Shia LaBeouf Takes the Blame for Indiana Jones 4
Posted 05.18.10 by Ryan
Many fans of the Indiana Jones franchise were disappointed with the fourth installment, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull — turns out Shia LaBeouf is among them. LaBeouf, who joined the franchise as Indy's son Mutt, told The LA Times that he felt he was to blame for the movie's shortcomings.
I feel like I dropped the ball on the legacy that people loved and cherished. You get to monkey-swinging and things like that and you can blame it on the writer and you can blame it on [director] Steven [Spielberg]. But the actor's job is to make it come alive and make it work, and I couldn't do it. So that's my fault. Simple.
I think the audience is pretty intelligent. I think they know when you've made.... And I think if you don't acknowledge it, then why do they trust you the next time you're promoting a movie. We [Harrison Ford and LaBeouf] had major discussions. He wasn't happy with it either. Look, the movie could have been updated. There was a reason it wasn't universally accepted.
Speaking of Spielberg, how does LaBeouf think the legendary director will handle his candid commentary?
I'll probably get a call. But he needs to hear this. I love him. I love Steven. I have a relationship with Steven that supersedes our business work. And believe me, I talk to him often enough to know that I'm not out of line. And I would never disrespect the man. I think he's a genius, and he's given me my whole life. He's done so much great work that there's no need for him to feel vulnerable about one film. But when you drop the ball you drop the ball.
We need to be able to satiate the appetite. I think we just misinterpreted what we were trying to satiate.
LaBeouf is about to tinker with another classic movie with his appearance in the upcoming sequel, Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps. LaBeouf admits his experience in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull gave him pause in joining forces with director Oliver Stone.
If I was going to do it twice, my career was over. So this was fight-or-flight for me.
If Wall Street 2 does indeed upset fans the way Kingdom of the Crystal Skull did, then LaBeouf need not despair. Not only does the young actor have Transformers 3 about to start production, but LaBeouf will eventually get another chance to set the franchise right with Indiana Jones 5. Ford confirmed the sequel was in the works in March.