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Indiana Jones and the Confounding Screen Credit Arbitration 03 Apr, 2008, 21:03 / 8 comments


Okay, so we're all aware of the behind-the-scenes soap opera concerning the various screenplays that attempted to rejuvenate the Indiana Jones film series before a script was finally written that was actually produced into the film we're all going to be seeing on May 22. By far the most well-known of the rejected drafts was the one by Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption, some Young Indy episodes), a treatment reportedly loved by Spielberg but not-so-loved by big George. Despite the attempts of the internet media to make it look like Frank Darabont is incredibly pissed off and wants to shoot George Lucas repeatedly in the face, it's evident that he's pretty chill on the whole thing:



Something you'll notice in that interview, though, is that Darabont mentions the possibility of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull containing more than a few similarities to his own work. The above interview was conducted a few months ago when Darabont was promoting his latest film, The Mist, and he had not yet read the script to see just how much of his ideas were used.

Well, it would seem, according to this annoyingly written article that not enough of Darabont's work survived the finished film to get his name in the credits, at least in the opinion of the WGA or whoever's responsibility it is to decide such matters. Interestingly, though, Jeff Nathanson shares a "story" credit with George Lucas in the final credits list - Nathanson is the guy who penned a draft between Darabont's dismissal and the final screenplay by David Koepp. Is there in fact a good deal of Darabont's work in the final product? Who knows, but I thought this was worth sharing.
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8 Comments

  • Ascovel on 04 Apr, 2008, 12:11…
    Darabont wasn't chill on the whole thing for a long time. He even spoiled some important points from George's story about two years ago.
  • Udvarnoky on 05 Apr, 2008, 17:39…
    ...such as?
  • Ascovel on 05 Apr, 2008, 20:27…
    UFO and Daniken
  • Udvarnoky on 06 Apr, 2008, 03:54…
    Source?
  • Ascovel on 06 Apr, 2008, 18:20…
    source: my memory

    Try googling darabont + UFO if you're interested in finding the interview. I'm not so desperate to back up my statement.

    I probably exagerated with the two years. It was more like one year ago.
  • Udvarnoky on 06 Apr, 2008, 22:21…
    I've certainly heard speculative attributions of UFOs and whatnot to Darabont's script, but I've never heard it from the scribe himself. Based on what we know now it's very likely true that said speculation was true, but it's a pretty big deal if he said so himself, and I never found such an interview yet.
  • Ascovel on 07 Apr, 2008, 10:09…
    I'm pretty sure I've read that in a direct quote from Darabont. I remember being angry that he just plainly said "My script was about this and this" and "I don't know if the new script will be about the same thing" like he didn't knew Lucas worked on one single story concept for years. It was a long time ago and noone got too excited about Darabont's statement. People truly believed that IJ + aliens must have been uniquely Darabont's idea and it's become history. The interview could've been easily "fixed" after some time, so this fragment may be immpossible to find now.
  • The Tingler on 03 Apr, 2008, 21:18…
    The problem with writers in Hollywood is that they always get screwed. The director, the actors, the producers, the composers, they get way more respect than the people who thought up the entire movie in the first place.

    It is very common, what happened to Frank Darabont. Very often every draft of a script will go through a different. If they're very lucky, they'll get a 'Story By' credit. Most of the time all but the final writer will get a small paycheque and no credit at all.