Spielberg says Indiana Jones' future could be with female lead character

[Redfern]

What percentage of the movie-going public is going to know about that stuff, though?

I didn't claim they would. The thread made a turn for the humorous so I thought I'd toss in my two wooden nickels. Besides, Fred must be doing something right. The comic has been published pretty much uninterrupted for 25+ years now.

 

[TrickyDickie]

I didn't claim they would. The thread made a turn for the humorous so I thought I'd toss in my two wooden nickels. Besides, Fred must be doing something right. The comic has been published pretty much uninterrupted for 25+ years now.

I was quoting / responding to an earlier post, not yours.

I checked out your link to Fred's work and that looks pretty cool....never knew it existed.

 

[Redfern]

I was quoting / responding to an earlier post, not yours.

I checked out your link to Fred's work and that looks pretty cool....never knew it existed.

Oops! Sorry. Coming as it did right after my post, it did seem like a "reasonable" response to my comment, because Fred Perry did create some direct to DVD animes based upon the earliest stories.

He was even developing a computer game based upon his characters when a certain "raider of tombs" popped onto the scene. He knew he couldn't compete with the "big boys" and it would seem to outsiders that he was "ripping off" Croft, so he dropped that project.

 

[Gaith]

We already have a female Indiana Jones, her name is Lara Croft.

You misspelled "Evelyn Carnahan O'Connell."

... Years ago, a blog called Topless Robot had a contest for IJ 5 story ideas. This was mine:

In an alternate timeline, instead of Henry Jr., the Joneses had a daughter. During the Ark crisis, the feds were too sexist to consult Ava Jones, despite her friendship with Abner Ravenwood, so Belloq and Co. found the Ark, and though they died on the island, it and its power still wound up in Nazi hands. With WW2 going much worse than it should, the bookish Ava is finally recruited to be a spy behind enemy lines, where she gradually becomes a badass, and decides to archaeologize for an ancient weapon that just might help the Allies in their quest to defeat the super-Axis...

Not gonna lie, I still find that pitch pretty cool.

 

[mos6507]

I think he still is going to do one more with Ford. Isn't #MeToo about awareness for sexual harassment and assault? Not sure what that has to do with casting a female Indy.

The fad of gender-flipping started around nuBSG. Call it what whatever you like.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I have no problem with the idea of a female Indiana Jones, but would strongly prefer an original movie with an original female character along the spirit of Indiana Jones.

Recasting Indiana Jones to milk the franchise for more money is dumb regardless of the gender of the main character, and it's not clear whether they're choosing a female lead because they really believe it's the best idea for the franchise or if they are doing to make assholes advertise their film by complaining about a female lead after they saw what it did for Ghostbusters.

 

[Christopher]

Recasting Indiana Jones to milk the franchise for more money is dumb regardless of the gender of the main character

Why? Indiana Jones has already been played by (in order of age) Corey Carrier, River Phoenix, Sean Patrick Flanery, Harrison Ford, and George Hall. And since he's a period character, it's a simple matter to cast an age-appropriate actor to fill in interesting gaps in his timeline, like how his rivalry with Belloq began or what he did during WWII.

Indiana Jones was an attempt to create an adventure movie hero similar to James Bond, and nobody at this point would say it's dumb to recast James Bond. He was also an homage to the heroes of '30s and '40s adventure serials and movies, and Hollywood in that era was quite casual about recasting lead characters.

it's not clear whether they're choosing a female lead because...

They're not actually doing that. From the original article, it's clear that the reporter just asked Spielberg a hypothetical question about whether Indy could be female, and Spielberg just played along with the hypothetical. I'm so sick of the tendency of reporters to generate these kind of empty non-stories, to ask purely conjectural questions like that and misrepresent the noncommittal answers or polite non-denials as actual news. It's why you always have to read the news defensively and double-check the original interview to determine whether the idea actually came from the filmmaker or was just a leading question by a reporter.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Everybody's talking about it like they'd already announced the movie, and it wasn't just a reflexive response to a vague hypothetical.

And it's dumb because reboots are dumb if all you're doing is a modernized rehash instead of taking it in a new direction with your own artistic vision. Didn't mean to sound like it was a criticism specific to Indiana Jones.

 

[Turtletrekker]

There was a porn parody character called Indiana Joan.

Or so I've heard...

 

[Christopher]

Everybody's talking about it like they'd already announced the movie, and it wasn't just a reflexive response to a vague hypothetical.

That's because nobody reads the news defensively, as I said. These headlines are meant to mislead people who don't read closely in order to generate attention, to make people think there's a story when there really isn't. And all it takes is a few kneejerk reactions to propagate the illusion. So don't listen to what "everybody's talking about." Like K said in Men in Black, a person is smart, people collectively are stupid. So be smart -- find the original source, read it carefully, use your own judgment.

And it's dumb because reboots are dumb if all you're doing is a modernized rehash instead of taking it in a new direction with your own artistic vision. Didn't mean to sound like it was a criticism specific to Indiana Jones.

But that's my whole point. There's no need to "reboot" Indiana Jones, because he's not a present-day or future character. So there's nothing that needs to be updated or modernized about the concept. All that's necessary, as I said, is to fit new stories into the gaps in the existing Indy continuity. Exactly like they're doing with Han Solo.

 

[LJones41]

Sounds like Spielberg was paying lip service to the idea. Besides, there is Lara Croft.

 

[Noname Given]

https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/05/entertainment/steven-spielberg-indiana-jones-woman/index.html

Now, I have no issues there... Infact I'm pretty sure in either the comics of the Young Indy future bits the old Indy is mentioned to have had a daughter.

This is what is completely bonkers though.

Director Steven Spielberg says casting a female to play the iconic role of Indiana Jones could actually become a reality.

"We'd have to change the name from Jones to Joan," Spielberg told The Sun in a recent interview. "And there would be nothing wrong with that."

HIS LAST NAME IS JONES. WHAT THE **** is Spielberg smoking?

Tomb Raider beat him to the punch (and I'm talking EITHER version)

 

[Set Harth]

Gee, I wonder where Spielberg got this idea.

 

[Valenti]

I don't know if this has anything to do with anything, but I think there should be a black Batman. I really do.

 

[Markonian]

Anyone familiar with Relic Hunter’s Tia Carrere?

 

[Ethros]

This is from the Sun, a notoriously unreliable source, and it merely cites ‘an exclusive interview’ without identifying it.

I would concur. I flick through the Sun most days, as someone always leaves one laying around the canteen at work (I'd never pay for it.) It's something to look at for 10 minutes, but good god I wouldn't believe anything I read in it. Just the way it's written is always good for a laugh alone.

 

[Christopher]

I don't know if this has anything to do with anything, but I think there should be a black Batman. I really do.

Back in the early '90s, I often thought that if they did a Batman TV series, Michael Dorn would be a good choice for the lead role.

One objection I've seen raised to the idea is that there haven't been that many really rich black families in American history; the first black billionaire only earned that status in 2001. So it'd be hard to reconcile with the usual portrayal of the Waynes coming from old money. Well, unless Bruce was either biracial or adopted. But it occurs to me that it could actually make Batman even more impressive if Bruce wasn't born rich, because he wouldn't have just had his wealth and resources handed to him, but would've had to earn every penny in pursuit of his long-term goal of becoming an unstoppable force against crime.

 

[M'rk son of Mogh]

^^^
Ever read JMS' "Supreme Powers" mini? He basically does an ultimate universe version of the DC heroes rebooting the Squadron Supreme (who were already basically the Justice League) and made Nighthawk, their Batman, black.

So why not just do a Nighthawk movie? If you want a black Batman, they already have the character made. Fans can have their cake AND eat it too, so to speak.
Though I'm sure there might be some copywrite elements that would make people nervous about making that a movie.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Or she makes movies outside the studio system, and she's Indie Anna Jones.

Or nickname could be Indie. Anna "Indie" Jones would work.

All that's necessary, as I said, is to fit new stories into the gaps in the existing Indy continuity. Exactly like they're doing with Han Solo.

And one way they could do this is by framing it as Indy and Marion retired and living together, perhaps a reporter is listening to a story being recounted, then we flash back to a younger Indy played by a different actor. Once they do that, if a followup movie occurs, they don't even have to play with the pretense as it could be a passing of the torch, and you continue on with a younger Indy.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Back in the early '90s, I often thought that if they did a Batman TV series, Michael Dorn would be a good choice for the lead role.

One objection I've seen raised to the idea is that there haven't been that many really rich black families in American history; the first black billionaire only earned that status in 2001. So it'd be hard to reconcile with the usual portrayal of the Waynes coming from old money. Well, unless Bruce was either biracial or adopted. But it occurs to me that it could actually make Batman even more impressive if Bruce wasn't born rich, because he wouldn't have just had his wealth and resources handed to him, but would've had to earn every penny in pursuit of his long-term goal of becoming an unstoppable force against crime.

Because that's where one draws the line at realism with Batman...