Yes, you read that headline correct.
Forget set photos from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull for a moment.
Take a look at the newly released Lego set based on the film. We'd imagine this is the first of countless marketing tie-ins for the movie:
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John Hurt is a veteran actor who portrays Abner Ravenwood, Indiana Jones' mentor in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
He recently talked about the movie with Premiere.com:
What keeps you interested in working in films? It seems you're busier now than you've ever been.
Thank god. I love working, so I'm very pleased about that. I always try to stay true to my reasons for doing a film, which are basically that it should stand the chance of succeeding on the level that is intended to succeed on.
How did you get involved in the new Indiana Jones movie?
I was invited to do it. I'd never met Steven Spielberg before, and he called me out of the blue. I almost felt like saying, "Oh yeah, Steven Spielberg⦠uh-huh." Anyway, we had a chat and he said, "Do you want to come make a film for me?" I said, "Well, that sounds very inviting." "In Peruâ¦" I said, "In Peru! Yes, that sounds extremely inviting."
We looked into it and there were various things about it â" like the time I had to be on set â" where I thought, "No, this isn't going to work out." But then I was advised by everybody that it'd be a good thing to do. And I did enjoy it. I mean, look, talk about standing the chance of succeeding on the level that it's intended to succeedâ¦
Not many actors would have thought twice, as it sounds like you did, about accepting a role in an Indiana Jones adventureâ¦
I want to be careful here, because I don't want to make it sound as if I'm anti- the film â" I'm not at all. But if I was asked what I would choose to do, it would be lightweight for me, at least for that sort of time commitment. But having accepted it, I enjoyed working with Steven hugely, and we had a great cast. I just wish we'd had something of fabulous interest between each other to act!
Read the full interview with Hurt now.
Take a closer look at the poster for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
If you study the bridge of the nose on the skull, you'll see what appears to be the face of an alien. This follow talk that creatures would actually play a role in the film.
Might those from outer-space join numerous Russians (one of whom is played by Cate Blanchett) as villains in the film?
More details are emerging about Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
When last we left our hero, as USA Today reports, he was riding off into the sunset in 1989's The Last Crusade, set in 1938 near the start of World War II. The new film, meanwhile, is set at the height of the Cold War in 1957, so the character has aged 19 years in real time.
"He's teaching and having kind of a quiet life," Producer Frank Marshall says, adding that once the archaeologist is thrust back into danger, the signature Indiana Jones red line tracing across the map will take him to New Mexico, Connecticut, Mexico City and the jungles of Peru.
The Nazis are no longer Indy's chief enemy: he's racing for the Crystal Skull against operatives from the Soviet Union, including Oscar winner Cate Blanchett as the seductive Agent Spalko.
"Indy always has a love-hate relationship with every woman he ever comes in contact with," Marshall says.
Ray Winstone (Beowulf) co-stars as an unethical rival archaeologist. Shia LaBeouf sports greaser hair and rides a motorcycle as the hero's sidekick.
The Last Crusade concluded without a cliffhanger, but Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull will revisit bits from other films, including Karen Allen's feisty Marion Ravenwood from 1981's Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Producer Frank Marshall recently spoke on Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Just how did the making of this movie finally come about?
"It's kind of been out there in the air, but we never had the right script, and we kind of put it on the backburner and then back in 2000, we all went to the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award for Harrison," Marshall said. "George and Harrison and Steven and I and Kathy were all backstage all dressed up and we were looking at clips from the movies and we thought, âGod, those were really fun. Maybe we oughta really focus on trying to do another one.
And that's what happened. David Koepp came up with a great script finally, and we're done shooting and now in the editing process. It's pretty amazing."
Marshall continued:
"What we've done is we moved it from the '40s to the â50s so we're acknowledging that everybody's 10 or 15 years older and it plays into the story," he told us when asked about how things would be different from the earlier movies.
We're not trying to hide that Harrison's older, but we have Shia LaBeouf coming in as his sidekick, so we've got a young element. The best way to describe the movie is that it's an Indiana Jones movie. It's got all the style and elements of the old movies, and we're not really trying to do anything different."
Nor would we want them to!
David Koepp is the man behind the script of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
And as fans look forward to the film, Koepp just hopes he didn't mess up the franchise.
"I hope it's along the lines of the first one," he said. "It's certainly not as dark as the second one and it's certainly not as humor driven as the third one. Hopefully it will have its own place [but] it's closest to ['Raiders']."
In the end has the movie met the writer's lofty goal?
"I've seen some footage and it's really thrilling," Koepp said. "When you first see Harrison Ford back in Indy garb â" it's just really cool."
Take this as a rumor, but we've heard the following about Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
To celebrate Close Encounters of the Third Kind's 30th anniversary, Steven Spielberg has dusted off those rubber Extraterrestrial dummies for a cameo appearance in the final (we assume) installment of Indiana Jones.
This may sound ludicrous, but Harvard lecturer Dr. Marc Zender makes it seem as though aliens may play a role in the film.
He explains that crystal skulls were once displayed in museums across the globe as proof of ancient Mayan grinding technology, but they're actually all fakes, most likely manufactured in late 19th-century Germany.
Can you imagine aliens popping up in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull?
"These things are big crystals, and people started thinking of them as these super computers of past civilizations," Dr. Zender said. "If a silicon chip can hold tons of information and data, imagine what a gigantic 11-pound crystal can hold. So maybe this skull has stored all of the lost knowledge of the Mayans or Atlantians, or ET."
There's a thick veil of secrecy around the plot of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. But British actor Ray Winstone did give us a hint into his character at least:
He plays a sidekick to Harrison Ford's iconic hero.
"It's alright, I like it," Winstone said of the second-banana role. "I've enjoyed working with [Ford]; it's fun."
As far as the film itself goes, the star says fans should get ready for a mixture if action, heartfelt moments and comedy.
"They wouldn't last forever if they just had action," he said. "If it all works to plan, which I'm sure it will, it [will have that mix]; it starts off with a gallop, and [the script] just gets quicker and quicker and quicker. It's one hell of a story, actually."
Lastly, the actor expressed enthusiasm for the work of franchise newcomer Shia LaBeouf, who he said has brought the Indy world a welcomed sense of improv.
"Shia's a great kid. He's got his feet on the ground, and he's a born actor, this boy," Winstone said. "I like him a lot."
Since this interview, of course, LaBeouf has been arrested for public intoxication. But we'll assume Winstone still likes him.
According to IGN, Steven Spielberg thanked his cast and crew as they shared a toast before filming the final shot on Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull this week.
You can actually watch the celebratory moment online at IndianaJones.com.
During a recent chat with IGN and other members of the media on the Universal Studios lot, Spielberg confirmed that the Russians are villains in the fourth installment of the hugely popular franchise, which he says is accurate given the film's 1950s time period.
He also said that from the movie's opening shot you can immediately tell who these villains are and why.
When asked about Shia LaBeouf taking over the mantle of action hero from his co-star Harrison Ford, Spielberg simply said that LaBeouf has a lot of big things in his future, including multiple Transformers movies.
Mark it down, fans:
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull hits theaters on May 22, 2008.
