In the event that "Crystal Skull" fails at the box office, this arrangement will leave the filmmakers and talent empty-handed. Paramount would lose part of its investment, but not as much as it would have under a conventional deal with top talent.
Although the "Indiana Jones" franchise is considered one of Hollywood's surest bets -- the first three pictures amassed $1.2 billion in worldwide ticket sales -- there is no guarantee that younger moviegoers will turn out in droves to see a now 65-year-old action hero in a fedora dust off his trademark leather jacket and crack his bullwhip. Today's under-25 action junkies are wowed by computer-generated effects spectacles, such as "Spider-Man," "Harry Potter," "300" and "Fantastic Four."
Set in 1957, the fourth Indiana Jones tale relies more on physical stunts than eye-popping effects as it chronicles Indy's adventures battling Russians during the Cold War and racing through the Peruvian jungle in pursuit of the crystal skull. To appeal to the iPod-and-YouTube generation, Spielberg cast as Ford's motorcycle-riding sidekick Shia LaBeouf, the 21-year-old star of last summer's "Transformers."
Though the deal struck between Paramount and the talent is designed to mitigate the studio's financial risk -- and reward the filmmakers in success -- no one in Hollywood can predict the outcome.
"It's still a very challenging business," said Richard Greenfield, a media analyst with Pali Research. "The average movie still loses money."
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claudia.eller@latimes.com
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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)
$335 million
Estimated cost of production and worldwide marketing for "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull"
$400 million
Estimated net revenue to Paramount before filmmakers George Lucas and Steven Spielberg and star Harrison Ford get paid
$1.2 billion
Worldwide ticket sales for the three previous films in the franchise
Sources: Times research, Boxofficemojo.com
