I’m sure there were more than a few filmgoers who look atIndiana Jones and the Dial of Destinyand wonder: “Why? What good can come of dragging a series like this back from the grave when it was so good as it was?” The same sentiment was abundant whenIndiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skullcame out too. I’m inclined to feel this way about any movie series that’s advanced beyond a trilogy – and I likeCrystal Skull. But in the case of Indiana Jones, it’s worth remembering that his films are largely standalone adventures, connected almost exclusively through the main character, so it isn’t as though there’s a natural end point to Indy’s adventures. And an archeologist who chases after mythical objects isn’t lacking in potential story material. HadGeorge Lucas,Steven Spielberg, andHarrison Fordgot their ducks in a row, we could potentially have had five Indy films, and possibly many more, covering everything from the city of Atlantis to lost worlds governed by the Monkey King.
In fact,Indiana Jones and the Monkey Kingcame close to being the third Indy adventure. There were multiple drafts of a script prepared, mixing and matching locations, mythologies, and cinematic archetypes. But for all the effort put into the story, Indy’s meeting with the Monkey King was not to be, nor was his sojourn into a haunted house.
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Finding Any Stories For Indy After ‘Raiders’ Was a Struggle
Though George Lucas promised Paramount Pictures five Indiana Jones movies when he sold them onRaiders of the Lost Arkand extracted a handshake deal from his best friend Spielberg to direct three of them,he didn’t have any ready storiesfor Indy other than the first one. Part of the production process on each of the sequels – and a big reason for the delays between some of them – was the hunt for fresh plots and MacGuffins.
The possibility of using the Monkey King first came up in discussions for the second movie. Also known as Sun Wukong, the Monkey King is one of the protagonists of the Ming dynasty novelJourney to the West. It’s a sprawling narrative covering many escapades, and Sun Wukong’s skilled, but silly trickery livened up the proceedings. His journeys also offered several possible MacGuffins: a magical staff, immortality-granting peaches, alchemic pills, and enchanted wine.
Whether Lucas thought such a character might make a good comic foil for Indy is unclear;other than a brief mentionthat he considered including the Monkey King in the second movie, Lucas hasn’t shared details of what was on his mind for the character at that stage.China was seriously consideredas a location forIndy II; an action sequence on the Great Wall was conceived, and one potential plot would have had Spielberg directing dinosaurs a full decade beforeJurassic Park, as Indy would discover a lost world full of the terrible lizards. But when China refused permission for filming, Lucas turned elsewhere.
Another idea considered forIndy IIwas having him explore a haunted castle. This time, objections came from the director; Spielberg was fresh off producing and co-writingPoltergeistand didn’t want to repeat himself. Lucas shelved the castle and the Monkey King. India, the Thugee cult, and the influence ofGunga Dincame together to birthIndiana Jones and the Temple of Doominstead. But Lucas wasn’t done exploring either of his abandoned story threads.
Chris Columbus Put the Haunted Castle and the ‘Monkey King’ Together With an African Adventure
When it came time to develop the third Indiana Jones film, Lucas’ first idea was to return to the story of a haunted castle. Once again, Spielbergnoted the similarity toPoltergeist. A trip to Tibet was discussed,as was trying China and the Monkey King again. Unlike in the second film, however, all these disparate elements had a chance to develop, courtesy of oneChris Columbus. Then a young screenwriter who’d cut his teeth on Amblin productions likeGremlinsandThe Goonies, Columbus was hired in 1985 to flesh out Lucas’s dangling concepts. It’s on Columbus’s draft screenplays that the titleIndiana Jones and the Monkey Kingfirst appears in the history of the series, withIndiana Jones and the Garden of Lifeproposed as an alternate title. His first drafthas become available online(albeit dated incorrectly).
In this draft, Columbus worked around thePoltergeistissue by confining the haunted castle to the opening of the story. In the vein of the golden idol ofRaidersor Club Obi Wan inTemple of Doom, Indy is wrapping up one adventure, or in this case, a vacation in the Highlands spoiled by a ghost, before heading to the main story. Instead of bringing home an artifact, Indy returns to his university empty-handed. All isn’t lost for him in this opening sequence, however; his host later mails him the trout he was trying to catch on his holiday.
LikeRaiders,Monkey Kinguses Marcus Brody as the herald for the main quest. Columbus made Sun Wukong an established historical figure, one whose trail Indy spent years trying to follow. He hoped to find the Monkey King’s staff, or a lost city connected to him and the peaches of immortality. It’s a search Indy has long since given up on, until Brody clues him into the research of zoologist Clare Clarke, who has encountered a pygmy tribe in Africa that speaks a language derived from Chinese and has a member over 200 years old. She’s mounting an expedition to search for the Monkey King’s city and wants Indy to come along.
The ‘Monkey King’ First Draft Is Rough
Indy jumps at the chance, of course, but it wouldn’t be an Indiana Jones adventure without complications. For one thing, he’s on academic probation for neglecting his teaching duties. And those duties have been complicated by his inappropriate relationship with his teaching assistant Betsy, an overeager and infatuated Brooklynite who follows Indy to Africa.
It’s in the character of Betsy where theMonkey Kingscript’s nature as a first draft becomes evident. I can’t say she’s without merit in concept. A brash New Yorker would have been a fresh personality type to throw into the series. And withRaidershaving established that students go ga-ga for their archeology professor, a youngster in the throes of puppy love could have been funny and even sweet, had the dynamic been handled right. But having Indy sleep with Betsy is about as far from the right way to handle it as you could imagine. And whatever potential she had for comedy or pathos isn’t evident by the dialogue or situations given her, which invariably paint her as a selfish twit and Indy as an arrogant sleaze. Columbus’s second draft forMonkey Kinghasn’t leaked online, but according toThe Complete Making of Indiana Jones, he didn’t try to salvage Betsy in revisions; she was scrapped.
Betsy’s presence in the first draft immediately sours Indy’s relationship with Clare, who is somewhat of a prototype forIndiana Jones and the Last Crusade’sElsa Schneider. She’s an elegant dresser, a fellow academic, and able to hold her own in an adventure, though she is notably not allied with the Nazis. They’re on hand as the villains, personified this time by Sgt. Gutterbuhg and his rifle arm and Lt. Werner Von Mephisto and his unnerving height and baldness. Sidekicks and allies include Tyki, the 200-year-old pygmy, Scraggy, an old friend of Indy’s from Africa, and Kezure, leader of a band of pirates who make an uneasy partnership to find the lost city and its riches.
Just how well this group would play off Indy and one another isn’t readily apparent from Columbus’s script. Like with Betsy, many of these characters present interesting concepts with rough, even painful execution. But you can only judge a first draft so harshly. That’s the place for stilted dialogue, sketched-out scenes, and inappropriate thought experiments (OK, OK – that’s the last shot at poor Betsy). And if the characters, including Indy himself, are rough in this rough draft, the adventure they go on seems like a promising story.
The Nazis track Indy and friends through mechanical bugs, eventually making off with Tyki and his limited knowledge of the Monkey King’s whereabouts. The rescue efforts include a boat chase and tank fight not unlike what would end up inThe Last Crusade, along with a sword fight above decks on the pirate ship. Eventually, good guys and bad reach the lost city and fight it out alongside native tribes and sentient gorillas. The Nazis are defeated, but Indy takes a mortal wound. He is saved through the efforts of Sun Wukong himself, a half-man, half-monkey. He gives Indy one of the peaches of immortality and presents him with his shape-shifting staff. Kezure tries one of the peaches too but, not being pure of heart, withers away and dies. Just how Indy qualifies as pure of heart – especially given his ego in this script – is not specified. The pirates are foiled, Betsy decides to focus on her education by staying with Clare, and Indy heads off for his next adventure with a new item to complement his hat, whip, and satchel.
Lucas and Spielberg Both Passed on the ‘Monkey King’
Columbus did at least one more draft ofMonkey Kingbefore being taken off the project. Besides exorcising Betsy, the second draft reportedly turned the Monkey King into the central villain of the piece and made Clare a full-blown love interest for Indy. At this point, Lucas and Spielberg were still serious enough about this approach to the third Indy movie that they began location scouting in Africa.
But location scouting was as far asIndiana Jones and the Monkey Kinggot. Spielberg later said that, while he appreciated the nostalgic and humorous qualities of Columbus’s script, reading it made him feel “too old” to direct the film. He and Lucas were alsoreportedly burnedby accusations of racism thrown againstTemple of Doomand keen to avoid such charges in the future. Lucas turned to the Holy Grail as a potential MacGuffin, and an extensive bit of writing later,Indiana Jones and the Last Crusadebecame the third and, for a long time, the final Indy adventure.
The Monkey Kingwasn’t quite dead yet. Pieces of it have ended up elsewhere. The haunted castle idea finally reached the screen – the small screen, that is – throughThe Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. A Nazi with a robotic arm appeared in the young adult novel Indiana Jones and the Mystery of Mont Sinai. And Columbus’s core story was briefly considered as the basis for one of Lucasfilm’s video games. But producerHal Barwooddidn’t care for the story, and it was abandoned yet again.
Part of me thinks that’s for the best. Allowing that the draft online is a first pass with a lot of promise,Monkey Kingis a very busy script that never finds a way to make Indiana Jones seem like – well, himself. His endearing, bumbling qualities are almost entirely absent and the adventure around him juggles so many disparate elements that never totally gel. The idea of making the Monkey King a villain in subsequent drafts doesn’t sit well either.
On the other hand, theMonkey Kingscript followsTemple of Doom’slead in trying new things and going new places. Its action beats read as exciting sequences. Sun Wukong’s legend is a more substantive MacGuffin than others in the series. And the idea of Indy meeting such a legendary figure and gaining some sort of spiritual token could have been powerful. With a few more drafts, it might have worked, and had Lucas and Spielberg not bowed out of the series, I daresay it might have made a fitting fifth and final entry. But they, like Indy, never found the way there.
