While Michael Moore might be credited on the first three Indiana Jones movies, it's not the Michael Moore most viewers are familiar with. While he would make the role iconic, Harrison Ford wasn't the only actor up for Indiana Jones in Raiders Of The Lost Ark. George Lucas was determined to seek out new talent for the film, but when Tom Selleck famously had to pass due to schedule conflicts with Magnum P.I., the role went to Ford. The movie was a tribute to the movie serials both Lucas and director Steven Spielberg grew up with and it was a runaway success. The title character would return once again for Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom, which proved a good deal darker and more disturbing.
The movie was actually a prequel and while fans still love it, Spielberg himself has stated it's his least favorite due to how dark it turned out. The series originally came to a close with 1989's Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade, where Indy teamed up with his father, played by screen legend Sean Connery. The fourth film would spend over a decade in development hell, with numerous scripts being pitched and rejected along the way. Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull eventually landed in 2008 but while it was another box-office smash, it was greeted with mostly negative reviews, criticizing the story, action sequences, and an infamous scene where Indy survives a nuclear explosion by hiding in a fridge.
Harrison Ford is set to reprise the role one last time for the much-delayed Indiana Jones 5, which is due in 2021. For those who stick around for the end credits of the original trilogy, they might be surprised to see Michael Moore listed as the second unit director. Of course, this credit doesn't belong to the documentary filmmaker behind Fahrenheit 11/9, but veteran second unit director Mickey Moore.
Mickey Moore passed away in 2013 at the age of 98 and left behind an incredible body of work. He started his career as a child actor, and in addition to the Indiana Jones trilogy, he also worked as a second unit director on Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid, Patton, The Man Who Would Be King, Ghostbusters II, and many others. He also worked on several Elvis movies, including King Creole. Moore even directed a few movies himself and helmed an episode of Amazing Stories called "Alamo Jobe."
Documentary filmmaker Michael Moore, on the other, has never worked as a second unit director and was a journalist during the production of the first three Indiana Jones movies. This hasn't stopped some confusion being spread, but the credit belongs to Mickey Moore.
