with Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford returning for the film. Shia LeBeouf and Cate Blanchett also joined the cast. The film opened to mixed reviews but received a massive response at the box office, earning over $790 million against a $185 million budget. It was the second-grossing film of the year, coming up behind Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight.
Since its release, however, the film has been considered one of the worst in the franchise. The original trilogy is still considered to be the best of the lot. The series is still one of the most anticipated IPs in the business.
The Extra Who Spoiled Indiana Jones
When it comes to coveted franchises, spoilers are a big ‘no’. Nobody is exempted from this rule and nobody gets away with revealing plot details about one of the most anticipated films. However, some do not take these rules seriously.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull faced two such incidents. The first, production photos and sensitive documents were stolen from director Steven Spielberg’s office. After being notified that the documents were being sold on the Internet, the LA County Sherriff’s Department set up a sting operation and arrested Roderick Eric Davis. He was sentenced to over two years in prison.
The second instance, however, is much more infamous. Tyler Nelson, an extra on the film, revealed many details regarding the film such as Indiana Jones’ quest, the inclusion of the iconic character Marion Ravenwood and the context of a scene between Harrison Ford and Cate Blanchett. He revealed this to Edmond Son and thus breached his Non-Disclosure Agreement.
Insiders revealed that Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford were fuming at the incident as re-shooting the scenes would prove impossible. Talking to Express magazine, an insider revealed,
“Steven has said it’s way too late and it would be way too expensive to reshoot the key scenes Tyler has blabbed about. He and Harrison are spitting blood. If I were Tyler, I don’t think I’d ever be brave enough to set foot in this town again, let alone look for work.”
Nelson was sued for his breach of contract and the lawsuit was settled out of court. No details regarding the settlement have been revealed. As predicted, the actor has since not appeared in anything, including Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull. He supposedly played the role of a ‘dancing Russian soldier’ and the scene does not make it into the final cut.
Source: The Things
