A couple of months ago, when we were breaking story details about Indiana Jones IV (then called Indiana Jones and the City of the Gods, a title I still think is better than Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull), there was a meeting of the production crew. ‘Who’s leaking info to CHUD.com?’ was the question, and ‘You’ll never work in this town again,’ was the threat.
Our source made it through unscathed, and delivered unto us tons of info that we couldn’t even publish, lest the source become unemployed. Which is a situation facing an actor on the film, who gave an interview to his hometown paper where he talked about his involvement in the new Indy movie – and then got into plenty of trouble, and possibly cut from the film altogether. Poor Tyler Nelson, who was just so excited about his role as Dancing Russian, spilled some details that are, frankly, pretty minor, to the Edmonton Sun. The Sun has pulled the story at the behest of Spielberg’s people, and Spielberg’s spokesman, Martin Levy, has told Page Six ‘Who knows if he’ll work in this town again?’
So what did Nelson say? According to Page Six, the revelations were:
* Indy, played once again by Harrison Ford, and the Soviet army are both searching for a priceless skull made of crystal in the jungles of South America.
* The Russians take Indy hostage and then blackmail him by threatening to kill his ex-girlfriend and mother of his son, Marion Ravenwood, portrayed by Karen Allen. Cast as the son is Shia LaBeouf.
* Cate Blanchett plays an evil Russian who grills Indy. "I saw Harrison Ford strapped to a chair and being interrogated," Nelson told the paper.
That’s not big news to anybody who has been following this thing from the start. Except for the idea of Indy being strapped to a chair and interrogated – which is the sort of thing that happens in these films all the time anyway – who is surprised by any of this info?
What’s interesting is that this is the first film Spielberg has done in the modern age that has pulled down the full scrutiny of the internet. According to my sources, Spielberg wants to keep everything secret while producer George Lucas, who knows this territory quite well after doing the Star Wars prequels, has told him to just loosen up and accept the fact that half the movie will be spoiled long before release. Such is as it is in this modern day.
And hey, Steve – Indy and his kid, Abner Ravenwood, aka Mutt, first find out they’re related while sinking in quicksand. Tyler Nelson didn’t tell me that.