Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Set in 1957, the new film pits Indy against Russian Cold Warriors, including Agent Spalko (Cate Blanchett)

Between them, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg have made 13 of the 100 top-grossing movies of all time. Yet they struggled for more than a decade with the upcoming fourth installment of their billion-dollar Indiana Jones franchise, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

The Feb. 2008 issue of Vanity Fair is dedicated to the upcoming sequel of one of our favorite franchises. The 5 page article drops a few hints of what's to expect from the movie which opens May 22nd like is Shia's character related to Indy or are the mentioned Crystal Skulls of this Earth?

Nicely accompanying the article are a small collection of photographs of the cast and crew by Annie Leibovitz. Be sure to also check out the behind-the-scenes video of the photo shoot located at the bottom of this post.

Some highlights of the article are in depth interviews with the main players of the film. George Lucas, Harrison Ford, and Steven Spielberg (above) on the set of the new film in Los Angeles take a moment to discuss the last Indiana Jones movie. “Neither of them is ashamed of making audience films,” Ford says of his partners.


Shia LaBeouf and Karen Allen on set (above) in Downey, California. Allen returns as Marion Ravenwood, Indy’s spunky girlfriend from the first film, while LaBeouf joins in—or so rumor has it—as Indy and Marion’s love child.

Annie Leibovitz gets exclusive access to the set for Vanity Fair, while Lucas, Spielberg, and their star, Harrison Ford, tell Jim Windolf about the long standoff over the plot, why critics and fans will be upset, and how they’ve updated Indy.

• Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull