Broadbent Aboard Indy 4

Wed., Jun. 20, 2007 2:50 PM PDT by Josh Grossberg

Indiana Jones has just collected another prize acquisition: Jim Broadbent.

The Academy Award-winning actor has signed on to the highly anticipated fourth installment of the blockbuster franchise, joining a stellar cast that already includes fellow Brits John Hurt and Ray Winstone, Cate Blanchett, Shia LeBeouf, and of course, Harrison Ford reprising his role as the titular fedora-favoring archaeologist.

Lucasfilm made the announcement Wednesday via the official Indiana Jones Website, but revealed little in the way of details about the new character.

But the Internet has been buzzing that Broadbent will assume a role in the vein of Indy's bumbling mentor, Professor Marcus Brody, played by Denholm Elliot in 1981's Raiders of the Lost Ark and 1989's Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Elliot died in 1992.

Broadbent let slip the news of his participation last week during an interview with a British Website to promote his upcoming flick, And When Did You Last See Your Father?

"I'm doing a cameo in the next Indiana Jones, so working with Mr. Spielberg should be an experience," Broadbent told britfilms.tv. "I'm going to Yale—I'm a professor."

When asked if he might be filling in as a new Brody, Broadbent replied with a laugh, "That would do for me."

Indy 4 producers held an open call for extras this week in the Ivy League school's home base of New Haven, Connecticut. Casting directors asked actors whether they could play football, owned a dog and would agree to get a 1950s-style haircut. (A few diehard fanboys, by the way, showed up in full Indy regalia hoping to convince producers to use them as Ford's stand-in).

The 57-year-old Brit is best known for performances in such acclaimed films as Topsy Turvy, Moulin Rouge!, Iris (for which he won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor) and Vera Drake. Other credits include Bridget Jones Diary and its 2004 sequel, the 2002 screen version of Nicholas Nickleby, Vanity Fair, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and most recently in this year's cop send-up Hot Fuzz.

Broadbent's casting comes on the heels of Sean Connery's announcement that he would not come out of retirement to reprise his Last Crusade role as Indy's dad.

While producer George Lucas and director Steven Spielberg are remaining mum on the specifics of David Koepp's script, the Internet has been rife with speculation. For instance, John Hurt is rumored to be playing Albert Einstein; LeBeouf's character turns out to be Indy's son; Indy's first love from Raiders, Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), makes an appearance—and just may be LeBeouf's mom; the opening action sequence might take place in Area 51 and see our whip-wielding hero battling the Russians; and the working title is said to be Indiana Jones and the City of God.

Lucasfilm refused to comment on potential story lines, perhaps because the company is too busy brokering tie-in deals.

Companies hanging their hats with Indy include Hallmark, which will produce a line of greeting cards; Lego, which is creating its own line of toys and action figures; Random House, which will ramp up publishing on Indy-related books; and Mars' M&Ms. LucasArts is also working on a series of Indiana Jones videogames.

"It's been 19 years since the last film, and we are sensing a huge pent-up demand for everything Indy," Lucas Licensing president Howard Roffman told Variety. "The people who grew up with Indiana Jones have become today's parents.

Filming on the fourth Indiana Jones adventure began Monday. Paramount Pictures will unleash the film on May 22, 2008.