As Indy told Marion in Raiders of the Lost Ark, it's not the years, honey, it's the mileage.
And it looks like director Steven Spielberg, producer George Lucas and star Harrison Ford are certainly getting a lot of mileage out of the first preview for the now AARP-eligible Indiana Jones' fourth—and in all likelihood final—big-screen adventure.
The highly anticipated teaser trailer for Lucasfilm's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull premiered Thursday morning on ABC's Good Morning America, before popping up online and ahead of Paramount's The Spiderwick Chronicles in theaters worldwide. (Watch and then rate the trailer in E! Online's Reel Girl.)
"The [response] was through the roof," a Paramount rep tells E! News.
Not only did it get Dr. Jones devotees psyched for the flick's May 22 release, but per usual, die-hards are combing through the one-minute, 51-second trailer to parse it for clues to the film's closely guarded secrets.
"It's all a mystery surrounding Indiana Jones. That's part of the fun," adds the studio spokesman.
[Avert your eyes now to avoid any potential spoilers from the trailer.]
The clip opens with a map of the famed Paramount mountain underneath the Lucasfilm Ltd. logo before flashing back to the three previous installments. In Raiders, "he protected the power," in Temple of Doom "he saved the cradle of civilization," and in Last Crusade, "he triumphed over the armies of evil."
"On May 22...the adventure continues" interspliced with quick shots of what appears to be the U.S. government's enigmatic Area 51 military base in Nevada, with our hero taken captive by a group of soldiers.
Cue John Williams' classic theme as we see the shadow of Indy picking up his beloved fedora. Cut to Indy and his new sidekick, played by Ray Winstone, surrounded by guys with guns.
"This ain't gonna be easy," says Winstone's character.
"Not as easy as it used to be," replies Indy.
The trailer then launches into various action sequences, including one set in a warehouse that bears a striking resemblance to the facility where the Lost Ark was stored at the end of Raiders, with a creaky Indy not quite capable of his usual derring-do. All while a brunette-wigged Cate Blanchett, playing a Soviet villainess, barks orders.
The clip ends with Shia LaBeouf—rumored to be playing Indy's son—asking the globe-trotting achaeologist: "You’re a teacher?" And Indy replies, "Part-time."
One image not in the trailer but generating plenty of buzz on the Web is a picture of a crystal skull that Paramount ordered various fan sites to take down. Some fans suggest the artifact looks alien in nature.
Reaction to the trailer has been largely effusive.
"What makes this really cool is its kinda like watching your own dad kick ass, its good to have you back Indy!" writes Spamster on Ain't It Cool News, which managed to get its hands on a bootlegged version just before the official version went live.
"If the alien angle isn't played too heavily, and if there aren't too many one liners, this could be fun," adds AICN contributor Merrick.
A quick Cinematical poll revealed that 59 percent of viewers thought the trailer was "awesome"; 32 percent thought it was "pretty good"; only 4 percent thought it was "not what I was expecting"; while less than 3 percent didn't like it at all or didn't know who Indiana Jones was.
But not everyone was enthused. Some had problems with what seemed to be heavy use of CGI, while others carped about Blanchett's wigged-out look.
"Definitely going to go see it, but it looks like it might be making too much fun of itself and Ford's age," grouses a comingsoon.net poster named Shirerat. "Not sure if I can take Blanchett seriously with that haircut either."
One person, albeit a biased one, doesn't have such qualms with the sequel.
"I don’t think it's going to be screwed up," George Lucas recently told last month's Vanity Fair. "I think this Indiana Jones film would be a giant hit regardless of whether the first three were there or not. This is a very funny, adventurous and exciting movie."
The wait is on.