Why Did It Have to Be Snakes.

Getting away from the normal drama, over exaggerated garble I type here, I received the best news thus far this year.

Are you ready?

Indiana Jones 4 is now in pre-production. It will come to theatres in the summer of 2008!!!! You have no idea how long I’ve waited to hear that bit of news.

Do you know how many years I’ve read the rumors and BS "Production News" lies. All of them spread false hope. Do you know how many "bootleg" scripts of INDY 4 I’ve read in the past eight years? I’ve read Darabont’s, Koepp’s, Kasdan’s and countless other’s specs. The stories ranged from Indy’s son going after Noah’s Ark to Indy coming out of retirement to find Jimmy Hoffa’s body.(Just kidding on the second one.) The others ranged from chasing Nazis, dragons, and all sorts of superstitious hocus pocus. I loved almost everyone I read. So now, it’s really happening and they are keeping the script under lock and key. In fact, there was one rumor where the script was actually being printed with invisible ink and only the key Execs had the "serum" to make it readable. Either way, I won’t cause a big ruckus over what it is about nor will I blow any money buying a pirated copy off eBay. I want to be surprised. I look forward to anxiously awaiting the open date. I look forward to news updates, teasers, trailers and all that other marketing crap. (I’ll be first in line to buy a movie poster for my new office and house.) Raiders was the movie that threw me in this tumultuous career path and I know Indy 4 will never, ever surpass Raiders but c’mon....

It took almost ten years of script writing to get Lucas, Speilberg, Connery and Ford to commit to it. It will be worth every minute, hour, day, month I have to wait. The last movie I did the countdown on was Miami Vice. It was at the casting stages when I heard about it. Indy hasn’t even arrived at the concept art yet so the next year will be painstakingly tough and although timing sucked and I never made it to the theater to see ’Vice’ on the big screen. ( I was in route on opening night when my babysitter bailed on me,) I will not miss Indy.

In the Summer of 2008, Payton will be two and a half and although she won’t be old enough to take, I’ll remember as I approach the box office that fateful Friday night when my father looked back at me as he paid for our tickets for Raiders with his eyebrow raising smile and said, "Here we go," wishing I could share that moment with her too. To end yet another rant, I hope it will restore my faith in America Cinema.

*Note to George Lucas

Please man, don’t cake it up. You got away with all the CGI in Star Wars, because, well you had to, but Indy is real sets, natural backgrounds. Indy is dirt, blood and real camels, snakes, rats and well, not real, nazis. If I see a thousand CGI’d snakes and not the real thing, you will ruin everything great about the series. I hope I’m not alone on this. George, Steve-- Please build sets. Not Green Screens. Put glass in front of the snakes, (even if we can see it,) not wire and key frames. Really blow up the tank and whatever you do, have the Prop Master round up at least thirty fedoras because again, if I see one CGI’d fedora fly off of Mr. Ford’s head and blow down a cliff or something, I’m going to really write you off, Lucas. (You were already gone until Star Wars Episode 3, so be on your best behavior.) Go back to your roots.

(I got a new set of brush markers. I had to try ’em out.)

For more information on Indiana Jones. Check out this cool site I discovered.