So it comes to this. The film that most pundits are calling to be the #1 box office movie of this year is opening this coming week. The film that I never thought would actually get to the big screen (can you blame me? The film is like 15 years over due). Most people have LIKED the trailers… but not many have LOVED them. The movie itself is still veiled in total secrecy even with Harrison Ford on talk shows giving next to NOTHING away about the films. You’ve got George “Master of hype” Lucas telling people not to get their hopes up and that it’s just another movie and in general most people now seem to accept that Indiana Jones won’t live up to it’s expectation (but let’s be honest… if you honestly gauge things right now expectations really aren’t as high as you would have thought they’d be).
But hold on a second. There is something very fishy about all this, and I think I might be starting to suspect a conspiracy here.
Now Hollywood nearly always has a conspiracy to make a bad film look fantastic… no surprises there. But as I look at the circumstances, I’m beginning to wonder if Paramount et al. hasn’t been down playing how good Indiana Jones 4 in order to blast us this Sunday with huge positive reviews, buzz and word of mouth. What leads me to suspect this? Well, a couple of things:
1) Indiana Jones 4 is premiering at Cannes on Sunday
Ok, so what’s the big deal about opening a movie at one of the world’s largest film festivals? Well, for starters, Cannes is notorious for chewing up and spitting out a LOT of films. Audiences there has been legendarily tough, known for booing out loud and walking out of the theaters. And Jones isn’t the type of film that would typically play at Cannes either. Hmmmmmm…
2) All Media Screenings This Sunday
On the exact same day that Cannes is showing Indiana Jones 4, just about every media outlet will be shows the film too. On the exact same day. Quite often the studios will spatter and spread out media screenings of their films… but on Sunday, myself and just about every other movie media type person has been invited to screen Indiana Jones on that exact same day. A Sunday. Coincidence? I suspect not.
3) Since When Does Lucas Downplay His Movies?
It would be a monumental understatement to call George Lucas’ reserved comments about Indiana Jones 4 “out of character”. This is a man who makes shit smell like sunshine when promoting his films. Since when does George Lucas tell people “not to get their expectations too high” for any of his movies??? I don’t buy it… it smells fishy.
4) Lucas, Ford and Spielberg Took Nearly 20 Years To Agree On A Script
Don’t forget that Lucas, Spielberg and Harrison Ford all had to agree on a script before moving forward on Indiana Jones 4 (Why on earth Harrison Ford was included in that is totally beyond me… he’s an actor, not a filmmaker.. anyway..). And after nearly 20 years, they all looked at this one and said “Yes, this is the film to do”.
Look, let me be clear here. Indiana Jones 4 may end up being just as big of a disappointment as the Star wars prequels. It could be that playing it at Cannes was just because Spielberg wanted to go to France. It could be that all the media are seeing the film on the same day because the schedule just coincidentally happened to work out best for that day and it could be that George Lucas just really and honestly doesn’t think Indy 4 is all that special of a movie and wants to ready his fans to not get their hopes too high. COULD BE.
But me personally, I can’t help but look at all this and suspect that Lucas, Spielberg and Paramount all have supreme confidence in this movie and have been orchestrating this all along by lulling us into a “ho-hum” feeling towards Indy, only to blast us with insane positive reviews come Monday morning… all tidal waving us with buzz and word of mouth crashing into opening day on Thursday.
Like I said, I’m just conspiracy theorizing a little bit on a Saturday morning, and i still think Paramount mismanaged the marketing because they’ve been advertising an Indiana Jones movie instead of the return of Indiana Jones… but what do you think?
