The Monkey King Script

Johnny Jones

New member
The Man said:
What's wrong with George Lucas? Seriously, what is wrong with him?
Why does he get blamed for everything? He didn't write this script! And besides he obviously rejected it anyway!
 

The Man

Well-known member
Johnny Jones said:
Why does he get blamed for everything? He didn't write this script! And besides he obviously rejected it anyway!

Lucas was merely biding his time with this farrago. The crystal skull was always going to be the focus of Indy 4, and Ol' George had this written merely to make the eventual 'working' screenplay seem somewhat better in comparison. Not by much, though. Spielberg is equally culpable, too.

http://www.filmstalker.co.uk/archives/2006/08/indiana_jones_iv_to_be_controv.html

..."I discovered a McGuffin," continues Lucas, still reluctant to name said McGuffin. "I told the guys about it and they were a little dubious about it, but it’s the best one we’ve ever found… Unfortunately, it was a little too ‘connected’ for the others. They were afraid of what the critics would think.
 

Udvarnoky

Well-known member
Cagefighterkip said:
i do dig the haunted mansion part of it all...

Yeah that was the best part, a leftover from when Indy3 was supposed to be entirely about a haunted castle before Spielberg rejected it. The story goes that Diane Thomas (of Romancing the Stone fame) was hired to write the haunted mansion draft before her death. I don't know if the script was ever actually written though.

JerryKing said:
By the way, a note of caution to those who categorically claim that "Kingdom..." will be perfectly crafted by Spielberg and saved from everything which appears bad and which is obviously Lucas's fault: Steven Spielberg loved the Monkey King script, while George Lucas was not ecstatic about it. Consider that.

While I do remember Spielberg saying good things about this script (possibly just to be nice), I also remember him saying that he did not want to direct it.
 

Attila the Professor

Moderator
Staff member
The Man said:
Lucas was merely biding his time with this farrago. The crystal skull was always going to be the focus of Indy 4, and Ol' George had this written merely to make the eventual 'working' screenplay seem somewhat better in comparison. Not by much, though. Spielberg is equally culpable, too.

http://www.filmstalker.co.uk/archives/2006/08/indiana_jones_iv_to_be_controv.html

I haven't checked the link, so maybe it's told you something that it hasn't told me, but Monkey King was <I>never</I> considered for Indy IV, only Indy III. The tank sequence, boat sequence, and emphasis on eternal life/rapid aging make that pretty clear.
 

Muttette

New member
Why this script is a work of genius...

...and my word's as good as an angel's kiss.

Hahahaha this script is hilarious!


PRIESTLY
Moby Dick.

INDIANA
Huh?...




SCRAGGY
Indy! At last we are reunited!
(looks to sky)
Oh, Keechingo, God Of Friendship...I
thank you for granting my wish!

Indy RESTS Scraggy back onto the ramp. Scraggy MOVES to assist Indiana
with his luggage. Before picking it up, Scraggy RAISES his arms over
the baggage. Again, he BLESSES the suitcases. Scraggy then PICKS UP
the bags. Indy CHUCKLES.

INDIANA
I see you haven't changed, Scraggy.

SCRAGGY
Mahootmek, God Of Goodness, say...
"Before body make contact with
foreign object...one must cast out
bad spirits, or -- "

INDIANA
" -- or bad spirits will enter your
body!"

SCRAGGY
Yes! You have excellent memory,
Indy.

INDIANA
I should! Last time we saw each
other...you made me wear the same
clothes for 3 weeks straight.

SCRAGGY
Never separate body from clothes, or
bad spirits will hide in pockets!

INDIANA
In other words... If people never
changed clothes...there would be no
evil in the world.

SCRAGGY
Exactly!


Why did they have to cut Scraggy?! He's awesome!
 
Wow, this sounds really bad. KOTCS truly is Shakespearian in comparison.

Does anyone have an updated link to somewhere that I can download the script? I've gotta read more of this tripe, and the one posted higher up the thread is no longer active.
 

Col. Detritch

New member
Monkey King Script Potential

I was reading through the Monkey King script by Chris Columbus and was thinking of the future potential it might have. Maybe not as a film but maybe as a novel or game.

In my opinion it would make a marvellous novel, with some more Indesque modifications. IMO this works out because it is almost completely different to the film script other than the tank (which is different anyway) a boat sequence (different) and the artifact providing eternal youth (Different artifact used anyway). The script is even based in a different year!

Some changes I'd make would be:
-The 'Haunted House" Opening sequence
-Betsy trying to commit suicide (Humorous but I found it had to take her serious after!)
-Kezure, not the entire character but I wouldn't make him a pirate (just doesn?t sit right). Maybe he could be a German scientist, Dr Klaus Von Kezure, who got lost in the jungles years back looking for the city and befriended a tribe of natives who he commands over. Then they attack the river boat instead
-And finally the excessive use of the Gorillas at the end (also didn't feel right) and the resurrection of Sun Wu-Kung!

Otherwise fantastic script and perfect Indy novel! :hat:
 

Montana Smith

Active member
Col. Detritch said:
I was reading through the Monkey King script by Chris Columbus and was thinking of the future potential it might have. Maybe not as a film but maybe as a novel or game.

In my opinion it would make a marvellous novel, with some more Indesque modifications. IMO this works out because it is almost completely different to the film script other than the tank (which is different anyway) a boat sequence (different) and the artifact providing eternal youth (Different artifact used anyway). The script is even based in a different year!

Some changes I'd make would be:
-The 'Haunted House" Opening sequence
-Betsy trying to commit suicide (Humorous but I found it had to take her serious after!)
-Kezure, not the entire character but I wouldn't make him a pirate (just doesn’t sit right). Maybe he could be a German scientist, Dr Klaus Von Kezure, who got lost in the jungles years back looking for the city and befriended a tribe of natives who he commands over. Then they attack the river boat instead
-And finally the excessive use of the Gorillas at the end (also didn't feel right) and the resurrection of Sun Wu-Kung!

Otherwise fantastic script and perfect Indy novel! :hat:

I read through the script a while ago, and though it was interesting, some of it seemed even further off-course than KOTCS. It was more like reading a comic book version of Indy, rather than imagining a film version.

Betsy trying to commit suicide over Indy, even if it was portrayed humourously, came across to be as more than a bit disturbing. There were certainly some good ideas and locations, but as a whole it felt like it was written by somebody who was influenced more by the Marvel 'Further Adventures' comics, rather than the films. My views might be prejudiced, though, by constantly telling myself that this was a rejected script, and therefore not Lucas-sanctioned.

African river boats, jungle outposts and so on would be cool settings. When I think of scenes like that I'm always reminded of Conrad's descriptions in 'Heart of Darkness', and then of the Tarzan movies (from the sublime to the ridiculous, I know!) Classic locations for adventure and intrigue.


If the monkeys in KOTCS brought criticism I wonder what the reaction to the gorillas would have been?
 

Col. Detritch

New member
Yeah, certain moments are 'cring worthy' in any sence of the word, like the Betsy suicide part and gorillas!:eek: . I never thought of it like the Marvel comics but parts are along the same lines, but, in my opinion, a hole lot more faithful to the character than the horrid comics:sick: !

Do you think the script, with ajustment, could pass as a half decent novel?:hat:
 

Montana Smith

Active member
Col. Detritch said:
Yeah, certain moments are 'cring worthy' in any sence of the word, like the Betsy suicide part and gorillas!:eek: . I never thought of it like the Marvel comics but parts are along the same lines, but, in my opinion, a hole lot more faithful to the character than the horrid comics:sick: !

Do you think the script, with ajustment, could pass as a half decent novel?:hat:

I think of the comics, the Marvel ones were the least Indy-like. I haven't read any of the novels apart from the film novelizations, so I don't know what their tone is. Likewise with the Young Indiana Jones series - that format never appealed to me, so I know very little about them. I've read a lot of comics, and the script seems more suited to that format.

On the other hand, I've read a lot of Hellboy comics and Hellboy novels, and to me, both are inter-compatible. So on that basis, the Monkey King might make a good book.
 

JP Jones

New member
The Monkey King script, as it is, would be a great novel or even game, but with a few tweaks we could've had a great movie. I didn't read the whole thing, but from what I saw, it seems to me like if they got rid of some of the silly stuff that would fit into a video game or something I would've liked it much better than LC. IMO Africa is a lot more fun than Germany and it suits indy better. The time has past for this to be a movie, but it could've been really cool.:(
 

RedeemedChild

New member
JP Jones said:
The Monkey King script, as it is, would be a great novel or even game, but with a few tweaks we could've had a great movie... IMO Africa is a lot more fun than Germany...:(

I also agree. I'd love to both an Indiana Jones video game and movie that would make use of the "Monkey King Script". I also agree that Africa could be a lot more enjoyable than Germany.
 

Udvarnoky

Well-known member
The Monkey King script was considered for a graphic adventure adaptation at LucasArts in the late 80s/early 90s, but the designers didn't think it was strong enough material and chose to make their own story - Fate of Atlantis was the result. Just food for thought!
 
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