The official subtitle for the fourth film in the franchise is , which was first announced by actor Shia LaBeouf at the 2007 MTV Movie Awards. The title choice was the result of a long development process that saw several alternate subtitles considered and rejected before director Steven Spielberg and producer George Lucas finalized the name. Evolutionary History of the Subtitle
Steven Spielberg ultimately favored the final title because it was "inviting" and explicitly named the film's central plot device, or "MacGuffin"—the crystal skulls. George Lucas specifically insisted on including the word "Kingdom" in the title. subtitle Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the C...
During the film's nearly two-decade hiatus between 1989 and 2008, multiple scripts and working titles were proposed: The official subtitle for the fourth film in
: Briefly considered by Spielberg as a reference to the film's "alien" themes before he realized it was already the name of an existing movie. Final Selection and Meaning George Lucas specifically insisted on including the word
: An early draft written by Frank Darabont that was eventually rejected by George Lucas but laid much of the groundwork for the 1950s setting.