Indiana Jones DVD Box Set: A Q & A is now online over at DVD File with VP of marketing at Lucasfilm, Jim Ward. Take a look at some of his responses to questions about the DVD set hitting tomorrow!
When putting together your DVDs, do you do any sort of fan or Internet research?
Jim Ward: What is really great about both Star Wars and Indiana Jones is that we are in touch with fans constantly. The fans create their own sites. And they call us. And write us. So, we don't have to do a lot of research. We are kind of told...first we are told, Hey, where are they? Get them out on DVD! And then two, This is what we want to see on them. Again, that is tough. Because they do want everything and we have to make some tough decisions. So, we don't really do research. We are already sort of in the know.
Will the trilogy ever be sold separately as individual DVD titles?
JW: There was some discussion about that. Do we release them separately or in a package? I think we came to the conclusion that when people think about Indiana Jones, they remember him across the entire saga. And some of the key elements and key moments blur together from one film to the next. So we thought, You know what, let's give fans what they want, all three films. Ultimately, will be they be sold ultimately as three singles? Again, we have to sit down and talk with Steven, Megan and the whole team and sort that out. We'll see.
Repackaging and repurposing DVDs has become commonplace these days. What happens when Indiana Jones 4 is released? Will this set be redone as the Definitive Indiana Jones Adventures? (laughter)
JW: Megan Burrows, the President of Paramount Home Entertainment is sitting right down the aisle over there. And she is sweating about what I'm going to answer. Big time! (laughter)
The truth is, I wish we were these strategy guys and fifteen years ago we knew what was going to happen. The truth is we don't. We don't know when exactly Indiana Jones 4 is going to happen, and obviously it is going to play into that. Will there ultimately be a Complete Indiana Jones set of all four? I would imagine, absolutely. Sure, someday that will happen. but it is barely on the radar right now.
At the end of the day, it is not our intent or is it ever our intent to soak these franchises to the degree that we are going to have people keep buying and buying and buying. We are very sensitive to those consumer needs. However, because we have this wealth of material - and you mentioned Indiana Jones 4 is on the horizon - there maybe potentially is an entire four-pack, if you will. Then, yeah, it will make sense to bring out some more stuff then.
Was any effort made to persuade either Steven Spielberg or George Lucas to record an audio commentary for the set, or to record other cast and crew?
JW: That was an interesting journey with the commentaries. It has been a creative decision, as you know, by Steven not to do commentaries. But to be very honest with you, once we saw the first cut of what Laurent (Bouzereau) had put together, we sort of said to ourselves, God, if we did have a commentary, it would have been sort of redundant So, at the end of the day, you don't really miss the commentary when yo have a two-hour documentary and the additional featurettes.
Frank Marshall: We when produced all of the making-of material (seen in the documentary), those were the times before commentaries and DVD. So, George was very specific on the first movie about having us doing a documentary. We had done that on the first Star Wars, and he wanted a historical commentary on how we made all three movies. So, in a way, we were doing a commentary as we were shooting, and that is what Laurent has put together so well. I think the real description of how the movies came together in real time rather than trying to think of it as you are sitting there watching it, as we do on DVDs.
Why was the decision made to not include any deleted scenes, gag reels or easter eggs?
JW: There are always deleted scenes. There are no gag reel things or any easter eggs, per se. Again, part of it is a creative choice. It is hard to describe because you need to sit and, as Frank said, really view this documentary in its full length. Because it captures a lot of that. It certainly captures the behind-the-scenes aspect of it. As far as easter eggs, we really wanted to focus on the iconic nature of the films and keep it at that.
DVD Release Dates
11 Comments
