Mick Jordan goes behind the scenes of a favourite film shown at Christmastime

 

In 1977, just as Star Wars finally hit cinemas George Lucas went on holiday to Hawaii to escape the hype. His friend Steven Spielberg came along as well and inevitably the two began talking about future movie projects.

Spielberg revealed he would really like to do a Bond film. Lucas countered with an idea he had been mulling over for a number of years. This featured a Bond-like hero but he would be an archaeologist and adventurer in the 1930s. The story would be an adventure based on the classic cliff hanger serials of that era that they both loved.

Spielberg quickly got enthused, but he insisted on one change – the character’s name. Originally called Indiana Smith Spielberg felt that this didn’t quite work, so they changed it to – Jones.

Amazingly, despite being presented with a package from the two most successful filmmakers in the business at the time, several studios rejected the idea. They felt it was too old-fashioned for modern audiences. Eventually

Lucas persuaded Paramount to take it on by guaranteeing that the film could be made for 20 million dollars – and that it would be on schedule.

The next big challenge was the casting of the hero. It was crucial to get someone willing to commit long term to the role as this was hoped to be an ongoing franchise.
Many actors were considered, but the frontrunner was Tom Selleck.

Selleck was a star waiting to be launched for quite some time. He had made several pilots for television series that were never taken up.

Ironically, his sudden boost in profile by being the leading contender for this film, meant the company behind his latest pilot Magnum P.I. decided to develop that into a series. And of course as a result, he was no longer available to play Indiana Jones!

Continue reading in this year’s Ireland’s Own Christmas Annual