New Behind-the-Scenes Photos, Comic Book Cover Surface For ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’

Three new behind-the-scenes photos turned up on Wednesday for “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” in a comprehensive Vanity Fair article [8]. In the third photo below, we see the first photo of Cate Blanchett as a Russian agent.

The article and photos have been picked up by /Film [9], Hollywood Elsewhere [10] and other film sites across the Web. Some Vanity Fair quotes from director Steven Spielberg follow:

I’m in my second cut, which means I’ve put the movie together and I’ve seen it. I usually do about five cuts as a director.

The best news is that – when I saw the movie myself the first time – there was nothing I wanted to go back and shoot, nothing I wanted to reshoot and nothing I wanted to add.

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.

I want the audience to be able to edit as quickly as they want in a shot. [That has] been my style with all four of these “Indiana Jones” pictures.

Quick-cutting is very effective in some movies – like the “Bourne” pictures – but you sacrifice geography when you go for quick-cutting.

[That] is fine because audiences get a huge adrenaline rush from a cut every second and a half [in] “The Bourne Ultimatum”.

There’s just enough geography for the audience never to be lost especially in the last “Bourne” film, which I thought was the best of the three.

By the same token, Indy is a little more old-fashioned than the modern-day action adventure.

You can read the full Vanity Fair piece here [8].

It doesn’t stop there with “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” unveilings. New comic book cover art for the film (warning: minor spoilers) just surfaced as well.

The most anticipated movie event of the summer comes to comics in this adaptation of the fourth “Indiana Jones” film.

The intrepid doctor Henry Jones Jr. is back in his biggest adventure yet. This time, the world-renowned archaeologist finds himself caught in a series of events that all point to a discovery unlike any other.

But will his rivals in pursuit of this priceless treasure seize his quarry from right under his nose? Not if he – and a few unexpected companions – have anything to say about it.

The thrill and the humor, the action and the romance, the hat and the whip: everything you love about Indy is here. This is a tale sure to please longtime fans [and[ foster a whole generation of new ones.