Marshall Offers ‘Indy IV’ Insight, ‘Bourne’ Buzz
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com)- As the sun set in Century City on Sunday (Jan. 8) afternoon, a group of journalists waited patiently as producer Frank Marshall discussed his upcoming IMAX documentary “Roving Mars.”
The expanded format film follows, as one might guess from the title, the creation, launch and discoveries of the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity. It has fascinating computer imagery and a catchy Phillip Glass score. What it doesn’t have, however, is Harrison Ford, some kind of ancient treasure and a bullwhip. Marshall’s presence is largely an invitation to discuss the neverending drama surrounding the on-again/off-again “Indiana Jones 4.”
“Way back when Harrison was being honored by the AFI when this all started, we were all standing backstage, we saw all the movies and everything and we were a little nostalgic and mellow and we said, ‘You know, that was fun. We ought to do that. Let’s try and do this.'” Marshall recounts. “Well that was a while ago. And I think that what we want is we want it to be as good as the others. These are not stories based on anything, so it’s taking a while. But I’ll tell you, it’s on the front burner and we’re gonna decide to do this or not real soon.”
It’s been well-established that in order for the first Indiana Jones adventure since 1989’s “Last Crusade” to become a reality, all of the principals — Marshall, Ford, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas — have to agree on the direction for the franchise. A script by Frank Darabont already failed to meet that criteria (“Frank did a nice job, but we wanted to go in a different direction, and that’s moviemaking,” Marshall says), putting the saga in the hands of Jeff Nathanson (“Rush Hour 2”) most recently.
“We’re gonna have a script real soon and now it’s a question of getting our schedules all to where we can do it,” is all Marshall can promise. “There’s four of us, so it’s hard.”
Things are much more concrete for the fate of the Marshall-produced “Bourne Ultimatum,” the third installment of the popular series featuring Matt Damon as a former government operative with a spotty memory and tons of grief. Marshall reveals that production on “Ultimatum” will begin in Europe on Aug. 1 and that Damon and “Bourne Supremacy” director Paul Greengrass are excited to return. Also back in the fold are screenwriter Tony Gilroy and co-stars Joan Allen and Julia Stiles.
“He made up another incredible story,” Marshall says of Gilroy, who long ago abandoned the blueprint set by Robert Ludlum’s novels. “It’s really, really out there, but it’s incredible.”
Asked if Bourne will finally be able to get some satisfaction by the end of the trilogy, Marshall is cagey.
“I think he’s going to get there in this one,” he comments. “He’s going to get to a place of nirvana and a place of satisfaction and he’ll feel good about himself by the end of this movie, sail off into the sunset. Like Indy. Then I’ll have to go through this again in five years.”
The priority placement of “Indy” and “Bourne” has left another franchise out in the cold. “Jurassic Park,” last visited in 2001, seemed on the verge of another sequel. Not so fast.
“It’s kind of off the radar,” Marshall says. “I’d say we’ve got ‘Bourne’ here [he gestures in front of himself], we’ve got ‘Indy’ here [gestures a bit behind] and we have ‘Jurassic’ back here [he creates a wide gulf with his hands]. Steve’s obviously been pretty busy the last year, so we haven’t really focused on that yet. But we will.”
Oh and “Roving Mars” hits IMAX screens on Friday, Jan. 27.
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