Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull has always been the weird artifact in the Indy franchise museum. It was not a critical disaster when it opened in 2008, and it made real money. But for a lot of fans, the movie became the entry point they cite when they talk about the franchise losing the magic that made Raiders of the Lost Ark, and its wonderful sequels, Temple of Doom and The Last Crusade, feel so alive. And, according to a new oral history, Harrison Ford and Steven Spielberg were never fully on board with the planned project.
