Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...

I’ve gotten a shitload of e-mail from people asking me to pester Frank Darabont for some sort of comment on INDY 4 because they know we are friendly. That’s precisely why I was hesitant to try to get him to go on the record. I can tell you from recent experience that when a studio or a producer decides to go to another writer on a project, the last thing you feel like doing is running out to talk to people about it, especially when it’s something that you’ve put your blood, sweat, and tears into. I was at a screening a few years back that Frank threw of the original RAIDERS. He borrowed Spielberg’s show print of the film and screened it for us, and the entire screening room full of people was absolutely transported by the film, like it was brand new and we’d never seen it before. Frank is the real deal, as big an Indy fan as you’ll ever meet, and when we first met, over a decade ago, he was working as a staff writer on THE YOUNG INDIANA JONES CHRONICLES, a job he seemed to love dearly.

So instead of me asking him about it, we put Quint on the case and asked him to keep his ears open at the recent Santa Barbara Film Festival, and this is what he’s got as a result. I’ll add that in addition to THE MIST and FAHRENHEIT 451, Frank’s been working on an adaptation of Robert McCammon’s MINE that has an absolutely blistering script... primal and powerful and ready to kick the audience’s ass as soon as it gets a director. Anyway, here’s Quint with the good word...

Ahoy, squirts! You folks might remember my report from the Santa Barbara Film Festival a week or so back (if not, read it here!!!) where I had some news from the Q&A Frank Darabont did for his early directorial work, BURIED ALIVE. He talked about THE MIST and the upcoming release of THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION in a Special Edition DVD.

Harry ran me through the ringer for not getting any INDY 4 news outta Darabont in the intro to the report, but little did he know that I did have my trusty tape recorder with me and a special little mini-cassette filled with Darabont's voice.

Now, I'm not the kind of asshole to try to grab a quote he tells a fan in confidence, so the below transcription comes from a discussion he had with a local reporter. I figure if he's telling a journalist, then this is cool for the public to know. Here's what he said:

"The short and simple version of the INDIANA JONES 4 situation is that after more than a year of working closely with Steven Spielberg developing the story, I had completed a screenplay that Steven loved and was hoping to shoot in July of this year. However, George Lucas had issues with the script and slammed on the brakes in order to rework the material himself. There is talk of enlisting another writer. Given that George is the producer, but even moreso because of their long and close friendship, Steven is deferring to George in this situation.

If George Lucas wasn't already on the shit lists of geeks everywhere this news would have put him there. What kind of ego must it take to turn a go-picture with Steven Spielberg into a development deal? If it wasn't for my sources telling me that Darabont's script was exactly where the series needed to go, then I might give Lucas the benefit of the doubt...

This is a sad day. George "You killed all those innocent children... God, you're so hot!" Lucas deciding he wants to "rework" Frank Darabont's script... Something's wrong with this picture...

Well, I guess that just means Darabont can get crackin' on the two fantastic story adaptations he has: Ray Bradbury's FAHRENHEIT 451 and Stephen King's THE MIST. Both I'm excited to see... FAHRENHEIT for it's political timeliness and THE MIST for the badass tentacle monsters!

Anyway, it's my birthday, so I better get on to the little party my friends are throwing for me. I'll be back soon, squirts. 'Til that day, this is Quint bidding you all a fond farewell and adieu.

-Quint

email: Lucas! Prepare to meet Kali! In hell!!!! Is that a little over the top? Email Quint here!!!