A new Indiana Jones video game is in development from Besthesda Softworks' MachineGames and Lucasfilm Games. While an announcement trailer was unveiled yesterday, it gave almost no details to the actual story. Still, the teaser was enough to stir up major interest in the project, and based on a couple of details shown in the trailer, it's possible the new game is based off a cancelled Indiana Jones movie from the '80s.
There hasn't been a new Indiana Jones video game in quite some time, so Bethesda's announcement is really exciting. The teaser was a big surprise, even if it didn't really show off any parts of the game. However, a few minor details are noticeable. As the camera pans over a desk filled with maps, books, and other trinkets, there's a ticket stub for Rome that's marked 1937, perhaps hinting at the time period setting of the new game.
Assuming this is the correct time period, this could mean the new game is based on Indiana Jones and the Monkey King, a cancelled film from the 1980s. The script was already written, and was penned by George Lucas and Chris Columbus. The plot involved Indiana Jones searching for the Fountain of Youth and ultimately taking on Sun Wukong and a legion of monkey soldiers. However, Steven Spielberg didn't like the script, so Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was made instead.
Is Indiana Jones And The Monkey King Being Turned Into A Game?
It might seem strange for Bethesda to base its new Indiana Jones game off of a cancelled movie script, especially since the game is touted as having an original story. However, since Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm, the company often mines old material and implements it in new and interesting ways. This has been done frequently to Star Wars properties, so it makes sense that the same thing could happen to Indiana Jones. And even if it were loosely based on Indiana Jones and the Monkey King, it would still be an original - as in, "never-before-seen" - story.
There is one other clue in the trailer that could possibly hint at this. The books at the beginning of the trailer have vague and mysterious titles, but one is called Ancient Circles, a part of Celtic traditions. Indiana Jones and the Monkey King started off in Scotland, where many Celtic descendants still live, so this could be another subtle clue. And it's not the first time a video game has ties to the cancelled movie. Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis was first conceived as a Monkey King tie-in.
For now, all of this is pure speculation. Until Bethesda or Lucasfilm Games releases additional story info, which is likely a long way off, story details for the Indiana Jones video game will remain scarce. However, it's still pretty exciting to think that the new game could be based on an unreleased film.