Leftovers from previous drafts for Indy V

Toht's Arm

Active member
Hey folks, first post here. I've spent a couple of months reading through these boards, so hopefully this hasn't been discussed in detail in another thread before.

As we all know, each successive Indy film used leftovers from that which had been suggested but not used before (for example, the rolling gong/minecart ride in Temple (ex-Raiders), the speed boat scene/tank fight in Last Crusade (ex-Monkey King), the fridge in Crystal Skull (ex-Saucer Men from Mars).

If an Indy V does get made (and I'm in the "yes, please!" camp), there's a good chance that it'll salvage unused ideas from previous scripts. What ones can people think of?

- The haunted castle scenario (as touched on in The Monkey King, but mentioned more substantially by Lucas at some stage).
- An evil character with a robotic arm (as originally planned to be in Raiders, and then in Monkey King). I personally hope not; with a possible 60s setting of Indy V, that would be way too James Bond for my liking.
- A motorcycle chase over the Great Wall of China (apparently in Lucas' initial treatment for the second film). This gets my vote for the most promising inclusion in a future outing...
- The valley of dinosaurs (again, the original treatment for the second film, though since Spielberg has two Jurassic Park films under his belt (and we've had a recent version of King Kong), this seems unlikely)
- The biplane fight from City of the Gods (a divisive scene on these boards, though certainly very far-fetched.)
- Indy being swallowed by a giant snake (from City of the Gods).
- Rooftop fight with the assassin from City of the Gods.
- The museum scene from City of the Gods.
- Oversized bugs/animals (City of the Gods).
- Being attacked by river pirates (Monkey King et al).
- Indy being attacked by gorillas (Monkey King, prologue to a Last Crusade draft - which included Indy battling for possession of Montezuma's mask).
- The search for/return of Abner Ravenwood (certainly, lots of people here talk about it. And I believe it was part of the initial idea Lucas had for the sequel to Raiders).

- Indy catching the egg (or maybe not...) ;)
 

Mickiana

Well-known member
Without trying to sound like too much of a downer, after reading that list maybe new ideas are the way to go? Then you are totally freed up to be creative as you are not trying to stuff old leftovers into a new script.
 

Toht's Arm

Active member
Mickiana said:
Without trying to sound like too much of a downer, after reading that list maybe new ideas are the way to go? Then you are totally freed up to be creative as you are not trying to stuff old leftovers into a new script.

Absolutely, I appreciate that. I was just going on the fact that ALL the Indy sequels have done this to some extent. To be honest, I don't know why Lucas has such trouble coming up with ideas for the sequels (the EU has enough good ones, that's for sure).

That being said, it's only people like us that will suffer if they reuse such ideas - the general public isn't aware of what the ditched scripts included...
 

Mickiana

Well-known member
Ditto. Yeah, I also wonder why Lucas seems to take a long time. It's not because of a shortage of ideas. I suppose there are a lot of contingencies to take into account. First, they have to decide if they all want to do another one. Then agree on the same story. And there is a process behind coming up with a story. Has something like it been done recently? Will the audiences want to see it? And I imagine there is now a certain amount of political correctness that guides decisions. I think whatever they might end up making in the way of Indy5 that it will be a box office winner despite whatever reviews it gets from critics and fanboys.
 

Faleel

New member
Mickiana said:
Ditto. Yeah, I also wonder why Lucas seems to take a long time. It's not because of a shortage of ideas. I suppose there are a lot of contingencies to take into account. First, they have to decide if they all want to do another one. Then agree on the same story. And there is a process behind coming up with a story. Has something like it been done recently? Will the audiences want to see it? And I imagine there is now a certain amount of political correctness that guides decisions. I think whatever they might end up making in the way of Indy5 that it will be a box office winner despite whatever reviews it gets from critics and fanboys.

Maybe Lucas just isnt a good writer?
 

Toht's Arm

Active member
Faleel said:
Maybe Lucas just isnt a good writer?

IMHO, that's the understatement of the year. :)

He's surely a good Ideas Man. When he comes up with a great premise/outline, and then hands it over to more capable writers, that's when Lucas' creations shine. It's when he decides to write and direct as well (as in the prequels) that things start to go wrong, I reckon...
 
Toht's Arm said:
Hey folks, first post here. I've spent a couple of months reading through these boards, so hopefully this hasn't been discussed in detail in another thread before.

As we all know, each successive Indy film used leftovers from that which had been suggested but not used before (for example, the rolling gong/minecart ride in Temple (ex-Raiders), the speed boat scene/tank fight in Last Crusade (ex-Monkey King), the fridge in Crystal Skull (ex-Saucer Men from Mars).

If an Indy V does get made (and I'm in the "yes, please!" camp), there's a good chance that it'll salvage unused ideas from previous scripts. What ones can people think of?

- The haunted castle scenario (as touched on in The Monkey King, but mentioned more substantially by Lucas at some stage).
- An evil character with a robotic arm (as originally planned to be in Raiders, and then in Monkey King). I personally hope not; with a possible 60s setting of Indy V, that would be way too James Bond for my liking.
- A motorcycle chase over the Great Wall of China (apparently in Lucas' initial treatment for the second film). This gets my vote for the most promising inclusion in a future outing...
- The valley of dinosaurs (again, the original treatment for the second film, though since Spielberg has two Jurassic Park films under his belt (and we've had a recent version of King Kong), this seems unlikely)
- The biplane fight from City of the Gods (a divisive scene on these boards, though certainly very far-fetched.)
- Indy being swallowed by a giant snake (from City of the Gods).
- Rooftop fight with the assassin from City of the Gods.
- The museum scene from City of the Gods.
- Oversized bugs/animals (City of the Gods).
- Being attacked by river pirates (Monkey King et al).
- Indy being attacked by gorillas (Monkey King, prologue to a Last Crusade draft - which included Indy battling for possession of Montezuma's mask).
- The search for/return of Abner Ravenwood (certainly, lots of people here talk about it. And I believe it was part of the initial idea Lucas had for the sequel to Raiders).

- Indy catching the egg (or maybe not...) ;)

Fantastic first post Toht's Arm! (i.e. welcome etc.).

Hardly post myself - just enjoy reading the end results of a lot of good scouring for news that others do and the many, varied and at times inspired ideas for future plot twists that the die-hards on this board invariably come up with. So big thanks all round (been checking this place out most days since 2002 no less).

Was motivated to post here as this was the one original(ish!) idea for a new topic that I have ever thought of (a few months back) and promptly forgot about, so a million thanks for your flash of inspiration!

As you say, irrespective of if we think they are good ideas, it is a fact that in every movie so far ideas eventually cast aside from previous movies/scripts have been used. Should a fifth instalment come along, it will inevitably happen again, and with good cause.

Of those you list, I can see them most likely using the haunted house motif, bi-plane fight, rooftop fight and museum scene, as they effortlessly fit themselves into the typical scan of a storyline and (if done right) are sufficiently different from everthing done previously.

I would also love the river pirates sequence - though this is perhaps too similar to the awful waterfall sequence in KOTCS and surely a huge missed opportunity for this segment of the fourth film.

Likewise the great wall of china bike chase - never heard of this before but it sounds potentially superb, and again a missed opportunity to have woven this into a better fourth film and maybe given Mutt a chance to win more of us over with a far greater twist on his rebel-without-a-cause-biker persona; imagine if they'd flown with the bike to China and then actually used the thing in a great wall of china chase sequence instead of forgetting about it almost instantly in the world's fakest ever representation of Lima?? But so much for what if's...

I feel the logic you've suggested gives anybody whose interested the best chance of visualising several genuinely likely scenes in a future film, which I personally find a lot more intriguing than 100% wild guesses. So thanks again!
 

Toht's Arm

Active member
replican't said:
70 year old Indy removes his colostomy bag, takes a danger dump and flushes his credibility away once and for all.

I can see why they didn't go with the draft that included that scene...
 

Montana Smith

Active member
replican't said:
70 year old Indy removes his colostomy bag, takes a danger dump and flushes his credibility away once and for all.

Toht's Arm said:
I can see why they didn't go with the draft that included that scene...

It would have been a very moving scene.

Especially if the movement was accompanied by an arousing rendition of the 'Raiders March'.
 

Attila the Professor

Moderator
Staff member
Moedred had a one-off post along similar lines some time back:

Moedred said:
If Lucas has a wish list, it's probably made up of unused elements, such as:

Use whip to make opponent shoot self (Raiders)
Himalayan Shaman (Raiders)
Mechanical arm, radio implanted in villain's head (Raiders, Monkey, Crusade)
Rolling egg sequence (Doom)
Water ski (Monkey)
Ride rhinoceros (Monkey)
Pre-battle pep talk, Gladiator fight (Monkey)
Indy dies (Monkey)
Apes (Monkey, Crusade)
Lit trail of gasoline or gunpowder (Monkey, Crusade, Darabont)
Riverboat (Monkey, Saucer, Skull)
Stairway to heaven (Crusade)
Parachute Dive (Saucer)
College football field (Saucer, Skull)
Breakaway floor over Nazca lines (Skull)

Of these, and yours, I feel the haunted castle, the museum scene, the lit trail, and the unmentioned waterfall hideout (Monkey King) and movie-going (Saucermen) are the most compelling.
 

Moedred

Administrator
Staff member
The burning fuse in Monkey King and gunpowder trail are definitely worth another look. And I even started a lonely thread in praise and hope for a return of the huge computer in Saucer Men.

There were fan pictures of a riverboat set on gimbals outside the Downey warehouse in 2007, so probably footage exists. You'd have to ask Dr.Sartorius to bring them back. Sure enough, scenes 66, 67, 67A, and 67B are omitted from the final shooting script.

We might also see the camel from Raiders, crocodile from Temple of Doom, or piranha bite from Crystal Skull. As for domestic creatures, there's Susan (Raiders), Betsy Tuffet (Monkey King) and Hillary (Crusade).
 
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Violet

Moderator Emeritus
Toht's Arm said:
- - A motorcycle chase over the Great Wall of China (apparently in Lucas' initial treatment for the second film). This gets my vote for the most promising inclusion in a future outing...

I don't think this one is likely as it was done in the second Tomb Raider movie.

I would love to see a haunted house opening. It would be interesting to have an Indy film open with the supernatural at the start. I'd even go as far to say that the drive-in scene (Saucermen) might be a contender due to the time period the films are now in and with Mutt's likely involvment in a fifith outing. A partly mechanical villain wouldn't be a bad idea, if done maybe in the way the Emperor's Tomb game handled in a semi-Frankenstein fashion. A museum scene has been missed throughout the films and for an archaeologist who says it belongs in a museum, let's see which museum.

And Betsy should be kept out of it for the love of all things Indy. Though I unfortnately can imagine such a character chasing Mutt. That would be the film's downfall.
 

Raiders90

Well-known member
I would love just a quiet scene of Indy alone in a museum, night, after it's closed, just looking silently at all the artifacts in it which bear his name as the contributor. His face reflected in the glass. Behind that glass is much of his life. Who he is as a person. The world's changed, and while Indy's married and has a son, he was unwittingly long estranged from both. All he truly has are these artifacts--That's all he's ever truly had, really. And the world has changed so much, in many ways, it's left him behind--making him as much a relic as the artifacts behind the glass.

"These days, sometimes I feel like I belong in here too..."

Harkening back in a way to Belloq's (albeit snarky) comment that in a 1,000 years, even Indy might be worth something. And Panama Hat saying that Indy belonged in a museum himself.

And then somehow the bad guys, whoever they are, come and he has to fight his way out, escape--Maybe using one of the artifacts which he donated to the museum in a clever way, which saves him somehow. Not in a supernatural way--just in the sort of way the necklace with Princess Sophie's locket saved him from an early death when he was shot.
 

Toht's Arm

Active member
@Attila the Professor - that list is a nice find! There are several of those I'd forgotten/never heard of. I must have missed that post in the many times I've searched through this board.

@Violet - Ah, I'd forgotten about the second Tomb Raider film - obviously wiped it from my mind (and this from someone that quite liked the first film). I seem to remember that it didn't actually involve much Tomb Raiding...

And of Betsy...ah, yes. Best forgotten. I would have hoped that if Mutt had a romantic involvement with anyone, she would be tough as nails (like his mum) and not a whiny damsel in distress.

It seems most people would be happy to see the haunted castle idea. That does seem to be the most likely, given it was on Lucas' mind for quite some time...

And seeing Indy in a museum at least once simply makes sense.

Also, surely the rebirth of the Planet of the Apes property means that we'll never see Indy square off against any.
 

Indie House

New member
Raiders112390 said:
I would love just a quiet scene of Indy alone in a museum, night, after it's closed, just looking silently at all the artifacts in it which bear his name as the contributor. His face reflected in the glass. Behind that glass is much of his life. Who he is as a person. The world's changed, and while Indy's married and has a son, he was unwittingly long estranged from both. All he truly has are these artifacts--That's all he's ever truly had, really. And the world has changed so much, in many ways, it's left him behind--making him as much a relic as the artifacts behind the glass.

"These days, sometimes I feel like I belong in here too..."

Harkening back in a way to Belloq's (albeit snarky) comment that in a 1,000 years, even Indy might be worth something. And Panama Hat saying that Indy belonged in a museum himself.

And then somehow the bad guys, whoever they are, come and he has to fight his way out, escape--Maybe using one of the artifacts which he donated to the museum in a clever way, which saves him somehow. Not in a supernatural way--just in the sort of way the necklace with Princess Sophie's locket saved him from an early death when he was shot.

Love this idea... has some promise! :hat:
 

Mickiana

Well-known member
Agreed. Yes, a quiet reflective moment to show another side of Indy always works. In a museum would be great, especially if it was after hours in the silence and gloom. And then hit us with the action!
 

Moedred

Administrator
Staff member
The burning fuse / gunpowder scene from Monkey King and Last Crusade has finally found a home in the Tintin movie, during a sword fight between Sir Francis Haddock and Red Rackham. So is it retired and unavailable for Indy 5, or still on the table?

The Nazis have planted an enormous PILE OF DYNAMITE on the palace stairs. Enough to DESTROY the entire city. The T.N.T. is attached to a LONG FUSE, that stretches hundreds of feet, over VARIOUS SECTIONS of the city. The Nazis LIGHT the fuse end. It SPARKS. IGNITES. BURNING FAST. The Nazis TURN and RUN.

Gutterbuhg continues to CHASE Indiana. BLASTS OF ELECTRICITY SHOOT from the Nazi's arm. Indy DUCKS... DODGES... AVOIDING the electrical jolts. Indy SPINS around a building corner. He spots the BURNING FUSE. It STRETCHES along the ground, moving up OVER a wooden fence. Indy DIVES and STOMPS OUT the fuse. But Gutterbuhg, who is directly behind Indy, RELIGHTS the fuse with a shot of electricity. Before Indy has a chance to stop the fuse...Gutterbuhg AIMS at Indy. Indy LEAPS OVER the fence. Gutterbuhg SHOOTS. The fence is SPLINTERED by the powerful electrical blast.

Indiana runs into a small ALLEYWAY. The burning fuse STRETCHES up along the alley wall, moving to the ROOFTOP. Indy begins to climb the ancient golden bricks that PROTRUDE from the wall. TOWARD the roof. Gutterbuhg APPEARS. He SHOOTS at Indiana, who avoids the blast by LEAPING onto the roof. Gutterbuhg hurriedly begins to CLIMB the wall. FOLLOWING Indiana.

EXT. ROOFTOP

Gutterbuhg ARRIVES at the top. He LOOKS around. There is NO SIGN of Indy. But the fuse RESTS at the roof's edge. UNLIT. Gutterbuhg RESTARTS the fuse. At that moment, Indiana LEAPS OUT from inside of the stone smokestack. He JUMPS the unsuspecting Gutterbuhg. They TUMBLE and FALL OFF the rooftop edge.

Indiana and Gutterbuhg HIT the ground. They continue to STRUGGLE... FIGHT...as the fuse BURNS in front of them. It SPEEDS toward the pile of dynamite. Less than FIFTY FEET AHEAD. Still wrestling with Gutterbuhg, Indy ROLLS toward the fuse. Indy reaches out and STOPS THE FUSE with his hand. But Gutterbuhg MOVES FAST. Again, the Nazi RELIGHTS the fuse.

Indy suddenly LEAPS to his feet. He RUNS OFF SCREEN. Gutterbuhg FOLLOWS. The fuse continues to BURN. Moving CLOSER...CLOSER...to the dynamite.

Indiana runs to a CLUSTER OF TREES. He comes to an abrupt stop, between TWO TREES. Gutterbuhg is UPON HIM. The Nazi PAUSES. Only a FEW FEET from Indy. Gutterbuhg POINTS his arm at Indy. A CLEAR SHOT. Gutterbuhg SMILES. Indiana is TRAPPED.

THE FUSE is now only a FEW FEET from the dynamite. It will BLOW at any second!

Gutterbuhg SHOOTS. Moving like LIGHTNING, Indy LEAPS OUT OF THE WAY, revealing a LARGE LAKE behind him. It's TOO LATE for Gutterbubg. The electrical current HITS THE WATER. The Nazi's body SURGES with electricity. Gutterbuhg FRIES. He SHIVERS. SHAKES. FROZEN, as the powerful electrical current FLOWS through his veins. SMOKE billows from his body. His mechanical arm suddenly EXPLODES. Gutterbuhg's charred body FALLS. FACE DOWN. ELECTROCUTED.

Indiana LEAPS TO HIS FEET. Suddenly remembering... THE FUSE! It is now INCHES from the T.N.T. Indy can't get to it IN TIME. He GRABS his whip. His arm SNAPS FORWARD. The whip CRACKS. It SLICES the remaining fuse in two. The fuse FIZZLES and GOES OUT. The city is SAVED. Indy SIGHS.

Elsa SHOUTS IN TURKISH and the Soldiers lower their rifles and move back.

ELSA
Better?

She kisses him on the lips. And Indy kisses her back.

SALLAH
Indy! Look!

Indy turns. This is what he sees:

A BURNING POWDER FUSE

leading to a pile of EXPLOSIVES.

KEMAL AND HIS SOLDIERS

block the Temple's only exit, their rifles raised.

KEMAL
You have desecrated this holy place! In the name of what?! Science!? History?! Archeology?!
(beat)
Three different names for greed!

INDY

makes a sudden move in the direction of the fuse. Kemal's Soldiers FIRE their rifles — and the bullets pin Indy down.

KEMAL
This place will be your tomb! And your bones will become the relics of future grave robbers like yourselves!

Again, Indy gets to his feet and runs toward the burning powder fuse. Bullets strike all around him. He darts between stone columns for safety.

He leaps toward the fuse AHEAD OF THE FLAME — like someone sliding head first into home plate.

Indy's fingers are about to interrupt the line of powder when Indy finds himself being FULLED BACK BY BIS ANKLES.

INDY
****! ...

Kemal has a hold of him.

The powder continues to burn toward the explosives. There is nothing to stop it now ... except SALLAH'S FOOT — which sweeps away the powder ahead of the flame.

(And the fight is on. Indy and Sallah vs. Kemal and his soldiers. Details yet to be worked out. This much we know: As quickly as the Soldiers re-ignite the powder, Indy or Sallah put it out.

At one point, in order to connect two separated sections of burning powder, a Soldier pours fresh powder over the back of a fallen comrade ... and the flame burns up his leg, across his back, his neck, his head and connects with the other section of powder ...and continues burning toward the pile of explosives.

Eventually, Indy and Sallah have knocked cold Kemal and all of his men. They think they are out of peril until they see that a SMALL AMOUNT 0F POWDER IS STILL BURNING toward the explosives!

Indy and Sallah are too far away to extinguish it in time. So ... Indy takes off his FEDORA and SCALES IT THROUGH THE AIR like a Frisbee. It hits the floor — SKIDS a short distance — and INTERRUPTS the powder fuse only inches away from the explosives. The flame sputters and harmlessly burns out.)

Indy and Sallah breathe a deep sigh of relief ...

And that's when Indy turns to discover ELSA POINTING A PISTOL AT HIM.

ELSA
God, you'd be handy to have around the house.
 
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Attila the Professor

Moderator
Staff member
Moedred said:
The burning fuse / gunpowder scene from Monkey King and Last Crusade has finally found a home in the Tintin movie, during a sword fight between Sir Francis Haddock and Red Rackham. So is it retired and unavailable for Indy 5, or still on the table?

I haven't seen Tintin yet, but I would guess that it would. Although, the version of it in City of the Gods was probably the best rendition yet, so maybe there's still enough in the idea to make something of.
 
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