Indiana Jones 5 Moving Ahead Without George Lucas
According to Adam Chitwood over at Collider, George Lucas will not be involved in Indiana Jones 5 in any capacity, and for some reason this makes me feel like Fry waiting for death by snu-snu.
Officially, Lucas will still get an executive producer credit, but David Koepp, Indy 5's current screenwriter, has had "no contact" with him while writing his draft. Now, this isn't exactly surprising. The Indiana Jones property was sold to Disney in 2012 along with Star Wars and ILM in the $4 billion Lucasfilm bundle, and for The Force Awakens, Lucas was quite open about how much he wasn't involved and why that was okay. To paraphrase the man himself, he wanted to step away completely because otherwise he would try to insert himself more than he was wanted. After all, he had controlled these properties in intimate detail for nearly forty years, so its understandable that he would have a little trouble letting go. A clean break was the only way.
I understand that its cool to hate on Lucas, and I'm definitely not an apologist when it comes to the Star Wars prequels or Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (I don't even much like Temple of Doom or most of his producing ventures). I should be jumping for joy at this news. No more nuking the fridge or LeBeouf swinging with the monkeys. No more cringing at my film heroes. However, something makes me incredibly sad that one of the people instrumental in creating my ideal sense of cinematic adventure is just completely out of the picture, and I'm not entirely sure why. Perhaps, its a matter of respect.
Whatever Lucas may or may not have lost artistically over the years shouldn't negate the amazing way he changed filmmaking and cinema. This isn't just about Star Wars or Indiana Jones, either, although the impact of each of those series alone is incalculable. This is about Lucas as an inarguable boundary-pushing genius of the medium. For one, Lucas pioneered the use of computers in film. Industrial Light and Magic and Pixar (then Graphics Group), two of the biggest names in special effects and computer-generated imagery were co-founded by Lucas. The first fully animated CGI character in a film, an anthropomorphic stained-glass window in Young Sherlock Holmes would never have happened without Lucas. He also spearheaded the digital film revolution, and although some film purists decry that change, the positive effect it has had on independent filmmakers offsets any arguments about digital's current fleeting lack of fidelity. Even more so than the independent film movement of the late 80s and 90s, digital film has expanded the definition of a filmmaker and democratized the entire process. Without Lucas, movies and the craft of making them would be completely different. The cherry on top is how he revolutionized fantasy and science-fiction adventure films and the toy business.
Which is why I'm having trouble with my reaction. The man is brilliant and he deserves deference. Maybe he shouldn't be writing these stories anymore. Maybe it's best that he stopped when he did. But, when someone of such immeasurable influence and talent finally hangs up his hat and decides to leave, he shouldn't be laughed off the stage.
