When it was said that Sean Connery would not be reprising his role in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull – or Indy IV, as it was then known – we'd assumed that he'd had a fairly crucial role in the movie, which would then be removed entirely from the script. But we all know what assumption does: it makes an ass of you and mption.
In a new interview with TV Guide, George Lucas has said that Henry Jones Sr was only ever intended as an early cameo and that his role has now been reworked into a new character, rather than entirely excised from the script.
"In the beginning, he was just in a little bit of it, and I think with the strength of Sean Connery, people would've wanted him to go all the way through the whole thing, and the story really didn't work that way," Lucas told the magazine. "And so I think there would've been some disappointment that [his character] dropped out partway through the movie. By having somebody else fill that role, you lose him without any regret, so to speak, even though we got a great actor to play the part. And I mean, he's not his father, so it's much easier...."
And who's playing that role? Well, Lucas isn't saying, obviously. "It's just a completely different character, so you're not invested in him in any way," he continues. "The fact that that character, after the first part of the movie, isn't needed doesn't become a problem. Whereas I think with the scene we had, where [Indy] says goodbye to his dad, everybody was, "Wait a minute! Isn't he coming back?" So in the end, I think it turned out for the best. Sean just retired and he wants to stay retired, and I understand that. [Laughs] I think he just said, "Look, I've done it, I've done it." He was very tempted, you know, and we talked for a long time. But in the end, he just said, "Eh, I'm playing golf."
Our money would be on this new character being played by either John Hurt (although he's Marion Ravenwood's father, so that might not make sense) or Jim Broadbent, because he's nice and fatherly and just the kind of person you'd get in for a juicy cameo.
How's that for making a news story out of not really any new information? Score!
For the full Lucas interview, which doesn't really touch on Indy again, click here.