Raiders came in under budget and, after it was a smash hit, no studio ever had doubts about Spielberg again.Īfterwards, Lucas told the studio: “If you hire the greatest director in the world, making movies is easy.”ħ. They eventually relented when Lucas refused to make the picture without Spielberg.Īware of his reputation though, Spielberg planned and blocked out every major set piece in the movie prior to shooting using scale miniatures and models, saving the production crew hours of planning and set up time each day. Every Spielberg feature to this point ( Jaws, Close Enouncters, 1941) had went over budget and, when 1941 bombed at the box-office, the studio told George Lucas to find another director. Unfathomable now but, originally, Paramount did not want Steven Spielberg to direct the movie. And each day, on his way to the studio in Los Angeles, he would drive down Ravenwood Court. The fantastic name of the character was conceived by writer Kasdan, whose own grandmother was called Marion. Maureen McCormick (Marcia Brady from The Brady Bunch), Amy Irving, Jane Seymour, Debra Winger, Mary Steenburgen, Valerie Bertinelli, Sean Young, Dee Wallace (who would later go on to star as Elliott’s mother in Spielberg’s E.T.), and Barbara Hershey. Karen Allen was cast as Marion after Spielberg saw her in National Lampoon’s Animal House. Marion Ravenwood was largely created by Lawrence Kasdan Here is Tom Selleck’s screen test as Indy…ĥ. As a result, Spielberg quickly cast Ford (just 3 weeks before production began), and Selleck has been rueful ever since. Selleck was cast but, due to scheduling conflicts with his hit show Magnum P.I., had to pull out. Other names in the frame included Nick Nolte, Steve Martin, Bill Murray (who dropped out due to scheduling conflicts with SNL), Chevy Chase, Tim Matheson, Nick Mancuso, Peter Coyote, Jack Nicholson, Mark Harmon, Michael Biehn, Sam Shepard, Bruce Boxleitner, Don Johnson, and even David Hasselhoff.Įventually, Spielberg and Lucas settled on the man they wanted – a moustachioed Tom Selleck – to play Indy. Lucas and Ford had already worked together on American Graffiti and Star Wars, and Lucas told Spielberg, “I don’t want him to become my Bobby De Niro.” Harrison Ford is truly iconic as Indy of course but, at first, George Lucas wasn’t keen. Tom Selleck was oh-so-close to playing Indy It’s all there, even if he doesn’t look much like Harrison Ford.Ĥ. The fedora, the leather jacket, the whip, the setting. Taking inspiration from Humphrey Bogart’s character in Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Steranko brought Indy to life in 4 pieces of artwork. Lucas had a very specific idea in mind for Indy’s appearance, so hired concept artist Jim Steranko to realise his vision. The concept art is very close to how it turned out Spielberg cited the similarities to the McQueen film, and requested a name change, but did agree the surname should be as commonplace as “Smith.” Lucas and writer Lawrence Kasdan suggested “Jones”, and Spielberg was on board.ģ. In honour of the pup – and taking inspiration from a 1966 Steve McQueen movie called Nevada Smith – Lucas named his new character “Indiana Smith”. George Lucas’ dog – an Alaskan malamute – was named Indiana. The name came from Steve McQueen and George Lucas’ dog Saying, “I’ve got something better than Bond…” Lucas told Spielberg about an idea he had for an adventure series about a whip-cracking, globe-trotting archaeologist and his quests to hunt down mythical artifacts. In summer 1977, Spielberg’s Close Encounters Of The Third Kind was in post-production and, with Star Wars releasing (and George Lucas afraid it would bomb), they took off to Hawaii for a break.Īt this time, Spielberg was very keen on the idea of making a James Bond movie (he had been turned down twice by Cubby Broccoli and even referenced the famous secret agent in Jaws) but George Lucas had another idea. Raiders is now regarded as the pinnacle when it comes to action-adventure movie-making, so we thought what better way to celebrate the film than to bring you 15 facts that are so mind-bogglingly fascinating, they belong in a museum.īoth members of the movie brats, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas were good pals and, to get away from the stresses and strains of Hollywood, would often vacation together when they had a new movie out. The brainchild of George Lucas, and inspired by the adventure serials Lucas watched as a child, Indy is a whip-cracking, wise-cracking archaeologist who gets himself into (and out of) all manner of situations in his quest for ancient artifacts. Indiana Jones made his big-screen debut in Steven Spielberg’s Raiders Of The Lost Ark in 1981.
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