indy 5- Prequel to KotCS?

I know there's been much debate as to whether there will be an Indy V and whether Mutt will be back---will he be the lead etc. Yes, I read Lucas' comments about the future of the character and the franchise. But, I had (at least to me) an interesting thought. I wonder about the the possibility of Indy V as a prequel to Crystal Skull as Temple was to Raiders (so only a year prior). In such a scenario there would be no Mutt and Indy wouldn't be "tied down" as it were by being married and a father. For those who don't like the idea of Indy progressing to the 60's, this would also keep him the 50's.

Russians could still be Indy's nemesis, though like Temple, it could be someone else. I didn't exactly have a plot idea or anything, just a way to avoid some of the parts of Crystal Skull that would otherwise be unavoidable (yes, I'm sure you could explain away things...Mutt's off at school etc., but this is just what came to mind as an alternative).

That is a good idea. There is a possible issue because it is unlikely that they would make a sixth one, and therefore KotCS would become the last in the series and may seem like a weak ending (as opposed to a final, ultimate, Indiana Jones' Last Adventure where the creators are back "with it" after their practice with Skull, which, though I liked it, certainly had flaws). Of course that is only a minor concern because they work mostly as stand-alone movies. I hope that wasn't an incoherent ramble.
I do support the idea though, especially as it would lessen the distance between Skull and the OT, however slightly.

That's a VERY good idea!

I actually like the idea of a prequel. Another possibility is to center the movie on young Indy in the 1920's or early 30's, (Heck even the 1940's if the right actor/age), and then have the MacGuffin tie into the ending with older Indy.

if Harrison Ford colored his hair and beard I's buy him being years younger

if Harrison Ford colored his hair and beard I's buy him being years younger

Click to expand...

I heard he refused to do it for this film. But maybe for V. He would be easily passable as younger if he just got it a little colored. (can anyone photoshop his hair darker?)

loganbush said:

I heard he refused to do it for this film. But maybe for V. He would be easily passable as younger if he just got it a little colored. (can anyone photoshop his hair darker?)

Click to expand...

Left: With just a little brown/black in his hair and facial hair...
Right: image from IJ.com

This is a good topic. I don?t know of an actor who is alive at the moment that looks exactly the way Harrison Ford did in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

My idea was to create a sequel that goes all the way back to the time period before Raiders. This plot would explore how Indy came to be an Archaeologist and it could also show the origins of Short Round or whatever the little boy?s name was in Temple of Doom and the film could also investigate the dark origins of Mola Ram.

My idea is simply an Indiana Jones Begins type of film kind of like Superman The Movie or Batman Begins.

No Ticket said:

Left: With just a little brown/black in his hair and facial hair...
Right: image from IJ.com

Click to expand...

Nice work with the coloring.

I love the idea of having Indy V as a prequel! I think it would be a good way to close the series without too much bad talk about it. (And it would be focused just on Indy!)

I also do recall reading an article where Lucas said that if they ever did a movie focused on Mutt, it would be seperate and not be connected to the Indiana Jones series.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/itn/20080807/ten-plans-for-fifth-indiana-jones-movie-ea4616c.html

The thing is, is there any compelling reason to make Indy5 a prequel other than to have Indy a bachelor with no son? Personally, I agree that those two things harm his character but the damage has been done; you can't inexplicably make the next movie a prequel for no better reason than that without confusing the audience. (It worked in Temple of Doom because a lot people didn't even know that it was a prequel...in this case they'd be asking, "Where's his wife and kid?") What story would there be to tell? The best material for a prequel in my opinion would be to cover Indy's WWII years that Kingdom of the Crystal Skull makes reference to, but the problem is that it would require de-aging Harrison Ford at least ten years, which isn't really possible. On a semi-related note, there was an anecdote in the excellent Complete Making Of book in which they discuss Ford's make up for Crystal Skull. In initial tests, the makeup artists actually made him look convincingly young - too young, to the point of it being creepy. Harrison Ford commented, "I'm not supposed to look like this," and ultimately the makeup department made less effort to hiding Ford's age, which of course was the whole point.

Also, making a post Crystal Skull movie doesn't mean they would have to move Indy to the 60s. This one took place in 1957, so the next one could take place in 58 or 59. Remember, Raiders took place in '36 and Last Crusade in '38, and those movies were hardly filmed two years apart. The movie would only have to move into the next decade if Lucas and Spielberg wanted to.

Udvarnoky said:

in this case they'd be asking, "Where's his wife and kid?") What story would there be to tell? The best material for a prequel in my opinion would be to cover Indy's WWII years that Kingdom of the Crystal Skull makes reference to, but the problem is that it would require de-aging Harrison Ford at least ten years, which isn't really possible. On a semi-related note, there was an anecdote in the excellent Complete Making Of book in which they discuss Ford's make up for Crystal Skull. In initial tests, the makeup artists actually made him look convincingly young - too young, to the point of it being creepy. Harrison Ford commented, "I'm not supposed to look like this," and ultimately the makeup department made less effort to hiding Ford's age, which of course was the whole point.

Click to expand...

This stuff about his make-up is very interesting. I think that they shouldn't make the movie an entire prequel, and I don't have a really good reason why except for personal taste. But I would love to see a flashback scene with a younger looking Ford, or a scene similar to the beginning of LC that leads up into the main film, but takes place earlier. This would also allow for the amazing opening that some feel was lacking in KOTCS. And would hopefully focus entirely on Indy.

They could just have Indy's family kidnapped or something and he has to--- oh wait, that's every other Harrison Ford movie.

How about we just make it a prequel any dang way. Who cares. lol. Establish that it's a prequel from the get-go.

Johnny Jones said:

That is a good idea. There is a possible issue because it is unlikely that they would make a sixth one, and therefore KotCS would become the last in the series and may seem like a weak ending (as opposed to a final, ultimate, Indiana Jones' Last Adventure where the creators are back "with it" after their practice with Skull, which, though I liked it, certainly had flaws). Of course that is only a minor concern because they work mostly as stand-alone movies. I hope that wasn't an incoherent ramble.
I do support the idea though, especially as it would lessen the distance between Skull and the OT, however slightly.

Click to expand...

I have to go with this last adventure out with a bang ect ect. Indy always has someone chillin by his side. If Mutt's the man I'm not against it. Could be fun like Sr. and Jr. I want to know where the landmark area would be for the flick is.

i dont want it to go to the 60s but without mutt GL wont do it. All the kids of this generation have seen KOTCS as their first indy film and without mutt it doesnt appeal to the kids as much. But besides mutt is fine. In indy V he could get the girl because indy is already married.

My original idea was, like Temple to Raiders, to only set it back one year. In this case there wouldn't be the need to alter Harrison's look. Also, by setting it one year prior, it means he's not married, i.e.: he can have a romantic interest. Yes, he could have a romantic interest and still be married, I'm sure there's some creative story telling that could get us around that, but it just wouldn't work for me. I'm not say they will or should do a prequel it was just an idea that I had that I thought I'd share. Now, there's no saying that there'd be six movies in total, but I guess I was going off the first three with Temple being a prequel and not having anything to do with Nazis. So, V could be the same thing expect no Russians instead of no Nazis. Now, of course, this so-called formula would mean nothing it there wasn't a VI ---with Russians and taking place after 1957 (1959 perhaps?).

There's also another thread on the Indy Girls and it does mention that they had decided to take a Bond Girl approach with a new one in each film. Granted Marion was back in Crystal Skull, but that doesn't mean she'd have to be in V (I like Karen Allen, this isn't about not wanting her in another movie, just trying to work out how a next movie might work best).

I unfortunately haven't had any ideas as to a possible storyline, but I'm sure they could think of something. Well, I know they can, I just hope it's compelling!

I wouldn't want to see the move the series into 60's. It took a lot of effort to fit all the 50's stuff in KOTCS. Keep it simple and stay in the fifties.

The prequel idea is a good one. It could be a smaller story, centering on the conflict between Indy and the villain. They could even connect it to WWII; maybe Indy found something during the war but couldn't acquire it then. Some years later, he decides to finish his quest ? and at the same time break even with someone from his past.

I'd love to see something like that.

Zorg,

I really like your ideas. Since we skipped WWII (in the films at least) then that would be a good way to fill in some blanks---without overdoing it. It would be enough to know that he came across it during that time period and is now trying to recover it.

I probably shouldn't say this, but if it were a prequel it would give Connery a chance to come back, but if he wasn't interested in Crystal Skull in script form, then I can't imagine (if he saw if) the final product would entice him to be a part of V. Of course, it wouldn't make sense to have him for more than a cameo anyway, so even a well written part (an overall script) probably wouldn't be worth his while. Even missing a few days from the links might disrupt his golf game! I'm not saying he would or should be part of a prequel only that it would be physically possible. The only way I could really see him fitting in is if they had a scene at the beginning that was Marcus' funeral (or related to him dying in some way that wouldn't require someone to stand in for Denholm Elliot). Perhaps Indy finally get's the fertility idol, but alas poor Marcus has passed on when he returns.

Sorry, this was a bit too much rambling and, let me be clear, I'm not necessarily advocating it, just sharing some thoughts that came to my head.

One final thought, for this post anyway, it has been mentioned (by Ed Dolista on the Indycast among others) that Indy has not been to Australia (he hasn't to Antarctica in a film too). So, those could be two possible locales. I know there's much talk of Atlantis and some other plot ideas floating about, but I'd love them to do something...different, but I don't know what.

http://raven.theraider.net/showthread.php?t=15290

That was a thread I started a while back... it also contains a poll. Check it out.

I love this idea, especially since i wouldn't want to see it go into the 60s. I also think that a movie centered on Mutt would absolutely destroy the Indiana Jones franchise.

I agree 100%

When I left the theater after seeing KOTCS (a little disappointed) I thought that Indy V would better as a prequel. There were several things about the film that I did not care for. I would rank it as #3 in the Indy films, only beating TOD. However, instead of going back 1 or 2 years, I think a prequel going back to 1952 or 1953 would be better. I also think going back to Asia would make a decent film, especially with the 1952 or 1953 date. We were in the middle of the Korean War. Face it, we are not going to get a WWII Indy because Harrison is too old, sorry. The Red Chinese would make pretty good bad guys (after all we were fighting them in the Korean War), or you could bring the Soviets back. I am also sure that there's a wealth of mystic Asian relics that Indy could be in search of (after KOTCS I think the maguffin should be earthly in #5). For nostalgia they might be able to bring Short Round back, as an adult of course.
What ever they do, I hope the sequel or prequel:
1. Does not include Mutt.
2. Is darker - Maybe not TOD dark, but on the same level as Raiders
3. Relies less on CGI - The waterfall, tarzan, and atomic fridge scenes were a bit much. I like the quick, cheap, and dirty feel of the older Indy films.

S-23 said:

When I left the theater after seeing KOTCS (a little disappointed) I thought that Indy V would better as a prequel. There were several things about the film that I did not care for. I would rank it as #3 in the Indy films, only beating TOD. However, instead of going back 1 or 2 years, I think a prequel going back to 1952 or 1953 would be better. I also think going back to Asia would make a decent film, especially with the 1952 or 1953 date. We were in the middle of the Korean War. Face it, we are not going to get a WWII Indy because Harrison is too old, sorry. The Red Chinese would make pretty good bad guys (after all we were fighting them in the Korean War), or you could bring the Soviets back. I am also sure that there's a wealth of mystic Asian relics that Indy could be in search of (after KOTCS I think the maguffin should be earthly in #5). For nostalgia they might be able to bring Short Round back, as an adult of course.
What ever they do, I hope the sequel or prequel:
1. Does not include Mutt.
2. Is darker - Maybe not TOD dark, but on the same level as Raiders
3. Relies less on CGI - The waterfall, tarzan, and atomic fridge scenes were a bit much. I like the quick, cheap, and dirty feel of the older Indy films.

Click to expand...

That's a dream movie that fans would not get to see because Lucas and Spielberg have kind forgotten how Raiders and keep the pace at LC . Me personally I would love to see Indy get involve in the Pre - Korean war years as he explore China as they begin to become a Communist country just like Raiders did with the nazis.