I have received a very special Indiana Jones painting from artist Eric Conklin.

Eric Conklin is a Trompe l' Oeil Artist from Davidsonville, Maryland and has been an Indy fan since Raiders. He recently accepted a painting commission from a CEO of a major transportation company from Indianapolis, Indiana. The commission was for a very large trompe l' oeil painting based on the Indiana Jones character.

"Prior to starting the large painting I wanted to familiarize myself with the details of the props that were used, so I purchased just about every prop there was from their original sources. Wested Leathers, MBA Costumes (before Noel retired), Herbert Johnson, David Morgan, etc., etc. I even made a trip to England to talk with some of the makers."

The title of Eric Conklin's finished artwork is 'The Adventure Continues...' and is accepted for an exhibit of Trompe l' Oeil Paintings from the Salzer Collection and the Trompe l' Oeil Society of Artists and will be on display at the Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, Oklahoma from September 12 - November 7, 2004.

Click here for a page dedicated to this Trompe l' Oeil painting containing more information.

A big thanks to Eric Conklin for sharing this fantastic artwork with us!

CNN.com reported that it has been 20 years since the summer of 1984, when Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and the other Spielberg production Gremlins caused an uproar among some parents who took their young children to the PG-rated films and walked out wishing the rating had suggested more guidance than just "parental guidance suggested."

The genesis of PG-13 is directly linked to Spielberg, who in 1984 became a lightning rod for parental ire.

"I created the problem and I also supplied the solution ... I invented the rating," Spielberg, the producer of Gremlins and director of Temple of Doom, said in a recent interview.

Click here to read the full article.

Our good friend Chris Strompolos has let me know that there are 3 new Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation screenings planned in September. And one takes place in Germany, their European Premiere! So fellow Europeans beware as the film is not coming to us alone! Makers Chris Strompolos, Eric Zala & Jayson Lamb will also be present at the screening in Germany!

Here follow the screening details:

• 'Raiders: The Adaptation' European Premiere:
  When: September 8th - 13th 2004
  Where: Oldenburg International Film Festival- Oldenburg, Germany
  More info: www.filmfest-oldenburg.de
  Who: Chris, Eric & Jayson will be in attendance!

• 'Raiders: The Adaptation' homecoming festival:
  When: September 17th - 19th 2004
  Where: Ocean Springs Film Festival - Ocean Springs, Mississippi
  More info: www.geocities.com/osfilmfest/
  Who: Chris, Eric & Jayson will be in attendance!
  (This is their homecoming festival as Ocean Springs, Mississippi
  is where they grew up and made Raiders: The Adaptation.)

• Back to back screening with the ORIGINAL 'Raiders of the Lost Ark':
  When: September 20th 2004
  Where: Coolidge Corner Theatre - Boston, Massachusetts
  More info: www.coolidge.org
  Who: Director Eric Zala will be in attendance.

Note that all of these screenings for Raiders: The Adaptation will be FREE! Many thanks to Chris Strompolos for the news! And keep an eye on TheRaider.net as more Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation and other Indy Fanfilm stuff is coming!

The Hollywood Reporter announced that Spielberg will make H. G. Wells classic War of the Worlds with Tom Cruise this year. Instead of the 1972 Munich Olympics film that will be rewritten.

Paramount Pictures said that instead of beginning production on Mission: Impossible 3 this summer, as had been originally planned, Cruise will instead go directly into Spielberg's modern-day adaptation of the H.G. Wells classic about a Martian invasion of Earth. War of the Worlds, which has been in development for some time, will begin filming in November for a release sometime next year.

So there we have it. No Indiana Jones IV this year. We will probably have to wait till after Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith hits the theaters in May 2005. Then George Lucas will have more time to finish that script and can everybody prepare to begin shooting Indy IV during the late summer of next year. Maybe!

Sify.com reported that Bollywood's most vicious villain Amrish Puri is all set to pen his autobiography and bring it out as a collector's item.

The highlight of the book will be a letter sent to him by Steven Spielberg after he played the villain Mola Ram in Spielberg's Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom in 1984. Incidentally he had shaved his head for the role, which created such an impact that he kept his head, shaved for future roles too.

Thanks to Claire from Indy-Net for letting me know.

Variety reported today that Steven Spielberg's untitled drama about the aftermath of the 1972 Munich Olympics has been pushed back to summer 2005 and the script will be rewritten.

Forrest Gump writer Eric Roth wrote the original draft but Spielberg wasn't satisfied with the script. Now Spielberg has announced that Angels in America writer Tony Kushner will rewrite his untitled drama about the aftermath of the 1972 Munich Olympics.
Spielberg has also pushed back his projected start date from late this summer to June, 2005. Eric Bana remains the star of the film.

There's a chance that Spielberg will direct another project first. He's already planning on helming Tom Cruise in the David Koepp-scripted adaptation of the H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds and he's also attached to The Rivals, a drama about cat-fighting 19th century stage divas. Or maybe Indiana Jones IV? We'll have to wait and see.
Stay tuned!

Source: ComingSoon.Net

Reuters reported that Swedish scientist Ulf Erlingsson has a new theory on the location of the legendary island nation, Atlantis. Erlingsson, whose book explaining his theory will be published next month, says the measurements, geography, and landscape of Atlantis as described by Plato match Ireland almost exactly:

Atlantis, the Greek philosopher Plato wrote in 360 BC, was an island in the Atlantic Ocean where an advanced civilization developed some 11,500 years ago until it was hit by a cataclysmic natural disaster and sank beneath the waves.

"I am amazed no one has come up with this before, it's incredible," he told Reuters. "Just like Atlantis, Ireland is 300 miles long, 200 miles wide, and widest across the middle. They both have a central plain surrounded by mountains. I've looked at geographical data from the rest of the world and of the 50 largest islands there is only one that has a plain in the middle -- Ireland."

Click here to read the rest of this very interesting article!

IndyGear.com has published the second installment of Dr. David Reynolds' The Archaeology of Indiana Jones article series.

This series of articles written by Dr. Reynolds tell about his own journeys to the many film & archaeology locations from the Indiana Jones films. In this second article, Dr. Reynolds takes a lot at the facts behind the opening sequence of Raiders of the Lost Ark. He digs deeper into the facts and history of the real Chachapoyan warriors.

You don't want to miss the second installment of The Archaeology of Indiana Jones!

Adventure has a new name, and it is Tadeo Jones! Well, that's the name of the character for an animation short film 3D artist Enrique Gato is currently working on.

As you can see on the photo here right, Tadeo is a kind of Indiana Jones, but in a funny way. The only videos available at the moment are tests that Enrique did to the character. These very promising tests videos include a facial animation test and a general animation test. Both videos can be viewed on Enrique Gato's website, as well as a few Tadeo Jones photos.

The full Tadeo Jones animation film will be online this October! And we may expect to see a new Tadeo Jones website much sooner than that. So stay tuned!

Thanks to IndyESP.net for the news.