Okay, so there seems to be a semi-debate brewing on who is responsible for coming up with the whole sci-fi B-movie/aliens element in "Crystal Skull". We have competing word-of-mouth hearsay versus quotes in publications.
What follows comes from "The Complete Making of Indiana Jones: The Definitive Story Behind All Four Films" by J.W. Rinzler. And unless you're into odd conspiracy theories as to Lucas, Spielberg, Ford and others making stuff up (for some unknown reason) I'd consider this the "final" word on the topic:
[Excerpts from Chapter 11: ATOMIC ANTS FROM SPACE pp230-237]
In December 1992, Lucas joined Ford for the two-day location shoot in snowy Jackson Hole, Wyoming. "Over the years I'd think about other MacGuffins and stories for Indy IV, but nothing really worked," Lucas says. "But when I was working on Young Indy with Harrison , the obvious suddenly dawned on me: If I did it when Indy was older, I could have it be in the 1950s. And if I did it in the 50s, maybe we could change that into a '50s movie -- and what is the equivalent of a 1930s Saturday matinee serial in the '50s? Science-fiction B-movies. I thought, Hey, that could be fun. The obvious thing was Earth versus the Flying Saucersm so I thought, That's the MacGuffin: aliens. For God's sake, it can't miss.
"So I went to Harrison, out in the snow, and said, 'I came up with a MacGuffin and I think I could come up with another Indiana Jones movie.' He said, 'Oh, I'd love to do that." I said, 'Well, wait until you hear what it is, because it's about aliens.' He then said, 'No, I don't want to do it.'"
"I didn't like it at all; I pitched it right back," Ford says.
"I said, 'But this is going to work. You've got to give me a chance,'" Lucas says. "Harrison said, 'Okay, you talk to Steven, see what he thinks about it.' I took it to Steven, and he said, 'I don't know. I've done a lot of these and I don't think we should mix genres.' I said, 'Steven, it's perfect. It's a B-science-fiction film. What could be more fun than that? And it fits Indy's age, because he'll be in his sixties.' But they were reluctant."
"All the Indiana Jones films have had paranormal concepts", Spielberg says. "So George came up with an idea that he wanted to do a paranormal story that would be a cross between pyschic phenomenon and the whole UFO craze. But I had done E.T., I had done Close Encounters; I'd had my fill of extraterrestrials, so I resisted that for many years."
--------------
"It was a lot about Indiana Jones being involved in Roswell," Lucas says. "And the alien was the MacGuffin."
Cowriter on The Fugitive (1993, which starred Ford) and Die Hard (1988), Stuart combined all these elements in the first draft titled Indiana Jones and The Saucermen From Mars, which he finished on May 24, 1994. In this version, the story turns on the alien, whose life Indy tries to save, and Indy's relationship with a female archeaologist named Molly, whom he marries.
--------------
Then in July 1996 another movie came along that dealt with "saucermen". "When Independence Day was released and was this huge hit, Steven said, 'That was such a success I don't think we should do another one,'" Lucas says. "We had a script that I was happy with, Indiana Jones and The Saucermen. But Steven said, 'We're not doing a flying saucer movie, and that's it.' So I said, 'Okay, fine. But we're not going to do an Indiana Jones movies without aliens in it, because there's no point.' So I gave up and started doing Star Wars again."
--------------
Over the next two years, Lucas pondered; he held a story conference with Spielberg in December 2001 and two others in June 2002. The upshot was a meeting of the minds on certain issues. "The compromise was, I won't have any flying saucers in this movie, but I'm going to have aliens," Lucas says. "That's when I came up with the Lost City of The Gods, with a crystal skull as the MacGuffin. That's really what the whole thing has evolved from.
--------------
"George being George, he is tenacious, if not downright relentless, and ne never blinked," Spielberg says. "I blinked to the point where George thought there was something wrong with my right eye. But George said, absolutely and down the line, 'It's gotta be pyschic phenomenon and this craze about flying saucers since it takes place in the 1950s.' And in a sense it took David Koepp, who was the final writer, to make that palpatable for me."
--------------
... And that's just a portion of it. Again, believe what you wish... but I'd say these quotes make it pretty damn definitive. And, for the record, even though I think Lucas is off his rock and grossly out-of-touch at times I actually think the whole B-movie/aliens/saucer thing worked overall with Indy IV. I think he in his stubbornness may have gotten it right this time.
What follows comes from "The Complete Making of Indiana Jones: The Definitive Story Behind All Four Films" by J.W. Rinzler. And unless you're into odd conspiracy theories as to Lucas, Spielberg, Ford and others making stuff up (for some unknown reason) I'd consider this the "final" word on the topic:
[Excerpts from Chapter 11: ATOMIC ANTS FROM SPACE pp230-237]
In December 1992, Lucas joined Ford for the two-day location shoot in snowy Jackson Hole, Wyoming. "Over the years I'd think about other MacGuffins and stories for Indy IV, but nothing really worked," Lucas says. "But when I was working on Young Indy with Harrison , the obvious suddenly dawned on me: If I did it when Indy was older, I could have it be in the 1950s. And if I did it in the 50s, maybe we could change that into a '50s movie -- and what is the equivalent of a 1930s Saturday matinee serial in the '50s? Science-fiction B-movies. I thought, Hey, that could be fun. The obvious thing was Earth versus the Flying Saucersm so I thought, That's the MacGuffin: aliens. For God's sake, it can't miss.
"So I went to Harrison, out in the snow, and said, 'I came up with a MacGuffin and I think I could come up with another Indiana Jones movie.' He said, 'Oh, I'd love to do that." I said, 'Well, wait until you hear what it is, because it's about aliens.' He then said, 'No, I don't want to do it.'"
"I didn't like it at all; I pitched it right back," Ford says.
"I said, 'But this is going to work. You've got to give me a chance,'" Lucas says. "Harrison said, 'Okay, you talk to Steven, see what he thinks about it.' I took it to Steven, and he said, 'I don't know. I've done a lot of these and I don't think we should mix genres.' I said, 'Steven, it's perfect. It's a B-science-fiction film. What could be more fun than that? And it fits Indy's age, because he'll be in his sixties.' But they were reluctant."
"All the Indiana Jones films have had paranormal concepts", Spielberg says. "So George came up with an idea that he wanted to do a paranormal story that would be a cross between pyschic phenomenon and the whole UFO craze. But I had done E.T., I had done Close Encounters; I'd had my fill of extraterrestrials, so I resisted that for many years."
--------------
"It was a lot about Indiana Jones being involved in Roswell," Lucas says. "And the alien was the MacGuffin."
Cowriter on The Fugitive (1993, which starred Ford) and Die Hard (1988), Stuart combined all these elements in the first draft titled Indiana Jones and The Saucermen From Mars, which he finished on May 24, 1994. In this version, the story turns on the alien, whose life Indy tries to save, and Indy's relationship with a female archeaologist named Molly, whom he marries.
--------------
Then in July 1996 another movie came along that dealt with "saucermen". "When Independence Day was released and was this huge hit, Steven said, 'That was such a success I don't think we should do another one,'" Lucas says. "We had a script that I was happy with, Indiana Jones and The Saucermen. But Steven said, 'We're not doing a flying saucer movie, and that's it.' So I said, 'Okay, fine. But we're not going to do an Indiana Jones movies without aliens in it, because there's no point.' So I gave up and started doing Star Wars again."
--------------
Over the next two years, Lucas pondered; he held a story conference with Spielberg in December 2001 and two others in June 2002. The upshot was a meeting of the minds on certain issues. "The compromise was, I won't have any flying saucers in this movie, but I'm going to have aliens," Lucas says. "That's when I came up with the Lost City of The Gods, with a crystal skull as the MacGuffin. That's really what the whole thing has evolved from.
--------------
"George being George, he is tenacious, if not downright relentless, and ne never blinked," Spielberg says. "I blinked to the point where George thought there was something wrong with my right eye. But George said, absolutely and down the line, 'It's gotta be pyschic phenomenon and this craze about flying saucers since it takes place in the 1950s.' And in a sense it took David Koepp, who was the final writer, to make that palpatable for me."
--------------
... And that's just a portion of it. Again, believe what you wish... but I'd say these quotes make it pretty damn definitive. And, for the record, even though I think Lucas is off his rock and grossly out-of-touch at times I actually think the whole B-movie/aliens/saucer thing worked overall with Indy IV. I think he in his stubbornness may have gotten it right this time.
Last edited:
