Almost~A~Movie » indiana jones

Raiders of the Lost Ark

mike — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 19:57:43 +0000

Story Conference Transcript
January 23, 1978 thru January 27, 1978
George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Larry Kasdan

Back in 1978, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg got together with Larry Kasdan to hash out the story for Raiders of the Lost Ark. The meeting was recorded and transcribed. (I guess that’s what you do when you’ve got a few bucks and you’re afraid of forgetting brilliant ideas.)

Fast forward to 2009, when a scan of this 126 page (!) transcript started circulating online. It’s a remarkable read. You can see the characters and plot being built from the ground up. Also, tacked on at the end is an additional conversation between Debbie Fine, Larry Kasdan, and Phil Kaufman.

Download the original document here.

Download the easier-to-read transcript here.

Feeling adventurous? Read it with Stanza on your iPhone! I’ve translated the file into ebook format here:
http://maddogmovies.com/almost/ebooks/raidersstoryconf1978.sgf

Mystery Man on Film has a good analysis of the document here.

Thanks to Moedred’s Journal for providing the transcript in text format.

Indiana Jones IV

mike — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 06:14:37 +0000

In the case of Indy, there’s a whole lot of fan material out there to sift through. These are the scripts that have fooled at least a few people. Micah Johnson does a good job of explaining and debunking these scripts at indyfan.com. For a great rundown of all the rumored plots and titles, check outThe Unofficial Indiana Jones IV Page. I’m not listing every rumored Indy title here, so be sure to check out those other links.

Indiana Jones and the Sons of Darkness by R. Marshall Smith
Originally credited to Jeffrey Boam, this version of the script has been neutered by someone – all references to Indiana Jones have been replaced with “Alabama Smith.” More about the history at indyfan.com and in the forums of theraider.net.

Indiana Jones and the Sword of Arthur by Steven Frye and Michael Prentice
Another almost-written-by-Boam hoax. Read the sordid history at indyfan.com

Indiana Jones and the Tomb of Ice by Anonymous
This one has some formatting problems – a fan script giveaway. But it’s hard to track down elsewhere, so I’m posting it here.

Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Fallen Empire by Garrett Black

Indiana Jones and the Saucer Men from Mars by Jeb Stuart
Read a script review at IGN here.

Indiana Jones III

mike — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 02:01:28 +0000

a.k.a. Indiana Jones IV
a.k.a. Indiana Jones and the Monkey King
a.k.a. Indiana Jones and the Garden of Life
by Chris Columbus
From what I can gather, this script was actually written by established screenwriter Chris Columbus. He wrote it unsolicited and presented it to the Lucas camp after the success of Temple of Doom. It wasn’t produced, as Jeffrey Boam’s Last Crusade script was used instead.Years later, the Monkey King script showed up online, with changes to the title and date made to fool the fan community that this may be a script for the fourth movie. Don’t believe it.

Download Screenplay

Cleveland Smith, Bounty Hunter

mike — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 01:09:26 +0000

by Scott Spiegel and Josh Becker
Bruce Campbell was to have starred in this parody of Indiana Jones. Sam Raimi directed a 10 minute short to raise funding, but the project didn’t get off the ground.

Read the script at BeckerFilms.com.

Watch the Cleveland Smith short, available on Youtube: