Indiana Jones film to smash box office records
By Emma Thelwell
Last Updated: 2:40pm BST 20/05/2008
The feverish anticipation surrounding the fourth Indiana Jones film looks set to prompt the biggest movie opening of all time for blockbuster veterans George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.
The excitement over Harrison Ford's long-awaited return to the screens as the whip-toting, globe-trotting archaeologist, is expected to rake in $150m within five days of opening in the US.
Lucas and Spielberg have already clocked up 13 of the 100 top-grossing movies of all time.
10 Indy facts you might not know
Indiana Jones unveiled at Cannes
The original trilogy - the last installment of which was Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - was one of the highest-earning franchises in film history, grossing more than $1bn.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which opens on Thursday and cost a reported $65m to make, sees a revival of the franchise which director Spielberg has hinted could be followed by a fifth instalment.
Spielberg told reporters at Cannes Film Festival in France yesterday that he would consider making a fifth film "only if you want more".
Ford: back in the saddleHowever, despite the three Oscars, 109 other assorted awards and 75 nominations under his belt, the man that brought us Jaws, ET and Saving Private Ryan will have some way to go to top the box office records.
Spider-Man 3 took $151.1m within just three days at the box office when it opened in May last year.
Meanwhile, towards the end of last year, the Harry Potter series overtook James Bond to become the biggest selling franchise in box office history, according to Warner Brothers.
The five adventures of JK Rowling's wizard wunderkind have racked up £2.2bn at the box office, with two more films scheduled for release over the next two years.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix took almost $940m, making it the sixth highest grossing film at the worldwide box office of all time. In 1997, James Cameron's Titantic defied many film critics in to become the biggest grossing movie of all time.
That said, inflation-adjusted ticket price information reveals Gone with the Wind as the true number one - which would have taken $1.4m at today's ticket office, according to Box Office Mojo. The romantic classic is followed by Star Wars, which would have reaped $1.2bn and thirdly the Sound of Music, with an estimated $980m.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/05/20/bcnindy120.xml
By Emma Thelwell
Last Updated: 2:40pm BST 20/05/2008
The feverish anticipation surrounding the fourth Indiana Jones film looks set to prompt the biggest movie opening of all time for blockbuster veterans George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.
Lucas and Spielberg have already clocked up 13 of the 100 top-grossing movies of all time.
10 Indy facts you might not know
Indiana Jones unveiled at Cannes
The original trilogy - the last installment of which was Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - was one of the highest-earning franchises in film history, grossing more than $1bn.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which opens on Thursday and cost a reported $65m to make, sees a revival of the franchise which director Spielberg has hinted could be followed by a fifth instalment.
Spielberg told reporters at Cannes Film Festival in France yesterday that he would consider making a fifth film "only if you want more".
Spider-Man 3 took $151.1m within just three days at the box office when it opened in May last year.
Meanwhile, towards the end of last year, the Harry Potter series overtook James Bond to become the biggest selling franchise in box office history, according to Warner Brothers.
The five adventures of JK Rowling's wizard wunderkind have racked up £2.2bn at the box office, with two more films scheduled for release over the next two years.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix took almost $940m, making it the sixth highest grossing film at the worldwide box office of all time. In 1997, James Cameron's Titantic defied many film critics in to become the biggest grossing movie of all time.
That said, inflation-adjusted ticket price information reveals Gone with the Wind as the true number one - which would have taken $1.4m at today's ticket office, according to Box Office Mojo. The romantic classic is followed by Star Wars, which would have reaped $1.2bn and thirdly the Sound of Music, with an estimated $980m.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/05/20/bcnindy120.xml
