Loaded Couch Potatoes

While there have been rumors floating around for the last several months about the possibility of a new Indiana Jones movie being made, there has been nothing definitive said … until now.

Speaking at Dragon*Con today, Karen Allen said that it was her understanding that the plan is to film in the summer of 2011 for a release in 2012.

Obviously it took quite a while to get a script for the fourth film that all parties could agree on, so there could be a delay again.

However, Allen told a story about spending time with Steven Spielberg at the Tanglewood Music Festival – where they heard a new extension of “Marion’s Theme” composed and conducted by John Williams. At that time Spielberg excitedly told her “We’re doing another one.”

IESB reports that Steven Spielberg is actively pursuing the Halo movie as a producer.

Reportedy, Spielberg was “blown away” by the latest screenplay by Stuart Beattie, who based his story on the tie-in novel Halo: The Fall of Reach by Eric Nyland.

No word on whether producer Peter Jackson — who was previously attached to a different iteration of the Halo franchise — is still involved.  Jackson had hand-picked director Neill Blomkamp for the film before it fell apart due to budget concerns and worries over having an untested filmmaker at the helm.

Blomkamp’s District 9 is due to open this week, however, and advance word has been pretty spectacular.  Since the two titans are currently working together on the Tintin movies, I’m going to speculate that if Jackson still has ANY interest in Halo, Spielberg will likely be bringing both he and Blomkamp into the fold.

Having read The Fall of Reach, I can definitely say that I would have less room in my underpants over the notion of a movie version of it produced by Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson … especially if Blomkamp directs and District 9 is as good as early reviews indicate.

I had a very complex emotional reaction to Transformers: Revenge of the Sith, or Transformers: Rise of the Lycans, or whatever this “movie” is called.  Yes, that’s right: a complex emotional reaction.  Because on the one hand, I was bored out of my skull (and more than a little insulted) by it, but on the other hand, I’m well aware that a lot of people are going to go see this and have an absolute blast, and what worries/confuses/angers/saddens/depresses me is the thought that I, too, could have had a great time watching this movie, if only I was … if only I was …

If only I was what?  What qualities am I lacking that make it possible for other people to love these movies, whereas I dislike them so entirely that I can’t even quite remember what the second one was about only a few hours after seeing it?

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Speaking to Empire Online, producer Frank Marshall divulged that a fifth Indiana Jones movie is getting closer to becoming a reality.  Adding that all the key players — director Steven Spielberg, producer George Lucas, and star Harrison Ford — are all keen to make the movie, Marshall’s comments are long on optimism and short on details.

Speaking as someone who kinda loved the much-derided fourth film, I’ll be happy to see as many of these as Spielberg and company want to make.  Crystal Skull has its problems, but in my opinion, the virtues far outweigh them.