George Lucas Blog and Journals

With only 34 days left to the opening of "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," my level of excitement and anticipation can only be compared as second to the way I felt in the weeks leading up to the release of "Star Wars: Episode I- The Phantom Menace" back in 1999. It's that mix of nostalgia and the familiarity with the characters that makes this return to the big screen almost 20 years after the last 'Indiana Jones' adventure that makes this return that much sweeter and the anticipation off the charts.

Following in the footsteps of their other smart and calculated marketing campaigns, true to almost every Spielberg or Lucas production, interviews, photos and news about the movies they are working on have been severely limited and when news does break, it's usually with the majors. (Big, national press outlets, not the little movie-fan websites or even local papers.) So today is a big day for 'Indy' news as we have two major articles breaking!

First up is a terrific interview in this week's Entertainment Weekly (on newsstands tomorrow) with Spielberg and Lucas chatting about the state of movies today, about making this fourth 'Indy' picture and how the internet has changed the way studios market films. Steve Daly sat down with these two titans of the movie business and started things off of by comparing his meeting with the two of them like sitting down with Batman and Superman! And guess who wanted to be Superman with the big S? Head on over to EW and to find out! And don't forget to pick up a copy tomorrow for the pictures.

Also out today is a personal chat with Harrison Ford by Anthony Breznican in today's USA Today. Interviewed during a walk in the hills of Pacific Palisades, Ford talks about life, his love for flying his planes and being a grandpa! Of course, he mentions the latest Indiana Jones picture, but reveals nothing about the plot or its characters. He hasn't even seen the final cut of the movie, but he hopes to before it premieres next month at the Cannes Film Festival.

And in other Indy related news; they have announced that the run time for this fourth installment of the Indiana Jones franchise has been locked in at 140 minutes. That's right kids, two hours and twenty minutes! The run time of the last three were 115, 118 and 127 minutes! (Going from oldest to most recent.) (Source: IMDB.com). That's a long time to sit and watch anyone chase bad guys, leap from trucks and save the day! I just hope it doesn't feel long. There are some movies that I have watched that ran over two hours and twenty minutes, but they didn't feel long. But then there are the few that clock in at under 90 minutes and feel like an eternity. Here's hoping for the best!

I am glad that they are keeping trailers, clips, photos and news of the movie away from the preying eyes of journalists, bloggers and fans everywhere. When movies opened back in the dark ages, like 1989 when the last 'Indy' picture opened, all we had to go on was the movie poster, a few magazine or newspaper articles and then when you got to the theater some lobby cards. (Lobby cards were photos from the movie the studio would send over to be displayed by the theater. Read more about them at Wikipedia.) Oh to go back to the old days of movie openings!

"Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" opens in theaters worldwide May 22, 2008. Check out the official web site here.

What do you think? Are we better off seeing more or less of a movie before it opens? Sound off below!