In addition to The Dark Knight next summer, the movie with the biggest buzz right now is probably Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.. The plot of the film has been kept hidden from us for quite some time, though small nuggets of info have leaked out.. We know that Karen Allen will reprise the role of Marion Ravenwood, and that LaBeouf is Indy’s kid.. Cate Blanchett reportedly plays a Russian bad girl, while Indy will be off in search of the elusive crystal skulls..

Sean Connery will not be making a cameo.. All our hopes that somehow Connery had taken the role without it getting out to the media are now over.. Turns out that Connery would rather stay retired and ” play golf..” But that isn’t all.. It turns out Lucas actually replaced Connery with another actor.. Don’t worry, Lucas assures us that not only was Connery substituted, but so was his character.. So, the replacement isn’t Henry Jones ( Aka Indy’s dad ), it is some other minor character who somehow fulfills the same narrative role.. In the end, Lucas claims it was better this way, because fans would have seen Connery early on and then hoped he was going to appear throughout.. The original script, though, had Henry Jones show up only for a short part.. Could this substitute character be Jim Broadbent’s academic colleague at Yale? Makes sense..

As for other cameo roles, we have recent been told that a few Close Encounters of the Third Kind faves may pop up in the next Indiana Jones movie.. Richard Dryfuss? No.. He doesn’t, I repeat, does not have a cameo.. But a couple of his friends do! To celebrate Close Encounters of the Third Kind’s 30th anniversary, Spielberg has gone into the storage warehouse and dusted off those rubber Extraterrestrial dummies for a cameo appearance in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.. You are probably wishing that I made that up.. But, no, I am not..

The one thing everybody knows about the new Indiana Jones adventure is that it deals with aliens.. Of some kind.. There is a really cool article over at MTV that gives you all the information you’d ever want to know about the emergence of the Crystal Skull in our culture.. How they came to be, what they are, and what many believe they are used for.. These artificial artifacts make for the perfect Indiana Jones treasure.. Read the article and it will all make sense to you.. It’s cool..

One of the things that Spielberg has gone on record as saying is that most of the special effects in the film are practical.. Now that appears to be true.. The aliens in the film are puppets.. There are three of them, seated on thrones in The Kingdom ( An Aztec structure that turns out to be a spaceship ).. And, guess what? They bare a striking resemblance to the little naked bald headed midgets that were seen running around at the end of Close Encounters of the Third Kind.. They are indeed supposed to be the ascendants of the Extraterrestrials seen in that film.. They are related.. Though the film doesn’t come right out and say that.. A lot of kids haven’t even seen Close Encounters.. They aren’t going to get the joke..

This isn’t the first time that there have been crossovers in the Spielberg - Lucas Universe.. Star Wars figures are prominently featured in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.. E.T. and his army of alien friends then showed up in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace.. THX-1138 shows up on the wing of a plane in Raiders Of The Lost Ark.. In Indiana Jones & The Temple Of Doom, the cafe at the beginning of the film bares Obi - Wan Kenobi’s name.. This type of self - referential ” humor ” is expected at this point..

The puppets have been updated slightly, and I have no idea if they will be modified digitally.. But next summer, I have a feeling a lot of people are going to be saying, ” Oh, shit.. It’s the aliens from Close Encounters!” When they see the finished project..

Spielberg says that the film will feature all of Jones’ former babes in various cameo roles including Karen Allen and other Indy girls who had smaller roles.. It is still up in the air whether or not Kate Capshaw, Spielberg’s wife, will make an appearance..

A couple months ago it was rumored that the found ark of the covenant had something to do with the fourth Indiana Jones film.. Then a poster released at Comic - Con 2007 showed Indy’s hat and Whip on top of a crate with the words ” Property of Dr. Jones ” and a number.. And the numbers supposedly coincided with some lucasfilm library photos of the crate containing the Lost Ark.. Well LucasFilm have recreated the Warehouse that was seen at the end of Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark.. That’s right, Indy is in fact going back to the beginning..

Although a trailer is forthcoming sometime around Christmas in December, we’ve got a few new official, high res photos of Harrison Ford back in his old gear and Shia LaBeouf all greased up working alongside Indy.. These are all worth a look in their own right, so check them out..

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull arrives in theaters the 22nd May 2oo8..