Indiana Jones rides into Cannes
CANNES, France (Reuters) - Whip-wielding archaeologist Indiana Jones rides into Cannes on Sunday, with star Harrison Ford, director Steven Spielberg and creator George Lucas hoping to avoid a critical lashing.
"Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" is the hotly anticipated follow up to the third chapter of the franchise, "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" released 19 years ago.
With a red-carpet world premiere likely to be watched by thousands of fans in the Riviera resort and hundreds of reporters and reviewers, the Cannes launch guarantees maximum media exposure as well as intense critical scrutiny.
In 2006 "The Da Vinci Code" was showcased in Cannes and received a mauling from the critics. While the cool reaction did not prevent it making an estimated $760 million (388 million pounds) at the worldwide box office, it was an uncomfortable opening for the movie.
"It's always fun to come to Cannes," Lucas told reporters on Saturday at a press event organized, unusually, before the first screening of the film.
"It's a nice place when it's not raining," he added, referring to cool and wet weather during the festival this year.
But he added that the risk of negative reviews from the festival's notoriously picky critics was "probably higher" than a launch in, say, Los Angeles, New York or London.
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