Thomas and Meyjes Indy 3 scripts

Pan Rado

New member
Being a loyal follower of all things unproduced, I was curious whether you could share a fun fact or two about the unused scripts of Indy trillogy.
I read Monkey King, Saucer Man from Mars (or at least a detailed synopsis of some sort) and most of the early drafts of the films that were actually made.
Of course, I also read Lost Drafts article on theraider.net (quite an entertaining read). What I'm particularly interested in is Diane Thomas' Indy 3 script.
Also, on Indy DVDs, there is a glimpse of a script with a character named Chantal (I believe), where Grail is described as "the cup of Aryans". This is supposedly a version of IJ3 which has Holy Grail as a McGuffin, while the teaser, like in Monkey King, is set in a haunted house. Do you know who wrote this one?
I'd be thankful if someone would be able to enlighten me on the above.
 
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Strider

New member
I remember reading the Saucer Men one. It was good but I think I could have made it better. In my version there would be alot more globetrotting. For instance, I would have Indy get captured by the Soviets at one point and he would be brought to Moskow for some good old fashion snow action scenes. I would also have the mystery make him end up in Central America at some point, it would go along with all that stuff about the ancient mayans having alien origions and give him a chance to enter an ancient temple. I also wouldn't ever actually show the Saucer Men until prehaps the very last scene in the film in which I would have the lead Soviets open a crashed spaceship or something and then get killed Raiders style for it.
 

Finn

Moderator
Staff member
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Pan Rado

New member
Thanks.

Coulumbus' 'Monkey King' is rather strange. All those people complaining that Indy3 was too much of a comedy would probably hate that movie (if it was made). Still, it had a lot of good setpieces and a lighthearted feel to it.

But come on. A talking ape? It would be Indy's equivalent of Ewoks.

I don't like 'Saucer Men' that much, as for it reads like an X-Files inspired fan fiction.

Hey, everyone makes a cameo!
Indy gets married!
Aliens are among us!
We have a crappy title!

Nah, not really my cup of tea.

'Sons of Darkness" has some good drama, but not enough adventure. And Indy not knowing about his own son is some pretty heavy stuff for an Indy movie.

Now, "Sword of Arthur"... that's a hell of a story. I read it in one sitting and it was quite a ride. BUT, the structure is whacked - I think that the young Indy sequence would work better as a teaser (the flashbacks were really intrusive). Also, the story itself was too similiar to Last Crusade's. Still, reading the chase on the streets of London scene was one of the most "indy'ish" experiences I had outside the original trilogy.
 

San Holo

Active member
Haunted Castle

I finally got around to watching my Trilogy Bonus dvd last night, and heard Lucas, again, talking about the haunted castle that he wanted to use for the 3rd Indy film,instead of the grail..WTF. We all know how Lucas likes to save ideas and use them again(TOD mine chase was supposed to be in Raiders), but come on. There is not very many things that would spoil Indy 4 for me, but a spook house would be right at the top. How do you all feel about a haunted castle showing up in the next movie?
 

Stoo

Well-known member
A haunted castle idea was also experimented with in the TV show when Indy
faces off with vampires in "Transylvania - January 1918" (VHS "Masks of Evil").
While I do enjoy this episode, I don't believe that it would work for Indy IV.
 

Moedred

Administrator
Staff member
The idea emerged around 1985...

http://www.theraider.net/features/articles/lost_drafts_04a.php
Far from looking for the Holy Grail, Indy's next adventure was originally supposed to be a horror movie, 1930's style, set in a haunted house. This odd idea came from Lucas, who commissioned Diane Thomas, the writer of Romancing The Stone, to produce a screenplay. Thomas completed her first draft shortly before her untimely death in a car crash, but the script and the horror-movie idea were both scrapped. However, elements of it found their way into the opening sequence of the next shot at Indy 3 - Chris Columbus's failed (and fabled) Monkey King script.
 

Paden

Member
In reading over the summary that Moedred linked to from TheRaven, I have to say that I'm glad that a sequence like the one described in the Scottish castle never made it to film. The summary's joking reference to Scooby Doo is actually appropriate, and I think that is how the whole thing would have come across on the big screen.

I'm not saying that dark, supernatural elements don't have a place in the Jones films. Obviously they do. But, to draw a parallel, I think they have a role similar to that seen in some versions of the Arthurian stories. In King Arthur's legendary Britain, magic exists, but it's manifestation is rare and when it does occur, it is either subtle in the changes that it makes, or briefly brings about awe and wonder in those that witness its effects. The manifestation of the supernatural in the Arthurian tales is rare and always significant. I think the same holds true for the Indiana Jones films. If you take the supernatural element too far, as the Monkey King script did, than you end up with results that are, at best, cartoonish.
 

Moedred

Administrator
Staff member
Monkey King deserves an epic, verbatim 6-issue comic miniseries, overseen by Chris Columbus, with the Irish castle on the first issue's cover, just as he & Thomas & Lucas imagined it.
 

Moedred

Administrator
Staff member
The bonus DVD shows the top of page 35 of an early Crusade script. It goes:
------------
CHANTAL
A party of Germans has been digging around the castle for the last few summers.
INDY
Looking for the grail.
CHANTAL
Yes, they think it is the Cup of the Aryans.
INDY
Do they have government support?
CHANTAL
The Hitler Youth have been helping her dig.
INDY
Who is "She?"
CHANTAL
------------
 

Violet

Moderator Emeritus
Yeah, I saw that too! Sounds like Indy was going to know right from the beginning that Elsa's a bad girl.
 

Moedred

Administrator
Staff member
The guy who wrote Crusade version 1 and got a story credit, Menno Meyjes, seems to have been away at directing school. Now he's got a film coming out... think he'd share his version of the script?
 

Michael24

New member
Anybody have any details about the haunted house teaser? I was always intrigued by that idea and would like to have seen what it was like.
 

torao

Moderator Emeritus
Moedred said:
The guy who wrote Crusade version 1 and got a story credit, Menno Meyjes, seems to have been away at directing school. Now he's got a film coming out... think he'd share his version of the script?


Well...it's definitely a good idea to go after it. Good hunting!
 

Moedred

Administrator
Staff member
The new ToD DVD has a 'Locations' featurette. One of its pop-up trivia cards provides a pretty good summary of what may be the Meyjes version of Crusade:
One of the Early Drafts of "Last Crusade" opened in Mexico. Indy traveled to Montsegur, France; Venice, Italy; took the Orient Express, went to Istanbul, Turkey and finally to the ancient city of Petra, Jordan.
The Orient Express ran from Paris to Istanbul, with a route through Venice, so this makes sense geographically. More from Wikipedia:
The Nazis learned of the myths surrounding Montségur from a man named Otto Rahn in 1929, one year after the probable formation of the Ahnenerbe, an institution for research into German racial and cultural ancestry. Rahn wrote two bestseller Grail novels linking Montségur and Cathars with the Holy Grail... Some sources claim that the very secretive Ahnenerbe SS, as it was renamed, was part of the Third Reich's plan to win the war by discovering a superweapon such as the grail.
(Edit: No surprise, Otto Rahn's a member here... :))
 
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