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So Harrison Ford was in New Mexico for the filming of “Indiana Jones 4” — now we know.
We have photographic evidence straight from LucasFilm.
The picture appeared in People magazine this week and showed a rugged-looking Ford relaxing on set in Deming. But the shocker isn’t that he was here — we all knew that “Indiana Jones 4” was shooting in Deming and Abiquiú — but that the photo was taken by Steven Spielberg. It was taken the week of June 18, said LucasFilm spokesman John Singh.
It only makes sense — Spielberg is the director — but while the blogs were buzzing about Ford, nobody reported seeing the highest grossing filmmaker of all time (estimated worth $3 billion, according to Forbes.com.).
Watch a video of Spielberg toasting the crew with champagne on the first day. “Here we are 18 years later,” he says. “We all look the same.”
And off they went, Spielberg riding around in a 1932 Ford with George Lucas. (Go to indianajones.com, click on community and click on video.) Though New Mexico shooting has wrapped, we may see more of Spielberg if a sequel to “Transformers” shoots here. He was the producer of the first “Transformers,” which made heavy use of White Sands Missile Range and Holloman Air Force Base in Alamogordo.
SPEAKING OF
“TRANSFORMERS” … If you’ve seen the film, you’re probably wondering why the U.S. military guys look so, well, military.
Many are serving the country — and many are from New Mexico. Capt. Fred Doss of the 49th Materiel Maintenace Group at Holloman Air Force Base has one of the few speaking lines in the new film — by a human, at least.
Sure, he’s in the Air Force, but he plays a Navy Petty Officer in “Transformers,” the film about a bunch of robots that attack Earth looking for the elusive Allspark element.
“They let us be in the movie, but a lot of the Air Force guys played Army guys,” Doss said.
Doss is the guy who, with a team that he commands, can set up a full military base in 72 hours anywhere in the world.
In the movie, however, he plays a guy at a computer.
“We’re in an operations center in Qatar. We get a visit from a not-so-nice guy,” he said. He gets to say “I did that, sir” in the film, and a couple more lines.
Doss, who joined the Air Force just after Sept. 11, said he was a theater major in college but never considered acting as a career — until now.
“I thought I was done. I was working on something a little more practical. Becoming an actor, you can have skill and talent, but unless the stars align, you can’t do it,” Doss said. But now, he has an agent, headshots, an IMDB (International Movie DataBase, imdb.com) page and a part in the film “Price of the American Dream II,”
which is in post-production.
“I play an undercover cop, Harvey. It was something I lucked into,” he said.
MORE LOANS: The New Mexico State Investment Council has approved loans for two more films: “The Burrowers” and “Swing Vote.”
“Swing Vote,” the political comedy starring Kevin Costner, received a $15 million loan. It starts shooting here July 23.
“The Burrowers,” a much smaller-budget pic, received a $7 million loan. The film stars TV actor and voice-over talent Clancy Brown (Mr. Krabs, from “SpongeBob SquarePants”). The film is about underground creatures that ravage an Old West town.
ALSO SHOOTING IN N.M.:
“Linewatch,” starring Cuba Gooding Jr., is shooting in and around Albuquerque.
SEND YOUR TIPS: If you know of a film shooting in the state, or are curious about one, e-mail film@abqjournal.com
