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News
Indy IV Thief Thwarted By FBI; Spielberg Lets Out Sigh of Relief
Stolen production photos and budget info still under wraps.
by Jen Yamato | October 03, 2007
Discuss Article
Steven Spielberg has a huge debt of gratitude to pay to the anonymous online blogger who helped thwart a plan to sell thousands of stolen Indiana Jones IV set photos and the film's production budget to the highest bidder.

A recent break-in at one of the film's production offices left multiple computers from the now-shooting Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in the hands of thieves; the culprits then contacted numerous online outlets looking to sell over 2500 set photos -- and more importantly, production books, which held the secrets of Spielberg's as-yet unnamed budget.


Harrison Ford and Shia LaBeouf in Indiana Jones IV


Luckily for Paramount Pictures, a FBI operation nabbed the crooks shortly after the theft. Within 24 hours of being offered the stolen photos, the anonymous blogger cooperated in a FBI sting operation that collared the thieves before any of the goods could hit the internet. A source tells RT that in true Hollywood fashion, the arrest was made at a meeting set-up for mid-afternoon at the Standard Hotel.

While the thieves were apprehended before selling any of the Indy IV photos, at least one corporately-owned media property had seemingly gotten their hands on the production budget books. AOL-Time Warner-owned gossip site TMZ.com had reportedly promised to reveal details of the Indy IV budget on their TV program (yes, they have a TV program) before deciding against running the story altogether.

So three cheers for Anonymous Online Blogger Guy! Way to give the online film community a good name.


Related Items
Celeb: Steven Spielberg
Harrison Ford
Shia LaBeouf
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Comments (1-14 of 14 posts) | Reply
Metafact
Metafact writes:
on Oct 03 2007 02:45 AM

What the hell is with all of these famous directors getting robbed lately?

(Reply to this)
jasperoosterveld
jasperoosterveld writes:
on Oct 03 2007 06:19 AM

haha like if it were plans to make an a-bomb...jesus.

(Reply to this)
puablo
puablo writes:
on Oct 03 2007 06:38 AM

They should lock all the stuff up in the same vault that has the ark.

(Reply to this)
dahluzz
dahluzz writes:
on Oct 03 2007 06:39 AM

re-write time! "indiana jones and the raiders of the lost production budget information" it'll be a whip-cracking search for largely irrelevant iformation. c'mon, you know the thing's got at least $100 million being pumped into it. Beyond that, is knowing the exact number really going to shape our predictions of the film that much? it just shows how babdly people want to know something just because they're not allowed to know it.

(Reply to this)
Astr0creep
Astr0creep writes:
on Oct 03 2007 07:14 AM

Personnaly, I don't give a crap about the budget. But I'm really looking forward to this film and aside from the title, which is somewhat of a spoiler in itself if you google Crystal Skull, I don't want to know anything about the film until I sit in the theater with a bucket of popcorn.

Any info can potentially give away story elements like, for example, rental bugdets for tanks, planes, some specific props, whatever.

Good catch I say and good job from the blogger and the FBI.


(Reply to this)
SukmyPikachu
SukmyPikachu writes:
on Oct 03 2007 09:02 AM

And they still can't catch Osama?

(Reply to this)
blinkybrown
blinkybrown writes:
on Oct 03 2007 10:25 AM

I haven't googled Crystal Skull. As much as I'm anticipating this movie, I want to go in as pure as possible. (at least until the first trailer). Glad they caught the theives.

(Reply to this)
blinkybrown
blinkybrown writes:
on Oct 03 2007 10:26 AM

I haven't googled Crystal Skull. As much as I'm anticipating this movie, I want to go in as pure as possible. (at least until the first trailer). Glad they caught the theives.

(Reply to this)
jasperoosterveld
jasperoosterveld writes:
on Oct 03 2007 12:14 PM

I dont really like the title but looking forward to the movie

(Reply to this)
nathanpoitras
nathanpoitras writes:
on Oct 03 2007 04:25 PM

I hope the film's storyline is as gripping as this one.

(Reply to this)
damvbat
damvbat writes:
on Oct 03 2007 04:29 PM

The best movie ever

(Reply to this)
Ciaranmv
Ciaranmv writes:
on Oct 03 2007 05:26 PM

I love Indiana Jones and all, but gosh... IT'S JUST A MOVIE!!!! If you wanna see what happens, wait till opening day in May. We've been waiting 19-years for a new Indiana Jones movie, 8 more months isn't gonna make much difference.

(Reply to this)
CGHJ
CGHJ writes:
on Oct 06 2007 08:43 PM

In reply to this comment (#1164943)
jasperoosterveld> haha like if it were plans to make an a-bomb...jesus.

LOL, if only our a-bomb secrets were protected that well.


(Reply to this)
GotMyOrangeCrush
GotMyOrangeCrush writes:
on Nov 24 2007 03:41 AM

LOL, talk about moronic thieves. They deserved to get caught. This isnt so much a great sting by the FBI as much as it is just a fact that these guys were morons and didnt have a clue what they were doing. Oh well good riddence, now if we could only get rid of the other 3 billion morons that we share the planet with we might have a fighting chance.

(Reply to this)
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