While doing publicity rounds for a certain fedora-wearing adventurer, Steven Spielberg told German magazine FOCUS that he intends to return his focus to his long delayed biopic of Abraham Lincoln.

According to Variety, Spielberg is shelving the Aaron Sorkin-scripted Trial of the Chicago Seven because he is dissatisfied with the script, and could not get the rewrites he wanted due to the WGA strike. Though that is over, it apparently needs some development time not even Tintin will provide.

And yes -- Tintin is still scheduled to begin shooting in early fall, though we still are lacking any casting confirmations. Spielberg says the actor's strike will not delay it, because the film is motion capture.

But back to the Lincoln biopic! It has been kicked around so long that Spielberg's decision is almost a nonevent, but it is still all kinds of exciting because it could begin shooting early next year. Liam Neeson is still attached and has been for the past three years, reportedly amassing research all this time. It will still have that Tony Kushner script, and it is still based on The Uniter: The Genius of Abraham Lincoln, the brilliant biography by Doris Kearns Goodwin.

I really want this to finally come together. Neeson is due for another meaty role like Abraham Lincoln, and there has never been a proper movie made about such an iconic figure. Actually, I don't really think there has been a movie that truly dug into the Civil War, not in the way that can really attract and educate an audience. If anyone is up to the challenge, it's Spielberg.

It was briefly leaked online last week, but now the new official trailer for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is online ... and you can watch it above or over on IndianaJones.com. This is the trailer that begins to explain the story; how, as per usual, Indy is off in search of some artifact (the crystal skull) which comes with a spooky-cool story (the person who has possession gains great powers), but there's an evil group (the Russians) who want to use said artifact to their advantage. Sound familiar?

But it's cool, because Indiana Jones is back. And Marion Ravenwood is back. And a whole new generation now gets a chance to enjoy one of my all-time favorite movie characters on the big screen for the first time. And, well, you got Steven Spielberg who, last I checked, makes some pretty good films. What's not to look forward to? In addition to this new trailer, you can check out two new TV spots for the film here and here -- both of which use a combo of footage we've seen previously, and there may even be some new stuff thrown in too.

With all this Iron Man talk, did you realize we're only a couple weeks away from Indy? May 22? C'mon! Am I the only one excited about this?

Take from this what you will, but Jeff Wells over at Hollywood Elsewhere claims to have heard from a "guy who knows a guy on the Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull team" that Ferris passed out at 31 flavors last night. Okay, actually, this person claims to have watched a cut of the new film and Wells is flying with a bunch of quotes this morning that he's not "100% comfortable running," but knows they'll bring in about 100% more traffic for his site. Among the non-spoilerish highlights:

• Crystal Skull is "the best of the Indy sequels." "Steven Spielberg's helming puts the imitators (The Mummy, National Treasure) to shame. There are many breakneck set pieces, with a protracted jungle chase being particularly memorable. As well as being evocative of the truck chase from the first movie."
• Harrison Ford "gives his best performance in the role, not only physically belying his age but layering in welcome poignancy. More than before, audiences will be rooting for Indy."
  
• "The film has the strongest supporting cast of the sequels."
• Apparently, the film also includes an "ending that any longtime diehard fan of the films could only dream about."

Really? Dream about? I can dream about a lot of things. Once again, we have no idea who this person is and whether or not they have an "agenda,", but here's hoping they're 100% right on the money. A few new photos from the film have also hit the internets (via Slashfilm via some foreign mag), so check those out in the gallery below. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull arrives on May 22.

Is film really better than digital? Or vice versa? Following the news that Steven Spielberg is allegedly to blame for the slow rollout of digital projectors into cinemas, I've been thinking about the questions all week. And I have no idea. But not because siding with Spielberg, just because he's Spielberg, is difficult when he suddenly announces a new digital 3-D project (Ghost and the Shell) he'll be producing. The reality is that I'm not technologically informed enough and, more importantly, my eyesight isn't good enough for me to really make the distinction anymore.

That isn't to say I can't tell if I'm watching film or digital. I definitely can. Especially when it's digital 3-D, or when it's an incorrectly projected HD copy of The Wackness, which looks very crisp but also very dark (for the purpose of this week's column, it's not important to point a finger at the cinema responsible). What I can't tell is which format is better. And I mean better in a sort of ideological mixed with functionality context. If just going by ideals, I have to keep pledging allegiance to film, but perhaps only as a traditionalist. Yet if going by functionality, I have to swear by digital, from DVD to DLP to 4K to whatever (again, I just can't keep up tech-wise), but perhaps only as a futurist.

Say it ain't so, Dr. Jones! Entertainment Weekly continues their coverage of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull with a very in-depth four-page spread on the film; including interviews with most of the cast, as well as this little nugget from Harrison Ford with regards to the death of Indiana Jones: "A death scene for Dr. Jones? That would never happen, Harrison Ford assures us. He remembers trying to persuade Lucas to kill off his Han Solo character in the second or third initial Star Wars movie, insisting it'd make for a better story. ''You don't need him,'' says Ford. ''He's got no mama, got no papa - out there all by himself. He's a piece you can move around or get rid of. But I couldn't get George to go along with that. He didn't want to stop making the toys.''

George didn't want to stop making the toys. I love it! In addition to fun little facts like that, EW has revealed two new photos from the film (included in the gallery below). The entire article is definitely worth a read, though Lucas still sounds like an old bitter dude when it comes to films that are overly-hyped: "All I'm saying is, I have been there, and I have walked through the valley of death on highly anticipated sequels." Always the negative one ...

May 22. Indiana Jones. Are you there opening night ... or what?

We'll be talking a bit more about last night's South Park episode a little later on, but before we go there, you should definitely check out the above clip. Well, if you didn't see the episode, you might not want to watch -- but if you did see the episode or don't care much about South Park spoilers, then do click on the little play button up top. It's shiny. It likes you.

This season, the boys from SP seem to be doing a lot with the internet, and last night's episode was no exception. When the internet goes down in South Park, the town doesn't know how to handle it. Chaos and hilarity ensues. Easily my favorite episode from this season so far, toward the end we also got a nice, hysterical homage to Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind -- except, instead of aliens, the government was trying to communicate with a giant internet router thingy. Classic.

My favorite line from last night (which I've been repeating, to myself, all day long for some odd reason): "We're headin' out Californee way -- rumor has it they may have some internet out there."

With a little over a month left before Indiana Jones hits theaters for a fourth time, it's time to hear from its creators. First up, USA Today revealed a new Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull photo (see above) along with their interview with Harrison Ford. An interesting note from that interview is Ford does not rule out an Indiana Jones 5, except he'd prefer that it not take another 20 years to come together. On the character, Ford says, "He's a guy who is pretty clear from the beginning. He has not changed so much between films. But we've learned more about him, through various plot devices, such as the introduction of his father. And we'll learn something more about him in this film. I think it's required. If you're going to bring back a character, you'll have to supply the audience with something more and different. The adventure is very, very important. But it's interesting to discover a facet of the character that perhaps you hadn't explored before."

Additionally, Entertainment Weekly sat down for a very informative interview with both Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. Their talk is extensive and very fun to read (if you're a fan of either man or both); topics covered include, of course, the entire Indiana Jones series. On the Russian villainess Irina Spalko (as played by Cate Blanchett), Lucas calls her an "uber-villain," while Spielberg says, "Of all the villains I've been able to work with in the Indiana Jones movies, I can say she's my favorite. And I think Cate made her that way."

There's been a flurry of buzz around theatrical 3-D lately, perhaps because James Cameron has come out of hiding to talk a bit about Avatar. (If you haven't yet read this interview with the King of the World, do so immediately.) The last thing we heard was that exhibitors have ganged up on Steven Spielberg for apparently standing in the way of the digital revolution. But Spielberg seems to have seen the light: he's acquired the rights to the Japanese manga Ghost in the Shell for Dreamworks, which plans to film it in -- you guessed it -- digital 3-D. A Dreamworks suit boasts that the story "epitomizes 3-D live-action motion picture possibilities."

If that title sounds familiar, it's because the manga has already been adapted into one of the most celebrated anime films of all time. The story involves an attempt to fight cyber-crime by creating a breed of ultra-powerful cyborgs, which strikes me as a terrible idea. I found Mamoru Oshii's movie visually spectacular but impenetrable -- I'm not an anime buff, and it confused the hell out of me. I'm sure that if nothing else, Dreamworks will find a way to solve that problem. Jamie Moss (Street Kings) is taking a crack at writing the adaptation.

There's currently a crisis in the theater industry and apparently it's all Steven Spielberg's fault. According to Variety coverage of Sunday's National Association of Broadcasters Show's Digitial Cinema Summit, the filmmaker was named as a constant obstacle in the transition to digital cinema.

Spielberg's insistence against releasing Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull digitally was overruled last month when Paramount announced that it would indeed open the summer blockbuster on some digital screens, but the fact that it won't be a full digital release, coupled with the fact that Spielberg still doesn't "get" the fact that digital is superior to film, is a problematic issue for an industry having difficulties installing a necessary amount of digital projectors by 2009.

There are two reasons I find this (as yet unconfirmed) story interesting. One is that I'll soon be writing my review of Brett Morgen's new documentary Chicago 10, which comes out next week. The other is that I've been thinking about the 2009 Oscars (I like to jump ahead), which I presumed would include a number of nominations for Steven Spielberg's next film. For a few months now, we've believed that film would be, like Morgen's, about the trial of the "Chicago 7" and would be fittingly titled The Trial of the Chicago 7. First we heard the director was interested in the script, written by Charlie Wilson's War scribe Aaron Sorkin. Then we got that crazy news that Sacha Baron Cohen would play Abbie Hoffman. Finally we heard more people, specifically Colin Hanks, Jeff Daniels and Philip Seymour Hoffman, were joining the cast. However, now we have word from Collider that Spielberg "has decided to move on and will not be making the movie."

Note: It has since come out that the film has been delayed, not completely dumped.

There's been a lot of talk about Ray Winstone's magical pants since the trailer for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of The Crystal Skull first appeared on February 14. At around the one minute mark, we see Winstone and Indy surrounded by Russian soldiers and Indy utters his line "Not as easy as it used to be," and if you look closely you can see some CGI weirdness going on there, as if something has been cut out of the scene. Well, turns out it was -- in the international trailer for the film, now available online, the Russian heavies are pointing some giant machine guns at our heroes, not just standing there giving them dirty looks. Also, when the trailer transitions from the (too long) memory lane montage to the original footage, the American trailer shows an American flag fluttering in the breeze, with May 22 overlapped. The international trailer still has the May date titled on there, but there is no flag to be found. I find this offensive not for any patriotic reason, but only as someone who doesn't appreciate such crass, Spielbergian manipulation.

In other news, Winstone is out doing some talking about the film -- according to Showbiz Spy, he recently praised Cate Blanchett's performance in the film, saying "To me she's the greatest actor in the world. She really pushes the boat out in this one. She looks great." He also complains about pulling a hamstring during the making of the film when he had to run up and down the stairs of that giant temple, and he says that he's tiring of the action parts he's receiving as he gets older, and he'd rather take on more romantic parts. When other, more substantial news on the film comes along, you'll know where to find it.

Here's something interesting ... Jeff Wells at Hollywood Elsewhere posted a "salute" yesterday afternoon to Steven Spielberg, who announced yesterday that he's withdrawing as an artistic advisor to the Beijing Summer Olympics. Here's the kicker though ... Spielberg didn't pull out because of the Chinese government's continued human rights abuses within its own borders, or for its oppression in Tibet, but over Darfur.

According to this piece over on Variety, which broke the story, "I have made repeated efforts to encourage the Chinese government to use its unique influence to bring safety and stability to the Darfur region of Sudan," Spielberg wrote. "Although some progress has been made ...the situation continues to worsen and the violence continues to accelerate."

As Wells noted, Spielberg's "enlightment" about China may be due, at least in part, to Mia Farrow's ripping him a new one over China's human rights issues (and bankrolling of the genocide in Darfur) back in March. So kudos to Spielberg for finally getting on the human rights bandwagon here, but geez, how about getting on China for all its human rights issues, while you're at it? And while we're on the subject, how do you feel about celebs and political issues?

What is it with Agent Spalko and pointing? We've already seen pictures of her brandishing her sword at Indy, at Mutt and now here comes a new picture of her pointing her finger directly in Indy's face, or else just past his line of sight towards something off in the distance -- to be fair, I think it's the latter. That's just one of three new pictures from the forthcoming Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull that have popped up in an Italian magazine, L'espresso. Another of the pics is intriguing because it seems to show us Indy with a giant sword tucked into his trousers -- has he vanquished Spalko and taken her pointy stick by this point in the film? Will Indy have a sword battle in this film? Boy, I hope not. Also, we get our first look at the much talked-about 'quicksand' scene, although it's too much of a close up to give any real detail. We see Indy coming face to face with a snake just as he's seemingly about to sink into the sand. I think I get the idea here -- he'll have to grab onto the snake in order to get out of the sand, so it's a bad choice either way.

I can't imagine I'll be up early enough tomorrow to catch the premiere of the trailer on Good Morning America, but on the subject of 'Indy and publicity',' producer Kathleen Kennedy recently made the rather eyebrow-raising statement that the film would hit theaters in May without the accompaniment of a press junket -- what's that all about? I know The Beard is prickly when it comes to interviews, but as Jeff Wells pointed out, how hard could it possibly be to get Karen Allen and Shia LaBeouf to free up some time to actually do some press for their movie? I'm thinking Kennedy was probably speaking without thinking, since Paramount probably wouldn't stand for such a thing.

Additionally, after the jump check out another, more revealing Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull cover for the upcoming Dark Horse comic due out this May. This will be part of a two-issue comic book adaptation, and the second issue reveals a bit more ... skull on its cover.

We're all wondering what Steven Spielberg cooked up for this fourth installment, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, almost 20 years after the so-called Last Crusade. Can Harrison Ford stay up to the Indy challenge, being in his 60s and all? Will we buy Shia LaBeouf as his Mutt son? Will Cate, Ray, and Jim make this puppy worth it, or are some much-loved, mega-blockbusters better left in the past?

Well, we won't find out for sure until May 22, when the film is released. However, the days are ticking away, and a trailer has to be on its way. According to the folks over at CHUD, it will be the day of love, February 14 -- on Entertainment Tonight. At least, they'll be teasing it. It's also said to be popping up in theaters that day. For folks adamant that they don't want to watch ET, or brave the theaters full of people smooching, you can stay up late and get ready to hit refresh as the 14th slides into the 15th and the trailer pops up on the film's official website.

For now, you can check out a tour of Indy's home over at the film's website. It's just a brief featurette where production designer Guy Hendrix Dyas takes you through the new home, and how things have changed since Raiders of the Lost Ark. [via Coming Soon]

Sure, in the grand scheme of things they're kind of meaningless, but I'm pretty bummed out about the cancellation of The Golden Globe awards this year. A few of us here at Cinematical were going to live-blog the ceremony, and we always have a ton of fun ranking on all the stars via IM conversations and, well, I'll miss that. We'll still live-blog whatever awkward news broadcast they're going to hold, but it won't be the same. One of the things I was actually looking forward to was this year's Steven Spielberg tribute. Call me a sucker for all those montage sequences, but when you're talking about Spielberg, I'm sure it would've been pretty fun to watch. Others are more jaded when it comes to tributes and Hollywood ass-kissing. Me? I like it because it reminds me of films I need to re-watch or still need to sit down with for a first time.

The good news is that Spielberg's tribute has been postponed a year and, instead, will air during the 2009 Golden Globe awards. Hey, at least they'll be able to utilize clips from this summer's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. As far as this "news broadcast" goes, I imagine it will turn out to be the oddest thing ever. Though they're calling it a news conference, no other networks (aside from NBC) are allowed to show up. The WGA considers the whole thing "struck work," so I wouldn't expect to see any stars. Oh well. We'll have more fun with it over on Cinematical, so feel free to stop by here and get the scoop from us. Last I checked, no writer was standing behind me with a picket sign.