Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a 2008 adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, executive produced by George Lucas and starring Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones. Set in 1957, this fourth film in the Indiana Jones film series has an older and wiser version of Indy battling agents of the Soviet Union—led by Spalko (Cate Blanchett)—for the crystal skull. Indy is assisted by his former lover Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) as well as the greaser Mutt (Shia LaBeouf) and fellow archaeologist Mac (Ray Winstone). John Hurt and Jim Broadbent also play fellow academics. Although the previous films were inspired by film serials, this film is rooted in 1950s B-movie traditions.The film was in development hell since the 1989 release of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, because Spielberg and Ford initially disagreed over Lucas's choice of the skulls as the plot device. Screenwriters Jeb Stuart, Jeffrey Boam, M. Night Shyamalan, Frank Darabont and Jeff Nathanson wrote...