erickohn

When Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls premiered at the Cannes Film Festival last week, the fanfare fit Hillary Clinton's infamous mockery of Barack Obama: "The skies will open, the light will come down, celestial choirs will be singing." Except, in this case, the majestic Palais des Festivals doors opened, the lights of flash photography came up, and a thousand voices called out to catch the attention of Indy pioneers Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Harrison Ford. You couldn't ask for a better homecoming (even the mob outside the press conference huddled close to television screens), and the frothy reception extended through the following weekend, when the first Indiana Jones film in 18 long years scored a whopping $151 million opening-weekend gross. The world of America's cherished pop hero is not a cheap one.