Indiana Jones 5 is happening and there might already be one too many.
But what about the Indy movies that never were?
This article originally appeared onDen of Geek UK.
Indiana Jones 5is definitely happening!
Here then is a whistle-stop tour of the Indiana Jones movies that never were… Full details of this never really came to light, but a screenplay was written for it.
That was done by Diane Thomas, who had pennedRomancing The Stone.
It wasnt that Indiana Jones movies hadnt done ghosts and the supernatural to some extent before.
But for Spielberg, it just felt like retreading old ground.
The haunted mansion idea was nixed.
This particular adventure would have kicked off in Scotland in 1937 with Indy investigating ghostly murders.
In turn, she happens to have discovered a 200-year-old pygmy by the name of Tyki.
Tyki would go on to give Indy a scroll with the directions to a lost city.
Naturally enough, Nazis block the way to said lost city.
The plan for the lost city was for it to contain the Fountain of Youth.
That was one of the ingredients that never found its way into a future Indy movie, however.
(Daily Script has a link to an apparent draft of the film, here.)
The search is thus on to find her.
Turns out shes working on the discovery of alien bodies and a strange stone cylinder.
A further alien encounter sees a truck being lifted off the ground.
Meanwhile, a mysterious countdown clock ticks away, with the assumption being that its a bomb.
Short Round was set to give them a lift in a car at the end of the film too.
A couple of things, then.
So why did this one fall apart whileCrystal Skulldidnt?
However,Independence Daythen happened, and almost instantly killed the project.
The similarities were too great.
Lucas would, as history shows, hold onto the idea of those aliens though.
Jeffrey Boam would sadly pass away in 2000, at the age of just 53.
Indiana Jones and the Lost Continentwas a rumored project for which little substantive evidence exists.
That werent, so it didnt.
There were casting rumors for this one, but again, weve nothing of substance to support them.
The script was being worked on from mid-2000 through until the end of 2003.
It also picked up elements ofIndiana Jones and the Saucermen from Mars.
Yep, those ones.
And we learn that Marion is married and on a quest to find the lost City of the Gods.
The skull is the key to getting at said citys secrets.
At the City of the Gods, aliens appear when the skull is attached to the necessary skeleton.
But here, the aliens anoint Indy and the four people accompanying him the five chosen ones.
As thanks for helping bring some mummified remains back to life, they get one wish granted each.
Indy, meanwhile, wishes for Marion and ends up alive.
When it subsequently crashes, it takes the City of the Gods with it in the explosion that ensues.
Indy and Marion go back to America and then get married.
Nobody called Mutt is ever mentioned.
One of Darabonts drafts leaked online.
Well, its assumed to be his, and hes never denied or confirmed it either way.
Former Nazis were in the mix too, as well as a Cold War feel.
So why didnt this one happen?
Thatd be down to George Lucas this time.
He took over the script himself, and brought other writers on to work with it too.
According toan interview he gave toMTVback in 2007, Darabont confronted George Lucas over the matter.
I told him he was crazy, Darabont said.
You have a fantastic script.
Hes one of the most stubborn men I know.
Darabont did still introduce ingredients that would make it intoIndiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
But its clear it was very far removed from the version hed originally drafted.
Another fake script turned out to be an adventure about Indy finding the Garden of Eden.
Several more would crop up, and we suspect will continue to do so…
This article first ran on Jan. 31, 2014.
