George Lucas chats Indy IV

When we think about the finally active fourth instalment of the Indiana Jones franchise, we can’t help but feel a tiny chill of worry penetrating our mortal souls whenever George Lucas is invited to talk about it,

While the franchise should be fairly safe in the hands of Steven Spielberg, Lucas’ position as producer (and The Beard’s mate) does give him an awful lot of power, and usually when he’s made decisions, they’re what you might refer to as questionable. Junking Frank Darabont’s script? This from the man who wrote The Phantom Menace?

Still, USA Today nabbed him and he flapped his lips about the film. See if you can spot the part that makes us wish he were joking (and no, the answer is not “all of it”.)

Though he wouldn’t be drawn on the top-secret shooting locations for the film, he did confront the issue of Harrison Ford’s age. "He's not running in any of the movies," Lucas told the paper. "He's either on a horse or driving a car or a motorcycle. And he'll play his age in this movie with what's appropriate. The chases are more suspenseful than speedy. Like the rolling ball in the first film - it's not that he's running that fast, it's that there's a giant ball coming at him. And he will get beat up, which is a tradition for us."

According to the portly uber-producer, the title will be kept under wraps (in the age of the Internet? Good luck, man!) until the first trailer peeks out around late November, though he did tip his hat to the fact that he and Spielberg remain interested in getting Sean Connery to sign on as Dr Henry Jones: “We’re still trying.”

Finally, when asked about the Cate Blanchett, Lucas seemed to be jokingly implying that he wasn’t sure he wanted to cast her. "That's who my director wanted, and I always bow to the wishes of my director," Lucas blabbed. "I approved it because she seemed like a good idea. When I met her at the Academy Awards, I told her, 'Hey, you work for me now!'

Yeah, the man who cast Hayden bleedin’ Christensen as Anakin Skywalker is really the man you want picking the leads for your film!

Source: ( USA Today )

The Total Film team are made up of the finest minds in all of film journalism. They are: Editor Jane Crowther, Deputy Editor Matt Maytum, Reviews Ed Matthew Leyland, News Editor Jordan Farley, and Online Editor Emily Murray. Expect exclusive news, reviews, features, and more from the team behind the smarter movie magazine. 

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