The Hollywood Reporter has a lengthy new interview with Harrison Ford, and while you should read the whole thing, it’s the Dial of Destiny segment you want. Find it below the cut:
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The knowledgeable know that before he joined the ranks of his younger buddy George's game studio, Hal Barwood belonged to the same filmmaking cohort as Lucas, befriending him at USC and going on to serve as animator on Lucas's first feature THX 1138.
Hal often worked alongside his writing partner Matthew Robbins, with their credits including such screenplays as The Sugarland Express, MacArthur and an uncredited contribution to Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The crown jewel of their collaboration was the cult classic Dragonslayer, which Robbins himself directed from their script. The film is a highlight of 1980s fantasy, with its uncompromisingly filthy 6th century vision and a dragon which celebrity uber-dorks like Guillermo del Toro and George R.R. Martin consider live action cinema's most iconic.
Being a Paramount/Disney co-production that didn't set the box office on fire, fans haven't held their breath on the film receiving the special treatment it deserves in the arena of home video, but sometimes the wheel turns favorably, and a handsome-looking 4K Blu-ray package freighted with extras is arriving on March 21st. Presuming Paramount didn't get cute and de-grain this earthy masterpiece, we're in for a real treat.
An interesting phenomenon of big franchise movies with their attendant merchandising tie-ins is that the toys sometime scoop the marketing machine. The logistical need for this stuff to be manufactured well ahead of time by the licensed partners, and the wacky calendar vagaries that can result, has historically led to reveals coming from unexpected places. I seem to vaguely recall that product descriptions for LEGO sets and the like back in 2007-2008 exposed otherwise shrouded story and character elements from Crystal Skull way in advance of the movie, for example.
Anyway, the tradition continues with Indy 5 -- Hasbro’s putting out a whole bunch of future landfill fodder for all the Indy movies, including something called a “Worlds of Adventure” line aimed at younger children. Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s character from the upcoming movie made the cut, and the packaging for her ends up unveiling her surname and presumably her vehicle of choice. Meet Helena Shaw:
Once your heart rate settles back down, there’s also the similarly detailed figure below for Mads Mikkelsen’s villainous Jürgen Voller, helpfully stripped of his Nazi iconography. I wanna say this character’s full name may have already been revealed elsewhere, but hey, now you know he might be piloting that aircraft in the movie, so there’s really no reason to go to the cinema at this point:
You can ensure the continued celibacy of your day by checking out Hasbro’s full line-up at Lucasfilm.com.
It seems Indy was driving around Morocco when he came down with some sort of a metaphor for Mojo’s backend. But seriously, folks.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny director Jim Mangold has some teases and a new production still for Entertainment Weekly, but only because the Webmonkey address bounced.
"I'm always interested in this idea of a hero at sunset," the director says. "What does the hero do when the world no longer has a place for him? I find it really interesting to try to look at classical heroes through the prism of our jaundiced contemporary attitudes."
However, whereas Logan was a "very purposefully and intentionally grim adventure, very dramatic, and very serious," Mangold says Dial of Destiny will be very different.
"I am under no illusions that my job making an Indiana Jones film was to suddenly beat the humor out of it and turn it into some kind of dirge," he says. "I think that what we're trying to do is balance both an accurate and realistic appraisal of where this character would be at this time in his life, and do that honestly, and at the same time, try and carry forward what the very title of our movie promises, which is a romp and a wonderful adventure with action and chivalry and escapes by the skin of your nose and ingenious solutions to diabolical problems. This is an Indiana Jones film."
He also confirms that Mutt will be unseen but acknowledged, while Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s character is the daughter of “a friend of Indy’s, who we will also meet in the movie.” That’s gotta be Toby Jones. Anyway, you’ll need to read the article for the rest.
By all accounts, George Lucas had virtually no creative role in the development or production of the new Indiana Jones, but a story is circulating that, having been shown a cut of the movie, Lucas requested to be onboarded as an Executive Producer. You can see his name among the EPs listed in Lucasfilm’s press release for this week’s trailer, whereas it was notably absent from previous issuances.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is a departure from tradition in that Steven Spielberg has ceded the director’s chair and assumed more or less the George Lucas role, while Lucas himself seemingly removed himself from the equation altogether in his embrace of retirement. With the movie essentially finished, his name being lent as a producer at this late date would seem to function as a vote of confidence. When asked for comment, Willow responded as follows on formal letterhead:
:~
Attendees of D23 got to see it in September (sans title). Attendees of CCXP22 - that would be Brazil's Comic-Con, for those who find unintuitive acronyms to be unintuitive - got to see it today. And now, so do you.
A lot to discuss here. And if you're Too Cool to carry it on in the comments, take it to the forum thread why don't you.
That's the title of the new Indy movie, per historically reliable purveyor-of-Indy-5-exclusives "ThrowMeTheWhip" over at The Raven, the forum of TheRaider.net.
Meanwhile, folks have gotten their hands on print copies of Empire's latest issue containing their big Indy 5 spread -- that would be the six-page "first look" of the movie that Empire's online presence has been teasing excerpts and photos from over the last week. Inevitably, somebody's got scans, but we at Mojo trust you will all do the right thing and refer to these only as a convenience after buying your own copy in support of print media.
It seems Empire is going to keep these coming at a steady drip until Thursday, and who am I to complain? The latest tease is of Phoebe Waller-Bridge's character Helena: Indy's goddaughter and by all accounts primary sidekick for his last adventure.
The opening reel of Indy 5 will see a de-aged Harrison Ford infiltrating a Nazi castle during World War II. More at the link in the tweet embedded below.
It would appear that the first three (out of eight) episodes of Willow have been distributed to distinguished members of the press, or in any case to a bunch of sites with “geek” in the name. (Not to be a churl, Craig, but Ronda Scott would have hooked us up.) And while an embargo prevents full reviews from being published until Nov. 30th, these critics can at least tweet their general reaction, and so they have:
Well, if you’re inclined to put your trust in whomever those people are, the show sounds like it’s more fun than a sharp stick in the eye.
Need more to sustain your excitement? You might also want to check out Gizmodo’s new interview with showrunner Jon Kasdan, who among other things discusses how the show somehow features Val Kilmer without featuring him. TV Line also got in on the action with an exclusive clip. I’m telling you, with Monkey Island 6 out the way, you can all finally devote yourselves body and soul to the true messiah. That would be Willow, for those playing at home.
Guess they wanted to save some stuff for the weekend. The latest Indy 5 tease is our first glimpse at Voller, the villain played by Mads Mikkelsen.
Follow the link for some new quotes and an image of Voller's "lapdog" played by Boyd Holbrook.
In Mojo’s typical mad dash to be the first to press, we overlooked the fact that Empire also released a new production still for Indy 5. Check it out beneath this excerpt from the first look you can enjoy in full when the magazine is published next Thursday.
Indiana Jones. Indy. Henry Jones Jr. Whatever you call him, Harrison Ford’s whip-cracking, Nazi-punching, relic-relishing archaeologist is cinema’s ultimate action hero – a man whose very image invokes the smell of popcorn and the thrill of big-screen adventure. Through the decades, he’s fought fascists, come face-to-face with the Ark Of The Covenant (albeit with his eyes closed), restored the Sankara Stones, drunk from the Holy Grail, and encountered interdimensional life. And he’s not done yet: 15 years after his last Indy outing, Harrison Ford is donning the fedora one last time in the as-yet-untitled Indiana Jones 5. Now, in a major world-exclusive, Empire presents your first look at his epic comeback.
In the new issue, we get the first word on the film that brings the iconic hero back to the screen – and its star promises all the excitement, emotion, spectacle, and unexpected turns that only Indiana Jones can provide. “It’s full of adventure, full of laughs, full of real emotion. And it’s complex and it’s sneaky,” Harrison Ford tells Empire. Stepping back into the world of Indy was no mean feat. “The shooting of it was tough and long and arduous,” he says. “But I’m very happy with the film that we have.”
Why go back, then? 2008’s Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull left our hero happily married to Karen Allen’s Marion Ravenwood. But while it found Indy older and perhaps wiser than we’d ever seen him in the original trilogy, it wasn’t necessarily an ending. That’s where Indiana Jones 5 comes in. “I just thought it would be nice to see one where Indiana Jones was at the end of his journey,” Ford explains. “If a script came along that I felt gave me a way to extend the character.”
That script comes from Jez and John-Henry Butterworth, writing alongside director James Mangold – the Logan and Ford V Ferrari filmmaker, now facing the daunting task of following up a certain Steven Spielberg (on board here as producer). For Mangold, it was all about the challenge of making a final Indiana Jones film. “It became really important to me to figure out how to make this a movie about a hero at sunset,” he says, noting that he steered the film further in that direction. “The issues I brought up about Indy’s age were not things I thought were being addressed in the material being developed at the time. There were ‘old’ jokes, but the material itself wasn’t about it. To me, whatever you greatest liability, you should fly straight towards that. If you try to pretend it’s not there, you end up getting slings and arrows the whole way.”
But let’s not get too hung up on the end just yet – the adventure is only just beginning. Stay tuned for more Indiana Jones exclusives coming soon from Empire, and seek out the world-exclusive Indiana Jones 5 issue – packed with the very first images and interviews, speaking to Harrison Ford, James Mangold, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Mads Mikkelsen, Shaunette Renée Wilson, Boyd Holbrook, James Mangold, Jez and John-Henry Butterworth, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and Simon Emanuel – when it hits newsstands on Thursday 24 November. Pre-order a copy online here.
Sure enough, Empire had something to share about Indy -- or will, in the upcoming edition of their magazine hitting newsstands November 24th. But to tease that preview, they do have these rad covers to show off:
At least, that seems to be the consensus interpretation of this announcement:
If Empire is running the first magazine spread for the picture tomorrow, it would be a nice appetizer ahead of the teaser trailer, which director James Mangold has already alluded to appearing in a matter of weeks. Maybe Empire will unveil the title? Or maybe Lucasfilm just wants to cease-and-desist a fan game on a bigger stage this time.
Variety is reporting that Disney+ is eyeing up an Indiana Jones TV series. Seems perfect timing now that Harrison Ford has retired from that iconic role to join the Marvel universe. Quite what the show will entail is still a ways off.
Details are still scant as Disney isn’t sure what kind of show this will be, a prequel, a sequel, a spin-off, or a reboot. But the vital thing to know is that the company has something non-specific in mind, the perfect place to start when reviving a beloved character.
Nice to see the character finally getting some more attention, what with the forthcoming movie and videogame.
Disney is meeting the interesting challenge of resuscitating Lucasfilm’s Willow with a certain amount of “How do we do this?” where the marketing is concerned. Few things say Modern Trailer quite like monotonous pop music and overdelivered comic beats that land with a thud, and the latest promo for the series is nothing if not fashionable:
Sorry you had to go through that, but you’ll probably find yourself less cringe-stricken on average by this poster:
I can’t identify the artist, but the victory here is that a poster was commissioned that actually called for one.
In any event: Willow.
The Indiana Jones 5 sizzle reel that was shown at D23 was unfortunately exclusive to the expo, leaving its dissemination up to the cell phone videography of a sneaky audience member.
Well, that leak has occurred. With all the implied quality disclaimers, you can find it here...for now. If you'd rather wait for something that looks good for your first impression, a proper teaser is likely to drop in December (though it's unclear if it'll be a version of this or something new altogether) in front of the new Avatar.
Meanwhile, Willow has been given a 4K upgrade on Disney Plus, so you're gonna wanna get on that.
Expectations were exceeded for Indiana Jones 5's showing at D23. While the guarded speculation was that the title would be announced, this did not come to pass (which makes you wonder if they know it yet), but that couldn't have stung much for the panel's audience when the first footage was debuted to them instead.
Problem is, this sizzle reel was exclusive to the event, so no official upload will be forthcoming, and at this point an unofficial one doesn't seem likely either. You're going to have to make do with writeups of the trailer, such as the one below from The Wrap:
The “Indiana Jones 5” trailer was wonderful, showing a bunch of great moments: Mads Mikkelsen as a Nazi, Indy riding a horse through the New York subway, a chase that takes place in a Manhattan tickertape parade, and Sallah (played, once again, by John Rhys-Davies). We also see Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s character and the trailer ends with Indy getting his whip out and snapping it at a bunch of bad guys, who promptly get out a lot of guns. He ducks.
It looks like it really captures the spirit of the original three films, a spirit that was sadly missing during the most recent installment, “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.”
What did make it online was footage of James Mangold, Harrison Ford and Phoebe Waller-Bridge on stage before/after the trailer ran. Ford emotionally describes the movie as his last outing as Indy and praises his costar. Here is one capture:
Hey, at least Willow didn't let you down.
Not sure what else I can do to frame that, so here are the goods: