Michael Rogers

First Look: J.W. Rinzler’s “The Complete Making of Indiana Jones”

Finally got the galley for J.W. Rinzler’s The Complete Making of Indiana Jones. I’ve only read the first 45 pages, but so far it’s gangbusters, as I knew it would be (Rinzler, you’re a god). It follows the same physical format as his fabulous The Making of Star Wars, and features tons of pix and illustrations (several per page!).

There have been loads of solid Star Wars books over the years, but virtually nothing for Indy, so when this book was announced, fans went nuts. They’ll go even nuttier when they see it. It rocks!

A real headshaker is how many studios turned down Raiders. You’ve got the two highest-grossing filmmakers, the guys who made Star Wars and Jaws collaborating on a joint project they know is a blockbuster, and studio execs say no. WTF! How dumb are some people?

I’ll run a proper review in the May 15 LJXpress, but until then, here are some pix to make you Indy heads happy.
 
Alternate Ark design

Ford practicing on not beating himself to death

Alternate logos

Alternate poster designs

Tom Selleck screen test as Indy, Sean Young as Marion (yikes!)

Tim Mattheson screen test as Indy

Storyboard for cut scene

The original concept for Toht (Nazi in black leather trench coat) was that he had a machine gun for an arm

Posted by Michael Rogers on April 4, 2008 | Comments (2)