Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is a 1984 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg. It is the second installment in the Indiana Jones franchise and a prequel to the 1981 film Raiders of the Lost Ark, featuring Harrison Ford reprising his role as the title character. After arriving in North India, Indiana Jones is asked by desperate villagers to find a mystical stone and rescue their children from a Thuggee cult practicing child slavery, black magic, and ritual human sacrifice in honor of the goddess Kali.
When George Lucas first approached Steven Spielberg for Raiders of the Lost Ark, Spielberg recalled, “George said if I directed the first one then I would have to direct a trilogy. He had three stories in mind. It turned out George did not have three stories in mind and we had to make up subsequent stories.”Spielberg and Lucas attributed the film’s tone, which was darker than Raiders of the Lost Ark, to their personal moods following the breakups of their relationships (George with his wife, and Spielberg with his girlfriend).In addition, Lucas felt “it had to have been a dark film. The way Empire Strikes Back was the dark second act of the Star Wars trilogy
It’s 32 years since the release of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and that is a perfect opportunity to enjoy in some awesome behind the scene photos of all four movies.
Huyck later recalled “at one point when we were writing it we told George “We know a lot of Indians. We’ve been there… I don’t think they’re going to think this is really so cool. Do you think you’re going to have trouble shooting there?” He said, “Are you kidding? It’s me and Steve.” Months later they called and said, “We can’t shoot in India. They’re really upset.” So they shot in Sri Lanka and London, mostly.”
The filmmakers were denied permission to film in North India and Amer Fort due to the government finding the script racist and offensive. The government demanded many script changes, rewritings and final cut privilege. As a result, location work went to Kandy, Sri Lanka, with matte paintings and scale models applied for the village, temple, and Pankot Palace. Budgetary inflation also caused Temple of Doom to cost $28.17 million, $8 million more thanRaiders of the Lost Ark. Filming began on April 18, 1983 in Kandy,and moved to Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire, England on May 5. Producer Frank Marshall recalled, “when filming the bug scenes, crew members would go home and find bugs in their hair, clothes and shoes.” Eight out of the nine sound stages at Elstree housed the filming of Temple of Doom. Lucas biographer Marcus Hearn observed, “Douglas Slocombe’s skillful lighting helped disguise the fact that about 80 percent of the film was shot with sound stages.”
