Indiana Jones
Indiana Jones is an American media franchise consisting of five films and a prequel television series, along with games, comics, and tie-in novels, that depicts the adventures of Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr. (portrayed in all films by Harrison Ford), a fictional professor of archaeology.
This article is about the franchise. For the character, see Indiana Jones (character). For other uses, see Indiana Jones (disambiguation).Indiana Jones
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
1981–present
- Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
- The Temple of Doom (1984)
- The Last Crusade (1989)
- The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
- The Dial of Destiny (2023)
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (1992–1993)
The series began in 1981 with the film Raiders of the Lost Ark. In 1984, a prequel, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, was released, and in 1989, a sequel, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. A fourth film followed in 2008, titled Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. A fifth and final film, titled Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, was theatrically released on June 30, 2023.[1][2] The series was created by George Lucas. The first four films were directed by Steven Spielberg, who worked closely with Lucas during their production, while the fifth film was directed by James Mangold. In 1992, the franchise expanded to a television series with The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, exploring the character in his childhood and youth, and including adventures with his parents.
Marvel Comics began publishing The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones in 1983, and Dark Horse Comics gained the comic book rights to the character in 1991. Novelizations of the films have been published, as well as many novels with original adventures, including a series of German novels by Wolfgang Hohlbein, twelve novels set before the films published by Bantam Books, and a series set during the character's childhood inspired by the television show. Numerous Indiana Jones video games have been released since 1982.
Other media[edit]
Novels[edit]
A novelization of Raiders of the Lost Ark was written by Campbell Black and published by Ballantine Books in April 1981.[81] It was followed by Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, written by James Kahn and published by Ballantine in May 1984.[82] Finally, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was published in May 1989, and was the first Indiana Jones novel by Rob MacGregor.[83] A fan of the first two films, MacGregor admitted that writing the novelization made him "somewhat disappointed" with the third film, as he had expanded the script whereas Steven Spielberg had cut scenes to tighten the story.[84]
George Lucas asked MacGregor to continue writing original novels for Bantam Books. These were geared toward an adult or young adult audience, and were prequels set in the 1920s or early 1930s after Jones graduates from college. Of the film characters, Lucas only permitted Marcus Brody to appear.[84] He asked MacGregor to base the books on real myths, but except for the deletion of a sex scene, the writer was given total creative freedom. His six books – Indiana Jones and the Peril at Delphi, Indiana Jones and the Dance of the Giants, Indiana Jones and the Seven Veils, Indiana Jones and the Genesis Deluge, Indiana Jones and the Unicorn's Legacy, and Indiana Jones and the Interior World – were published from February 1991 to November 1992. The Genesis Deluge, published in February 1992 and featuring Noah's Ark, was the bestselling novel; MacGregor felt this was because it "had a strong following among religious-oriented people [...] because they tend to take the Noah's Ark story to heart and think of it as history and archaeological fact, rather than myth." MacGregor's favorite book was The Seven Veils,[84] which featured real-life explorer Percy Fawcett and the death of Indiana's wife, Deirdre Campbell.[85][86][87][88][89][90]
Martin Caidin wrote the next two novels in Bantam's series, Indiana Jones and the Sky Pirates and Indiana Jones and the White Witch. These feature Gale Parker as Indiana's sidekick; they introduced afterwords to the series, regarding each novel's historical context.[91][92]
Caidin became ill, so Max McCoy took over in 1995 and wrote the final four novels: Indiana Jones and the Philosopher's Stone, Indiana Jones and the Dinosaur Eggs, Indiana Jones and the Hollow Earth, and Indiana Jones and the Secret of the Sphinx. McCoy set his books closer in time to the events of Raiders of the Lost Ark, which led to his characterizing Indiana as "a bit darker". The prologue of his first book featured a crystal skull,[93] and this became a recurring story, concluding when Jones gives it up in the final novel. Lucas's involvement with McCoy's novels was limited, although Lucasfilm censored sexual or outlandish elements to make the books appeal to younger readers;[94] they also rejected the theme of time travel in the final book.[93] Sallah, Lao Che, Rene Belloq and the Nazis made appearances, and McCoy also pitted Jones against Benito Mussolini's fascists and the Japanese. Jones also has a doomed romance with Alecia Dunstin, a librarian at the British Museum.[95][96][97][98] A novel involving the Spear of Destiny was dropped, because Dark Horse Comics was developing the idea.[93]
The books were only published in paperback, as the series editor felt readers would not be prepared to pay the hardback price for an adventure novel.[99]
In February 2008, the novelizations of the first three films were published in one edition;[100] James Rollins' Kingdom of the Crystal Skull novelization arrived the following May.[101] Children's novelizations of all four films were published by Scholastic in 2008.[102]
MacGregor was said to be writing new books for Ballantine for early 2009, but none have been published.[103]
A new adult adventure, Indiana Jones and the Army of the Dead by Steve Perry, was released in September 2009.[104]
A novel based on the video game Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings, written by MacGregor to coincide with the release of the game, was canceled due to problems around the game's production.[105]
Additionally, German author Wolfgang Hohlbein wrote eight Indiana Jones novels in the early 1990s, which were never translated to English.