One More Crusade.

Moving a long-awaited project closer out of development hell, George Lucas approves the new Indy IV script. If Harrison Ford also approves, Indy IV could get a 2006 start, after Spielberg finishes both Vengeance, his Munich Olympics film with Eric Bana and Daniel Craig, and his Liam Neeson Lincoln biopic, based on a forthcoming book by Doris Kearns Goodwin.

Shadow of the Bat.


A good deal of movie and fanboy news came down the pike this weekend. First and most importantly, the new Batman Begins poster is out (and a new trailer is rumored in front of Ocean’s 12 this Friday.) As one AICN wag put it, it’s very Passion of the Bat. In other news, Harrison Ford says Indy IV is moving again, Chris Columbus is directing Sub-Mariner (uh, oh), and Kevin Spacey is seriously considering Lex Luthor. Finally, the teaser posters for Mr. & Mrs. Smith (a.k.a. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in War of the Roses meets True Lies) are now also floating around the ether, along with the new trailer. Update: The international poster for Batman Begins is now also online.

Speakers for the Dead.

Has the success of LotR cleared the way for stalled sci-fi film projects? Casting for the long-awaited Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy has already been noted here, and now there’s finally movement on an Ender’s Game movie: Director Wolfgang (Das Boot, Air Force One) Petersen is already signed, and apparently the writers of X2 have come aboard for a rewrite. Hmm…that’s good news. Now I wonder what’s up with Morgan Freeman’s take on Rendezvous with Rama? It seems the only fanboy project in the tank right now is Indiana Jones and the Wrath of Lucas.

It’s not the years, honey, it’s the mileage.

After a decade of rumors and half-starts, Harrison Ford will finally don the fedora again for Indy 4, with Spielberg directing and Frank Darabont writing (from a story by, um, George Lucas). The movie’s currently due July 2005, a month after Episode III.