Lucas movie updates

Two things.

1. Jeffrey Overstreet has some valid concerns about the reports coming in that George Lucas and Steven Spielberg have finally approved a screenplay for a new Indiana Jones movie. The writer in question is Jeff Nathanson, whose prestigious credits include … um … Speed 2: Cruise Control … Rush Hour 2 … and The Terminal, which was almost as cartoony as the Indy sequels and was also one of Spielberg’s bigger recent flops. (And unlike other underperformers like 1997’s history lesson Amistad or 2001’s Kubrick homage A.I. Artificial Intelligence, it couldn’t even claim to have been made for a higher purpose than making money.)

2. Speaking of money, it seems Revenge of the Sith has just barely managed to avoid being the only Star Wars film that was #1 for one week only. It fell behind The Longest Yard on Friday, but bounced back on Saturday and Sunday, so that its estimated weekend take is now $55.1 million to Yard‘s $48.1 million. (And Madagascar is close behind with $47.1 million — have three films ever made over $40 million in a single weekend before?)

Episode III’s performance, relative to its competitors, is an interesting contrast with its predecessors. Episode II had a very comfortable lead over its competitors in its second week ($47.9 million to Spider-Man‘s $28.5 million), while Episode I had a very comfortable lead over its competitors even in its third week ($32.9 million to Notting Hill‘s $15 million). So while Episode III may have broken a few records, it’s not quite the dominant, ahem, force at the box office that any of its predecessors were.