Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is known for two moments of shark-jumping controversy. First, surviving the nuke in the fridge. A classic, and something that has become shorthand for inexplicable elastic-band realism in blockbuster franchises.
The second is something altogether different – and out of the world: the inclusion of aliens (or interdimensional beings, if we're being pedantic). In a series that included the Ark of the Covenant, the Holy Grail, and Sean Connery riding shotgun, this close encounter went too far out of Indy's whipping wheelhouse.
Now, ex-Lucasfilm president and producer Kathleen Kennedy revealed the level of fallout between director Steven Spielberg, star Harrison Ford, and executive producer/frequent collaborator George Lucas.
"Steven was struggling with that movie. Harrison was struggling with the movie. They didn’t want to do a Raiders movie that involved aliens, and they kind of got into a fight with George about it," Kennedy revealed during Vulture's oral history on Spielberg's career.
In response, Lucas said of his intentions, "I wanted it to be kind of a War of the Worlds sort of thing. Harrison said, 'I’m not going to do another science-fiction movie.' And Steven said, 'I’m not going to do another science-fiction movie.'...We did about five scripts, and finally Steve and I compromised: 'Look, what if they’re not aliens but from another dimension.'
Kennedy added, "They ended up all of them doing what George wanted to do, which was probably the right thing. But Harrison and Steven were not 100 percent onboard. That’s why the movie, out of the four that Steven made, is the weakest. And that’s why Harrison was so deeply committed to [Dial of Destiny]. He didn’t want that to be the end."
Amid the controversy, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull became one of Spielberg's most tepidly-received films of the past 25 years.
Its 77% Rotten Tomatoes score belies the mark it left on the series, with the Dial of Destiny follow-up – not directed by Spielberg, but instead by Logan's James Mangold – also stumbling with audiences.
Thankfully, Spielberg's future dalliance with aliens has fared better. Disclosure Day, starring Josh O'Connor and Emily Blunt, is sitting at a more respectable critical and audience score on the reviews aggregator, as well as garnering one of the biggest non-IP openings of the legendary director's career. The truth is out there, it seems – but only up to a point.
For more, check out our Disclosure Day review and the second half of 2026's biggest movie release dates.
