Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of $300 Million
The $300 million club has a new member.
The final box-office numbers from the weekend show Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull moved into that exclusive, nine-figure territory yesterday.
The movie is the second 2008 release to crack $300 million after Iron Man, which beat Indiana Jones to the neighborhood by about a week.
Iron Man, which currently sits at $309 million, remains the year’s No. 1 movie.
The ever-resourceful Dr. Jones, however, holds the overall advantage.
An even bigger hit internationally, the adventure franchise’s fourth installment has topped $400 million overseas, bringing its worldwide total to $713 million, Paramount said today. Iron Man, by comparison, has done the majority of its big business stateside. Overseas grosses bring its worldwide haul to “only” about $560 million.
Among George Lucas movies, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is its producer’s biggest non-Star Wars hit as a producer, per Box Office Mojo stats. Among Steven Spielberg movies, Crystal Skull is his third-biggest hit, behind E.T. and Jurassic Park, as a director.
Among Indiana Jones movies, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is the top grosserso long as you don’t adjust for inflation.
Raiders of the Lost Ark, the series starter bumped down to No. 2 by Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, arguably had the more impressive run of the two installments, grossing a gaudy $209.6 million domestically back in 1981.
Still, a win is a win. And Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the first new Indiana Jones movie in 19 years, overcame minor qualms that the film would suffer from young moviegoers unable to relate to the veteran franchise and its veteran star, Harrison Ford, who, at 65, is seven years older than Sean Connery was when that actor played Indiana’s father in The Last Crusade.
And the movie isn’t done yet. Last weekend, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull made more than double the money of the finally tiring Iron Man. A couple more showings like that, and Indiana Jones may be the $300 million club’s No. 1 member.
Quote: Lucas Admits Indiana Jones 4 Was Pointless?!
I came across this quote from George Lucas in The New York Times:
“I mean, why do we have to make another Indiana Jones? There was no point to it, other than, gee, this might be fun.”
I’m not even going to comment on the quote, because it already says everything I would like to say about Lucas.
The Happening: What Did You Think?
Were you one of the people who went to see M. Night Shyamalan’s The Happening instead of The Incredible Hulk? I’d be interested to hear what you thought. Ebert may have given the movie three stars, but most American movie critics are throwing Rotten Tomatoes at the screen (only 20% fresh on the Tomatometer). But forget about the critics, I want to know what you guys thought. Please comment below!
My quick thoughts: Shyamalan needs to find a group of creative people to collaborate and bounce ideas off of. Not only is the plot ridiculous, but the characters are unbelievable and speak like no living human being I’ve ever seen or experienced. Shyamalan has directed Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel, both considered talented actors, into one-dimensional b-movie level performances (for example, think back to Natalie Portman’s performance in the George Lucas-directed Star Wars prequels). Despite promises of M Night’s first R-Rated horror film, Shyamalan keeps most of the violence off screen, and never suceeds at being horrifying even on a psychological level.The resulting film is more unintentionally funny than scary or thrilling. Wahlberg runs away from the wind (…as if you could actually run away from the wind?) and pleads to plastic plants. And the ending is the textbook definition of anti-climatic.
So, what did you think about M. Night Shyamalan’s The Happening?
Trivia: George Lucas’s Daughter is an MMA Fighter
Amanda Lucas, the 27-year-old daughter of George Lucas, made her mixed martial arts debut in Auckland New Zealand on Saturday night under the stage name Amanda “Powerhouse” Lucas. The billionaire filmmaker’s daughter took on Australian kickboxer Nicole Kavanagh in a 73kg MMA contest at the Auckland Boxing Association Stadium. Apparently Amanda, who appeared in minor cameo roles in the three Star Wars prequels, was a hip-hop teacher in San Francisco but had years of martial arts training including kickboxing, Muay Thai and Brazilian ju-jitsu. In the Star Wars films, Amanda appeared as a dancer in The Phantom Menace, an Outlander Club patron in Attack of the Clones, and Senator Terr Taneel in Revenge of the Sith. The fight will be part of a new reality television series planned around the formation of this new all-woman MMA league.
sources: stuff, Star Wars Wikia