Indiana Jones back after 19 yrs
On Sunday, the 'professor of adventures' Indiana Jones returned to the big screen and the red carpet after 19 long years for the premiere of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal Skull at Cannes.
Apart from the actor-director duo of Harrison Ford and Steven Spielberg, there was Ford's partner Calista Flockhart in an electric blue off-shoulder gown and Salma Hayek sporting her Frida look.
Cate Blanchett, Natalie Portman, Michael Moore, Goldie Hawn, and Billy Zane with his partner Kelly Brook were also present.
And while fans welcomed Jones with cheers, the film's Academy Award-winning director reasoned why Jones had been missing in action for almost two decades.
"I was the person saying, I don't know, I was in my dark period, making all these depressing historical dramas and making movies with meaning that I want my kids to watch when they get older. And I wasn't ready to go out and entertain a lot of people all at once and then I made Jurassic Park and, wow I forgot that feeling, that felt really good," says Speilberg.
Despite receiving a warm welcome, Ford seemed prepared for the worst.
"I expect to have the whip turned on me. It's not unusual for something that is popular to be disdained by some people, and I fully expect it and I am not really worried about it. I work for the people who pay to get in," says Ford.
However, for Cate Blanchett, who plays a Soviet agent in the film, it was all about breaking the mould.
"I'd like to consider myself as an action actor. It was Steven Speilberg's mission to butch me up, so he loved it on the days when I had to do all the the stunty bits. I loved that stuff because I'd never done it before," says Blanchett.
Co-written by its executive producer, George Lucas, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal Skull is set in 1957 and it pits the professor of archaeology – Indiana Jones – against Soviet Union agents as he goes in search of a rare artifact namely the crystal skull.
The fourth installment of the Indiana Jones adventure series is slated to hit American theatres on May 22, 2008.
