While Steven Spielberg returned to directing the fourth installment in the “Indiana Jones” saga, another great filmmaker almost got down to the project. Indeed, M. Night Shyamalan returns to his aborted project!
Indiana Jones 4 : the ugly duckling of the saga
In 2008, almost twenty years after the release ofIndiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas have decided to produce and direct a fourth episode of the franchise. Thus, the duo recalls Harrison Ford in the shoes of the famous archaeologist for a final lap. Sadly, the film is very poorly received by fans and the press. The idea of confronting Indy with the little green men is far from unanimous. However, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a box office success with over $ 790 million in revenue (for a budget of 185 million). And while James Mangold is currently working on a fifth installment of the license, M. Night Shyamalan returned to his aborted project.
Night Shyamalan almost made a movie Indiana Jones
Indiana Jones 4 could have been very different from the version of Spielberg and Lucas. Indeed, for a while, filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan was attached to the project. And if the latter had indeed staged Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the feature film would certainly have been much darker than the final film. In a recent interview with Collider, the director of the recent Old discussed this movie Indiana Jones which will never see the light of day. Here is what he had to say on the matter:
Raiders of the Lost Ark is my all-time favorite movie. When I was a kid it was a dream to see one in a movie theater so when I was later asked to write one. I could have passed out then. It was unbelievable. I still have my notebooks. I still have all my ideas jotted down for this film.
Shyamalan did not go into details and did not elaborate on the plot of his aborted film. But one thing is almost certain, the filmmaker’s vision would have been undoubtedly darker than that of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. Evidenced by his impressive filmography, notably composed of films like The village, Signs, Sixth Sense or even more recently Glass. However, the ideas of M. Night Shyamalan will unfortunately remain in the form of lines on sheets of paper. Waiting for, Indiana Jones 5 is currently filming under the direction of James Mangold.
