Skull Secrets

The February '08 issue of Vanity Fair magazine cover story takes you behind the scenes of the eagerly anticipated sequel Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull"

The entire article--along with a few goodies has been posted online....

The article entitled Keys to the Kingdom by Jim Windolf features three cool new photos (and a short video of Annie Leibovitz's photo sessions).

One of the shots confirms a return to the warehouse where the Ark of the Covenant is stored, while another shows off Cate Blanchett as the lead villain of the flick - Captain Spalko...

The article itself contains a few spoilers and some other production stuff.

Most notable among them is that at the time of the interview, director Spielberg was through his 'second of five' cuts of the film and that after seeing the first cut:

"...there was nothing I wanted to go back and shoot, nothing I wanted to reshoot, and nothing I wanted to add."

He also discusses the editing process: "I go for geography. I want the audience to know not only which side the good guy’s on and the bad guy’s on, but which side of the screen they’re in...Quick-cutting is very effective in some movies, like the Bourne pictures, but you sacrifice geography when you go for quick-cutting."

Producer George Lucas confirms that he's a stick in the mud when it comes to this movie's MacGuffin - the Crystal Skull that everyone's after. He then chimes on about the past film's macguffins, stating:

"The Ark of the Covenant was perfect. The Shankara Stones were way too esoteric. The Holy Grail was sort of feeble—but, at the same time, we put the father in there to cover for it."

Their approach was also altered by the film's 50's setting says Lucas - "Instead of doing a 30s Republic serial, we’re doing a B science-fiction movie from the 50s. The ones I’m talking about are, like, Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Blob, [and] The Thing. So by putting it in that context, it gave me a way of approaching the whole thing."

To check out the full article, click here....

May '08 can't come soon enough!!