Indiana vs. Identity Theft.

Armed only with his trusty Finger of Death and a deep, abiding love for his family, Security specialist Harrison Ford faces off against evil Paul Bettany in the highly spoileriffic trailer for Firewall, also starring Virginia Madsen, Robert Patrick, and Alan Arkin. I’m rooting for a Ford comeback one of these days, but this warmed-over retread of other Ford films doesn’t look to be the start of it.

First Batty, now Booth.

Beware the finger of death, Confederate conspirators. Former fugitive, scoundrel, and president Harrison Ford is slated to track down Lincoln’s assassin in the forthcoming film Manhunt. Ford will play Everett Conger, the retired cavalry officer who helped catch John Wilkes Booth at the Garrett farm, near Port Royal, Virginia, twelve days after Lincoln’s shooting.

One More Crusade.

Moving a long-awaited project closer out of development hell, George Lucas approves the new Indy IV script. If Harrison Ford also approves, Indy IV could get a 2006 start, after Spielberg finishes both Vengeance, his Munich Olympics film with Eric Bana and Daniel Craig, and his Liam Neeson Lincoln biopic, based on a forthcoming book by Doris Kearns Goodwin.

Shadow of the Bat.


A good deal of movie and fanboy news came down the pike this weekend. First and most importantly, the new Batman Begins poster is out (and a new trailer is rumored in front of Ocean’s 12 this Friday.) As one AICN wag put it, it’s very Passion of the Bat. In other news, Harrison Ford says Indy IV is moving again, Chris Columbus is directing Sub-Mariner (uh, oh), and Kevin Spacey is seriously considering Lex Luthor. Finally, the teaser posters for Mr. & Mrs. Smith (a.k.a. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in War of the Roses meets True Lies) are now also floating around the ether, along with the new trailer. Update: The international poster for Batman Begins is now also online.

The Chimp stays in the Picture.

Max of Lots of Co. points the way to this very fun movie production game. I’m proud to say my first film, a revolutionary war drama called Republic of Virtue and starring Harrison Ford and Kate Beckinsale (also featuring Colin Farrell, Clive Owen, Helen Mirren, and Maggie Gyllenhaal), went on to make over $100 million. Still, I should have cast the chimp.

It’s not the years, honey, it’s the mileage.

After a decade of rumors and half-starts, Harrison Ford will finally don the fedora again for Indy 4, with Spielberg directing and Frank Darabont writing (from a story by, um, George Lucas). The movie’s currently due July 2005, a month after Episode III.