RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK: THE ADAPTATION UK Premiere Poster
I received an email today from Chris Strompolos, who played Indiana Jones at the tender age of 12 in RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK: THE ADAPTATION. We interviewed him a couple of weeks ago in Los Angeles, just a few days before the UK charity premiere of his film. The London screening was, I quote, “a mind-bending, smashing success” chock-full of surprises, like chilled monkey brains (thick raspberry compote) and steaming sheep’s eyeballs (lychees stuffed with blueberries on dry ice) for those brave enough to give the rather nasty-looking offerings a shot. Even Paul Freeman (aka Belloq) attended the screening! Chris and his pals are finally starting to get the love they deserve, and it’s about damn time, if you ask me! We’re talking about a first UK screening some 27 years after their adventure began in the summer of 1982! Considering how it’s been received so far, I have no doubt that we’ll eventually hear a lot more about this incredible film. There are, understandably, a number of copyright issues that need to be resolved first. In any case, RAIDERS: THE ADAPTATION is well on its way to becoming a cult sensation like no other. It’s the perfect underdog story, and now that I’ve met Chris, I can honestly say that it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. Here’s a detailed Vanity Fair article for your reading pleasure:
Incidentally, I was just reviewing our interview footage of Jonathan London (who introduced us to Chris Strompolos in Los Angeles) yesterday. Lots of highlights, to be certain; but perhaps his best and most insightful answers were those that delved into what it means to be a geek, and why geeks, to this day, still take George’s revisionist attitude so seriously and, yes, personally. We discussed the possible origins of the “childhood rape” motto, and speculated about some of the reasons why it’s not always uttered in jest. In a nutshell, he made the argument that growing up as a geek in the 80s, STAR WARS was one of the only cool things we had going for us (even jocks would admit to that, while smashing our heads against the locker). Nowadays, with all the media out there clamoring that STAR TREK has, finally, become cooler than SW (courtesy of J.J. Abrams), it makes you wonder if the time hasn’t come for George to finally hand over the franchise to some of his original fans–many of whom have become distinguished filmmakers in their own right..?
AOP