The Return Of

The Great Adventure

Spielberg, Lucas and Ford Re-Team

for an Adventure Worthy of the Name INDIANA JONES

Like its predecessors, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" is distinguished from anything else in the cinema landscape by Steven Spielberg's unparalleled vision, George Lucas's limitless imagination and Harrison Ford's embodiment of a timeless adventure hero.

From his first appearance nearly 27 years ago, Indiana Jones has become one of the most beloved heroes of the silver screen, and almost since the day 1989's "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" was released, audiences all over the world have announced their collective desire for another Indiana Jones adventure.

"We created Indiana Jones, but it belongs to the world," says director Steven Spielberg. "And now we're the custodians. Our job really is to serve up a huge helping not only of what Indiana Jones means to audiences who grew up with it, but to introduce the character to those who haven't. This new film is for the fans."

Executive producer and co-story writer, George Lucas, says his goal was to create an experience that will transport audiences into an all-new adventure set in a familiar world -- a world that generations of fans have come to know and love. "The style is the same, the humor is the same. Everything feels the same. But we've also been able to build on it. The relationships we have on the set and the ones on the screen are stronger and better and more fun than they've ever been," Lucas says.

Few actors have been as inextricably identified with a character as Harrison Ford is with Indiana Jones -- and he returned to the role with all the style and swagger that helped turn the archaeologist-adventurer into a cinema icon. "Having been out in the world making all kinds of other movies, I was happy to do another Indiana Jones film, just because they're so damned much fun to do," Ford says. "I love being in business again with Steven and George, and I've had a great time on this one."

Spielberg calls Ford's casting the most important element in the unique alchemy of Indiana Jones. "More important than my directing it, more important than all the writers that came in, more important than almost the sum of all of its parts, was the fact that this series would not have been as successful as it was if it were not for Harrison Ford playing that role," says Spielberg. "Harrison is at home in the skin of Indiana Jones."

For years after the release of "Last Crusade," Spielberg harbored a belief that the time for Indiana Jones had ended. "I shot Indiana Jones riding a horse into the sunset because I thought that brought the curtain down on the story," he remarks. "And in a sweet, nostalgic way, that was fine with me at the time. But there were some people who weren't fine with it -- and this movie really started with the fans."

It took the energy, enthusiasm and persistence of Harrison Ford to inspire the team to reunite for another adventure. "Harrison called me and said, 'Why don't we make another one of these pictures? There's a fan base out there that wants it,'" Spielberg recalls. "He was tenacious. He called George, and George got to thinking about it, and then George called me and said, 'Well, Steve, what do you want to do? It could be fun to make another movie.'"

"I have to give the credit to Harrison for starting the ball rolling and then to George for working to get me to consider the possibility of at least one more story," Spielberg says.

Together, Spielberg, Lucas and Ford agreed that they would only pursue a fourth Indiana Jones adventure if the idea -- and the execution -- were up to the standards of the first three movies.

It took 19 years to find just the right script -- and one of the first points of agreement between the three was that 19 years should pass for Indiana Jones, too. "He is certainly older, if not wiser," Ford jokes.

Movie search