Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a 2008 American action adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by David Koepp, from a story by Jeff Nathanson and franchise creator George Lucas. The fourth installment in the Indiana Jones series, it was released and takes place 19 years after the previous film. Set in 1957, it pits Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) against Soviet KGB agents led by Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett) searching for a telepathic crystal skull. Jones is aided by his former lover, Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), and their son, Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf). Ray Winstone, John Hurt, and Jim Broadbent are also part of the supporting cast. Screenwriters Jeb Stuart, Jeffrey Boam, Frank Darabont, Lucas and Nathanson wrote drafts before Koepp's script satisfied the producers. The filmmakers intended to pay tribute to the science fiction B-movies of the 1950s era. Shooting began on June 18, 2007, at various locations in New Mexico, New Haven, Connecticut, Hawaii, and Fresno, California, as well as on sound stages in Los Angeles. To maintain aesthetic continuity with the previous films, the crew relied on traditional stunt work instead of computer-generated stunt doubles, and cinematographer Janusz Kamiński studied Douglas Slocombe's style from the previous films. The film premiered at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival on May 18, 2008 and was released worldwide on May 22, 2008. It received generally positive reviews from critics but mixed responses from audiences. Critics praised the film for its cast, action sequences, pulpy tone, John Williams's musical score, but criticized the dialogue, storyline, pacing, and overuse of CGI. It was also a financial success like the previous three films in the series, grossing over $790 million worldwide, becoming the franchise's highest-grossing film when not adjusted for inflation, as well as the second-highest-grossing film of 2008. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is also the last film in the Indiana Jones franchise to be distributed by Paramount Pictures, as The Walt Disney Company became the distributor of its future films following the company's acquisition of Lucasfilm in October 2012, with Paramount still retaining this film and its predecessors and receiving "financial participation" from any additional films beginning with Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, which is scheduled for release on June 30, 2023, with Ford set to reprise his role. Plot In 1957, Soviet KGB agents, working under Irina Spalko, kidnap