In our Spielberg critics’ poll, “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” was one of only six films from Spielberg’s six-decade filmography not to receive a single vote from any critic.
‘Crystal Skull’ attempted to pass the torch — and potentially the franchise — to Indy’s son, Mutt (Shia LaBeouf), but few audiences embraced the idea. The film received mixed reviews but still managed to gross more than $800M worldwide.
Fifteen years later, James Mangold attempted to course-correct with “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” but that effort also fell short. Despite stronger reviews in some quarters, the film grossed just $384 million worldwide, making it a major box-office disappointment.
Kathleen Kennedy is now addressing the shortcomings of ‘Crystal Skull.’
In a fascinating Vulture oral history of Spielberg’s career, Kennedy — former president of Lucasfilm — tackles the numerous obstacles they faced during production.
‘Crystal Skull’ was a tough production for [Spielberg cinematographer] Janusz [Kamiński],” Kennedy said, noting that he struggled to recreate the look of the first three Indy films, which were shot by Douglas Slocombe.
Kamiński freely admits as much: “I don’t think I succeeded, because Douglas Slocombe, who did the other Indiana Jones movies, was just brilliant, and I’m not Douglas.”
Meanwhile, George Lucas originally envisioned the film as a 1950s-style alien invasion story in the vein of “War of the Worlds,” but both Harrison Ford and Spielberg were reluctant to make another sci-fi movie. After working through five drafts of the script, the trio eventually reached a compromise.
Steven was struggling with that movie. Harrison was struggling with the movie. They didn’t want to do a ‘Raiders’ movie that involved aliens, and they kind of got into a fight with George [Lucas] about it
According to Kennedy, that hesitation ultimately undermined the creative process behind ‘Crystal Skull,’ and that’s why it’s the “weakest” Indy movie. Her words, not mine. Spielberg and Ford were just never fully committed to the film’s central idea.
They ended up all of them doing what George wanted to do, which was probably the right thing. But Harrison and Steven were not 100 percent on board. That’s why the movie, out of the four that Steven made, is the weakest.
The problem with ‘Crystal Skull’ was indeed David Koepp’s screenplay. After nearly two decades of development, the filmmakers still seemed unable to settle on a compelling story, ultimately landing on a clunky plot involving aliens, interdimensional beings, and Nazis that never quite fit the spirit of the franchise. Still, I prefer ‘Crystal Skull’ to ‘Dial of Destiny.’ When you strip away the high expectations, ‘Crystal Skull’ wasn’t a bad movie—just a disappointing one. Spielberg admitted it. Kennedy admitted it. I’ll always take Spielberg over Mangold. No contest. It’s simply a better-directed film.
I stand by my assertion that the biggest issue in making an Indian Jones movie today is that the first three films, released throughout the ’80s, captured a vintage B-movie serial spirit that felt completely sincere. I’m not convinced that kind of earnest matinee-adventure magic can be easily recreated in today’s more self-aware cinematic landscape.
Oh, Sebastian Stan … he tells Variety that walking onto the set of "The Batman: Part II" gives him the feeling that he might be making "The Godfather: Part II." His exact words.